Homework 5/3/12

1. Sum up Michael Wesch's main points about the web (or YouTube in particular) in one paragraph.
Michael Wesch believes that web 2.0 is about linking people in a way that they have never been linked before through videos and social networking sites. People can now interact through videos on YouTube and send video replies and make videos go viral. Wesch also believes that the media mediates human relationships. Also, the ease of the web is now evident as everyone can become a producer on YouTube and produce their own videos with amateur material.

2. Write down your understanding of the following terms used by Wesch: 'networked individualism', 'the invisible audience phenomenon', 'context collapse', and 'connection without constraint'.
Networked individualism is when the more the individual the more we long for a community and that now there are new forms of communities through the rise of web 2.0 which helps create a self understanding. For example when we talk to ourselves on a webcam, we are creating a community with views with people we don't know.
Context collapse - Is never knowing when you are going to be filmed as most people now have a phone with a camera that can shoot and record and upload instantly to the web.
Invisible Audience -  Is when the phenomenon of not knowing who and when your video is being watched online.
Connection without constraint -

3. On the whole, do you agree with Wesch's ideas? Why?
I agree with Michael Wesch as everything around us is now based according to the internet. It is now easier for anyone to use and publish on the internet through sites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and the list goes on. This not only promotes democracy but it also helps communities come together. I can relate to this as an Arsenal fan as there are numerous amounts of fan blogs where us fans come together and post news and jokes related to our common interest. It is now easier to communicate with people across the world not only through written forms but through videos and music.

4. How might Wesch's ideas be applied to the music industry (at at least, the production of music)?
As YouTube is now so easy to access and to be able to upload our own footage through the most adequate of materials, it can enable music artists to promote their music online cheaply for those who can't afford professional microphones and recording studios. People now can be found and signed through YouTube just from a random search. Also due to the rise of social media, small artists can now promote their music via their twitter or facebooks to gain popularity. This is easy and free to do and many big artists use social networking sites to promote their music to their fans.