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Title details for Videocracy by Kevin Allocca - Available

Videocracy

How YouTube Is Changing the World . . . with Double Rainbows, Singing Foxes, and Other Trends We Can't Stop Watching

by Kevin Allocca
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From YouTube's Head of Culture and Trends, a rousing and illuminating behind-the-scenes exploration of internet video's massive impact on our world.

Whether your favorite YouTube video is a cat on a Roomba, "Gangnam Style," the "Bed Intruder" song, an ASAPscience explainer, Rebecca Black's "Friday," or the "Evolution of Dance," Kevin Allocca's Videocracy reveals how these beloved videos and famous trends—and many more—came to be and why they mean more than you might think.

YouTube is the biggest pool of cultural data since the beginning of recorded communication, with four hundred hours of video uploaded every minute. (It would take you more than sixty-five years just to watch the vlogs, music videos, tutorials, and other content posted in a single day!) This activity reflects who we are, in all our glory and ignominy. As Allocca says, if aliens wanted to understand our planet, he'd give them Google. If they wanted to understand us, he'd give them YouTube.

In Videocracy, Allocca lays bare what YouTube videos say about our society and how our actions online—watching, sharing, commenting on, and remixing the people and clips that captivate us—are changing the face of entertainment, advertising, politics, and more. Via YouTube, we are fueling social movements, enforcing human rights, and redefining art—a lot more than you'd expect from a bunch of viral clips.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 25, 2018

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781408880296
      • File size: 21514 KB

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781408880296
      • File size: 21508 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 13, 2017
      Allocca, the head of culture and trends at YouTube, gleans cogent insights into the human psyche from his analysis of popular clips, vlogs, and communities on his company’s popular video-sharing platform. Allocca offers a glimpse into the mind’s “subconscious drives” through what he describes as “oddly satisfying” videos featuring cookies undergoing surgery and a dishwasher cycle seen through the lens of a GoPro camera, and explores the success of channels such as the popular AsapScience, which he credits to the channel’s short, pop-science “explainer” style of videos. He elaborates on technical aspects of YouTube mechanics, including the surprisingly complex way the company determines what constitutes a “view.” Allocca also points to the impact YouTube has had on culture globally by “democratizing the power of distribution.” This leveling of the playing field is responsible for achievements large and small—particularly the blossoming of niche communities built around, for example, an autistic man’s vlog about elevators. Allocca’s perspective is skewed by his obvious desire to put a positive spin on all things YouTube, and his suggestion that corporations are using YouTube to “meaningfully interact” with consumers is naive. Still, his sunny disposition is a forgivable flaw for readers looking for a light and entertaining overview of a popular digital platform.

Formats

  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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