Anthropology on the web – the culture of youtube

Posted on May 15th, 2009 by martijn.
Categories: anthropology, Blogosphere, Method, Research Tools.

Of course, anthropology is one of the most important and interesting studies one can imagine. I know, I’m an anthropologist. But what does an anthropologist actually do? And why should you study it? Well the next video on Youtube gives a nice impression

[flashvideo filename=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xErJAsZo2Pw /]

One of the things we do in anthropology is observe,  analyze the mediation of culture. We can show how cultures are mediated by posting videos on Youtube. At the same time however Youtube is also one of the mediums through which cultures are mediated, so also Youtube can be studied as an ethnographic field:

[flashvideo filename=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYcS_VpoWJk /]

And as an anthropologist posting your own videos on the web is actually a particular form of participant observation; one of the (if not the) most important characteristic of the ethnographic / anthropological method. Of course doing research on Youtube and, as a part of that, participate in it brings about a lot of issues pertaining to method, interpretation of the medium and the mediated messages that call for a reflection on the ethnographic studies of Youtube based upon anthropological methods:

[flashvideo filename=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPAO-lZ4_hU /]

For the most part the latter two videos have a clear celebratory message about the emancipatory possiblities and Youtube as a source of belonging and connecting to others. The latter video in the end also shows some attention of ‘drama’ on Youtube but there is a lack of attention (in many web studies I think) of the disciplining aspects of the medium. What does it mean for identities or religious messages to mediated through visual culture? How does the medium force people into displaying their messages and get their messages heard and seen on the web?

The first video appears on many anthropological websites such as Anthropologist about Town. The other two (Introducting Our Youtube Ethnography Project and An Anthropological Introduction to Youtube) are part of the Mediated Cultures website where you can find several more Youtube videos. Mediated Cultures is a group led by Dr. Michael Wesch dedicated to exploring and extending the possibilities of digital ethnography. The blog from this working group has many interesting posts ranging from ethnographic tools for the internet such as SmartPen, to impressions of the Youtube content.

Another example is AnthroVlog of Patricia G. Lange who uses her weblog as a site for participating in online video communities, experimenting with tools, too learn how a site/weblog actually ‘works’ and as a means for exchanging ideas. Besides the posts she also provides us with some of the papers she has written for example on social networking and the issue of private and public and on youth, identity and online community.

The Internet offers a range of possibilities for anthropologists and the work of Michael Wesh with Youtube and that of Patricia Lange is fascinating. Moreover, the participation of students in it, make it highly relevant for teaching as well. Perhaps we should do things in the Netherlands too?

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