Digital Ethnography - Recently Updated Pages

Now what’s so special about Vlogging? Never before it was that easy to express oneself through audiovisual media and to be able to address an audience worldwide:

It is direct and it is personal. It’s fascinating to follow a maker in the process of making, especially when that maker is a strong personality. It can be very addictive indeed to follow the developments of a particular vlogger.
There’s the ultimate freedom of expression – you can say what you want, the way you want it to be told and if it’s good people will subscribe and ‘stay’ with you.
People can comment directly to what you’ve made (all vlogs have comment functions) – there’s a lot of interaction between the content maker and his audience.
People deeplink to vlogs, they place tags, they place trackbacks etc. Vlogs can go viral – suddenly a vlogger becomes hot.
All files are there to stay, people can watch on demand, whenever they want, wherever they are.
The laws of TV making do not necessarily apply to the art of vlogging: The freedom of expression, the independence of the content makers, the personal driven approach; all this leads us towards new forms and narratives.
Technical advantages: Producing costs are low (cheap camera’s, cheap editing programs and computers etc.), bandwidth is growing rapidly (with decreasing costs), there’s free hosting on many sites, free adjustable weblog templates, there’s the ability of RSS subscriptions with enclosures (viewers receive the actual movie files on their desktop / iPod or any other device) etc.
The Vlogosphere; A thriving, productive and pioneering community of content-makers, software developers and theoreticians are working together in harmony to make this revolution come true.
In addition to these profound trends and technical developments a substantial portion of the media consumers are tired of television as it is today; shallow talk shows, infantile games and low humour. Television is often not genuine any more, television became fake.

Link to a classroom...
...discussing video blogging and examples:

About Vlogging - YouTube video

Quick link to a vlog with sign language
again, text media has its place, especially for the deaf community, but vlogging is another great way to communicate through the visual realm
marginal or underrepresented groups tend to thrive on the internet

vlog with sign language

Amazing means of communication through vlogging

In my language, by Silentmiaow
'vlog' with autistic person

Have Camera, Will Vlog
excerpt from Bev Sykes blog
(orange text highlighted for emphasis)

What do we all have in common?
We are all pioneers in the exploding new field of "vlogging."
"Vlogging" is the compressed form of the phrase "video blogging," yet another Lewis Carrollean portmanteau word that typifies Internet jargon. Similarly, a "blog" -- blended from "Web log" -- is like a daily diary that is posted on the Interneet for anybody with a computer and online access to read; a video blog is a norma blog, with video added.
San Francisco’s Schlomo Rabinowitz, one of the organizers of Vloggercon 06, the second annual international vlogging convention, held in San Francisco last week, pointed out that a year and a half ago, there were approximately 100 vloggers on the net--and nobody had heard the term “vlog” before.
A Google search I ran today came up with 6,300,000 entries for the term "vlog.”
Part of the explosion came about because of the creation of sites like Blip.TV or YouTube, video sharing sites which offer free video publishing services to people who have no other way of putting video onto the Internet, and FreeVlog, the brainchild of Michael Verdi and Ryanne Hodson (authors of the newly released “Secrets of Videoblogging”), which gives simple, detailed step-by-step instructions for total neophytes to learn how to create and post their videos.
Vloggercon 06 was attended by nearly 500 people, who came from all over the world. Paul Knight, from Nottingham in England, who was making his first visit to the United States, came only for the weekend, simply to meet his vlogger friends.
Videoblogging is for everyone, of any age. Rainlin, a 7 year old using her mother’s camera, has started her own video blog. Caleb Shickles, a 94 year old retired minister and self-described "Baptist Buddhist," posts weekly videos to his "Hug Nation."
"I’m a creator and an artist," says New York artist, Jan McLaughlin. " To me video blogging is anything I want it to be."
"It’s making something of beauty and sharing it with the world," added Knight.
The two day event reflected a sense of trying to decide where we are and where we are going as a fledgling community. The sessions spanned the level of technology from the very basic to the very technical and showed that while you can get as technical as you want, you really don’t need more than a simple camera that can take videos, a computer, internet access, and a little bit of simple instruction to join the fun.
"A lot of us say that it’s cheap and it’s easy to get into," said Carl Weaver, a teacher from Worcester, Mass. "It is, but only if you’ve already sunk the money into a computer and a camera.
"It’s accessible in the sense that it’s not hard to do. It allows most people to do this relatively easily, and relatively cheaply. It’s still not cheap, but it’s cheaper than it’s ever been before. And it’s getting cheaper.
"That’s a powerful thing."
Kari Peterson, who recently left her long-held position with Davis Community Television and is now working on digital media projects with other community media organizations, including Davis Community Network, was one of the presenters in a panel on public access television. I caught up with her on Sunday morning before her session. She was so excited she was ready to burst.
The day before, she had attended a session on community vlogging and she saw this as an ideal way for Davis residents to come together in a community internet collaboration.
"Public access TV has long been a vehicle for self-expression and self-representation in a medium that is otherwise controlled by commercial and corporate forces," she explained. "Video blogging offers the same thing, but is not encumbered by many of the factors that make television an unlikely medium for the average person.”
Peterson also noted that people’s media consumption habits are changing significantly, making short video blogs more accessible for viewing than longer television shows that have limited airtime.
She questions how best to use this new medium to make a difference in people’s communities.
"It might be used to bring people of like minds together around certain issues,” she said. “Yesterday I sat in meetings about vlogging for political purposes. That resonated with me because we do a lot of that in community media, using the medium to mobilize and educate people, organize them around social issues."
Here's an example: Peace Corps worker Melody Jenkins, in collaboration with world traveler Jon Rawlinson, for example, started a community vlog which brings the world news of Nata, Botswana (described as “nothing more than a dust hole”), where the population is 5,000 and 37% are infected with the AIDS virus.
Through frequent videos, they are making the world aware of the fight in this one tiny corner of Africa.
Peterson also recognizes that video blogging can be so much more.
For Erin Nealey, a stay at home mom from South Carolina, video blogging started out as being a way to communicate with close friends and family, and to let the grandparents watch the kids grow. Later, as she began to make friends with other vloggers, it became a way to connect with people and share ideas.
Josh Leo a 22 year old from Grand Rapids, Michigan echoes that sentiment. "It’s sharing your life and forming relationships by doing that."
Susan Kitchens is using video blogging to create an oral history project and to help people gather their own family histories.
"Digital storytelling, oral history projects and videoblogging have a lot to offer each other," she explains. "At their best, the best video blogs are about personal storytelling. New advances in capturing oral histories add another dimension to the story."
Richard Hall, from the Missouri Ozarks, looks at it more technically, and in a manner likely to make a casual listener's eyes glaze.
"A traditional thing with video blogs is that they have syndication so that you can use an RSS reader so you can use RSS with enclosures. To me it’s kind of a technical bit to define it technically."
That sort of response may turn off people who have no idea what "video syndication" is, or what an RSS feed is, but the variety of responses I got to my question about what constitutes a video blog shows how there is something for everyone, and that even those involved in doing it aren’t exactly sure how to define it.
The ideas are limitless.
"It is like the wild west," said Rabinowitz, describing his vision of this pioneering art form. "All of us are just trying to figure out where you make the streets and where you set up a house and that sort of thing. We want to do that now, which is very important, before some professional corporation walks in and buys the block.
"Now is our time. If we did this in a year from now or two years from now we would be walking into this strip mall that we didn’t help create. We might as well create our own town here."
Kari Peterson’s immediate dream is to get together with people of all ages in the Davis Community who are either vlogging or interested in learning more about vlogging. She sees Davis as creating our own subdivision of this wild west town Rabinowitz describes. With its long tradition of oral history, with political activism, and with its openness to new things, she feels that Davis is perhaps the perfect community to design and implement a community video blog, learning as we go along exactly how that can benefit the community at large.

Knock your socks off truths

asynchronous communication + global potential = context ambiguity ----> (leads to) identity crisis in first vlog

highlighting own faults (before anyone else does)
notes the inherent awkwardness in doing the first vlog
Goffman's stages creating what Bohannon calls"all-at-oneness"
speech gets more comfortable after first vlog

heightened sense of self-awareness (i.e. how can we find the social mirror and the looking-glass self in the vlogosphere?)

vlogger can reflect on and modify how they portray themselves
the vloggers deemed "authentic" or totally crazy often have many subscribers

vloggers can become famous, videos can go viral

"No longer takes a mass audience, but an audience of critical mass" - Wesch

yet, to go viral, the producer must be okay with being associated with it

Women	Topic of conversation	Slang/cussing & formal/informal speech	Posture & closeness to camera	Hand gestures	Eye contact	Location/identity defining objects in screen
1 AngelaPiper9 Age: 15 1:43 minutes AngelaPiper9's "vlog" 1 “my first "vlog" hope your enjoy.” ::Taken down::	Name, making another vlog bc last one was on its side and doesn’t know how to fix that, Talks about booksmart but no common sense, bored @ watching Disney, next vlog about her and her friend making an MTV cribs -does not edit video	-Informal -no cussing “what’s up” Uses “like” (only once) Calls self retarded	Very close to camera, can only see head and top of shoulders	n/a (holding camera with both hands)	constant	Bedroom- Bathrobe, posters/pictures, TV in background
2 Hispassenger Age: 21 6:00 minutes My First Vlog (Hey YouTubers!) “Hello Everyone! This is my very first Vlog for you all and I gotta' admit, talking to myself is not an everyday thing for me so this video was kind of weird to make but I hope you guys enjoy! PEACE & LOVE, Jes'!”	Weird to talk to self, talks about obsession w/ YouTube & thankful for subscribers (to her singing videos) makes her feel special, talks about guy friend on YT, big family, tomboy and girlie at same time, creative 300 poems, can’t wait to be a mom, comments are awesome -does not edit video	No cussing --Informal Uses “like” Uses “ya know” Uses “um” and “uh” often but doesn’t make note of it	Slightly hunched over, can see head to chest	Uses hand gestures multiple times in each sentence; clapping	Looks away in topic transitions, looks at computer screen when seemingly finding the ‘right’ words	Bedroom- Bed, fan
3 Aestheticmetaphor Age: 7:47 minutes First Vlog! “My very first vlog.”	“Thankfully you can’t see setup”, don’t want other ppl in house to wonder why talking to self, not wearing many colors today but can’t see skirt, caffeinated from drink, humorless state in childhood, talks about hand gestures, grandmother’s ring & quilt, not married, hope don’t feel like wasting your time, can’t whistle, cousin like sibling, step siblings, bad elementary school teacher -does not edit video	No cussing Laughs often- (seemingly nervously),	Notes closeness to camera [laughs] (bc of low volume microphone)	Makes note of hand gestures, waves hand or hands often, plays with hair, talks about using “air quotes”	Shifts back and forth between looking at camera and looking away fairly equally and often	Bedroom- Makes note of Sticky notes and quilt made by grandmother in background
4 devonks Age: 16-20 3:47 minutes my first vlog/day at work “hey, this is my first attempt. thanks for watching!”	First day at work: amusement park PNE food stand, cashier & drink stand- messed up drink then tried to ‘trick’ customer, cute guy (brief), hair looks oily & flat from greesy food place @ work, during break watching llamas go around ring- was boring, hope someone watches this bc “I kind of put a lot of effort into it” -edits video	No cussing Informal yet somewhat scripted (edited parts out)	Close to camera, can see head to very top of shoulders	Touches hair and neck, hair touches (approx: 23 times in under 4 minutes)	Shifts back and forth between looking at camera and looking away fairly equally and often	Looks like a study or bedroom
5 drewandblume Age: 17 1:02 minutes Lauren’s first vlog “badness”	Responding to a video; “puffles are kind of high today” curly hair big from weather, slept-in, responding to question: what would be your themesong and why? Can’t answer; question to her: alltime favorite tshirt? -edits video	No cussing -very informal bc specific audience is a female (friend) that she already knows	Not as close to camera, can see head and up to chest also much of the background	few	Holds eyecontact nearly all of the time	Looks like a dormroom but wouldn’t necessarily make sense if she is 17, bedroom/family room, messy
6 HannahMonty155 Age: 19 1:57 minutes First Vlog/Blog/Vlog? Whaaaaa! “Howdy youtube, this is me!” ::taken down::	Name, new to YT, never done vlog, apologies for ‘crap quality’, don’t own a camera, tell interesting facts about self to get ball rolling, 19th bday other day, blonde hair, like ‘Talk Shop’ (apparently a clothing place), plays Pokemon, toothbrush is pink, dental hygiene important, daffodils in window, likes flowers, send her flowers, waves bye -does not edit video	Says “no joke” Says “half two” when referring to time	Not very close, can see head to chest	Frequent, holding camera with left hand- right hand moves often; shows birthday card and toothbrush, gives thumbs up, makes, highlights face with hand	Constant, exaggerate facial expressions	Small private room, possibly a bedroom; see bathrobe hanging on door in background

"The Bias of YouTube"	YouTube in the Mediascape
1. Build comprehensive list of YouTube communication structures. March 4th	1. Build a comprehensive list of media interacting with YouTube. March 6th
2. Build a comprehensive list of how YouTube is used. March 11th 2a. Simplify list into prominent categories. March 11th in class 2b. Datamine to build statistics on proportional use. March 13th	2. Try to build static 2D visualizations of this mediascape. March 11th
3. With a focus on most prominent categories, do participant observation to examine how communication structures of YouTube (the medium) may influence the content. (Note that this also depends on what we learn in the Mediascape project - as many will be using YouTube as a simple host to launch videos in other locations online) Spring Break - March 15-24	3. Assign further research into each interacting media community as needed (e.g. brief study of Digg community, etc.) Spring Break March 15-24
4. Build a comprehensive list of notable features of YouTube interactions & (if possible) cultural values and ideals of YouTube participants. March 25th SHIFT IN PROJECT: Each student will now do individual 5 minute videos. We will then build a collaborative video from these pieces.	Final Step: Build a video script that can represent "YouTube in the Mediascape" in a compelling way that brings "Aha" moments to those who watch it. First Draft March 27th
5. Analyze the list of "notable features" in relation to the communication structures to explore how the medium influences these values and ideals. (In class March 25th)
Final Step: Build a video script/storyboard that can represent "The Bias of YouTube" (First Draft April 1st)