YouTube: History, Culture, & Practice

What does YouTube offer as cultural forum and cultural force, and what are its limits? How has YouTube changed since its 2005 origin, and how is it continuing to evolve? YouTube functions as a site of negotiation between professional and amateur, and between corporate and grassroots. It is home to evolving aesthetics and niche communities, and also functions as a commercial platform. In this course we will explore the commercial and cultural contexts of YouTube and the media forms evolving within its interface. Work for this course involves academic written analyses and media production, including vlogs, reaction videos, remix, and web series.