So, thinking about the new Youtube geography, I came to a startling realization (NB: Youtube looks like they had a 3 year old design their interface- does someone not believe in framing anymore? how about general aesthetics?). The entire geography has not only changed, but it has also made it impossible for old videos to transcend their video-ed box. What do I mean? Watch some old Youtube Vlogs, and you'll occasionally see people pointing to the old info box and say 'click on the info box for more information'. The info is no longer over there. Youtube has put the videoed people back in the box, relatively speaking. The have re-captivated the monkeys that had expanded the media-ecology of participo-centric experience. Of course, new vlogs will merely point down. But, what does this say for future generations? What if there is no longer an info box? What does that mean for old info box referents? Youtube has changed the pointing from iconic to an Dicent Iconic Legisign... will they further transform it into a Rhematic Iconic Legisign? WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO!? (please note, there is a large amount of sarcasm and satire in this post that is intended as a response to all of those who have academically interpreted the new youtube as some kind of hegemonic subjugation).

This video makes me so excited. Especially the idea that there is a real self that the box on the screen can present. To kind of elaborate on an idea that I had previously (maybe somewhere else), but the masked self that one may be on YouTube isn't even the real masked self! It's not a self! It's a contextual box that only exists if you find it! The personas that you find are exactly that, ones that you find. They are not there until you click on them. So, the question becomes not are you the real you, but am I making you the real you. Or, even better, maybe I'm making you the real me...

As I prepare to do an internship in mediated ethnography, I've been reading a lot about YouTube. Of particular interests are the fears of intellectual property violations that are held by both corporate American and some private citizens.