In 2007 Henry Jenkins wrote a blog piece titled, Nine Propositions Towards a Cultural Theory of YouTube, where he talked about the uses and possibilities of YouTube and how it is changing online interactivity. He describes it as a “meeting point” and “hybrid media space” where commercial, non profit, governmental, educational, individual, activist and other types of content and interests co-exist with each other. It is a user friendly site as just about anyone with a camcorder option on their phone can upload video to YouTube, and because of this, many parts of life that may not have been seen otherwise receive much more exposure. Some videos on YouTube come as a result of blogs and other social media outlets that eventually transition onto YouTube type blogs. Jenkins also mentioned how the digital divide is also in effect on YouTube as minorities are underrepresented at least among the most viewed videos, and there are still many who don’t have access to such social media sites.

I think today, YouTube has definitely grown bigger than from five years ago. More people have access, and the site connects to other social media more seamlessly than before. YouTube is not a typical social networking site like Facebook, but it has its own community and connectivity that is on par with the likes of Facebook, especially since they are linked to each other. Even on television there are entire shows dedicated to just viewing the best or funniest clips from YouTube such as Ridiculousness on MTV or Tosh.0 on Comedy Central. Today YouTube represents a shift in how information is transmitted. It is more accessible, and newspaper companies such as The New York times are catching on and using it as another medium to bring the news.

From the shows on tv that broadcast the best videos from YouTube, many everyday activities that people normally wouldn’t give a second thought, are exploding and becoming popular. Today just about anyone can be caught on camera and become famous or infamous instantly because many people have access to the internet and a means to get their media on the internet. These types of videos can change lives for better or worse. For example, recently a video was posted where a Cleveland bus driver hits a passenger. Without the people taping this incident, maybe the bus driver would not have been suspended and there would be no visual evidence other than the witnesses, but there is no doubt this type of video will become popular and possibly end up on television.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmqUlXQCAz8[/youtube]