Alex Day aka Nerimon and the Video Republic
Demos the influential left think tank has just published a report titled Video Republic. And it makes for interesting reading. In it they use Nerimon, an 18 year old YouTube user with subcribers totaling 30,000 as an example.
Generally positively deposed to user generated video and sites like YouTube, the report includes a quote by Jeff Jarvis, also one of ZuluZulu’s favourite media commentators.
“The revolution won’t be televised, it will be YouTube’ed”
They’re sounding a bit like Forrester Research with their Groundswell book does Demos. Forrester argues that social media is a trend, a groundswell where people turn to each other for things that where previously provided by corporates.
Demos argues that the Video Republic also promises a redistribution of power and has the possibility for a new kind of democracy.
Cecilia Hanon a researcher and lead author of the report made an telling observation in the UK Guardian with regards to the denizens of the Video Republic:
“Youngsters are working out their relationship to the outside world and forging an identity.”
This is of course not limited to YouTube. Sites like MySpace makes showing off and forging an identity easy with functionality that allows complete customisation of your page, blogging, video and audio streaming.
1 comment
Sure the technology holds the potential for a new kind of democracy but only if and when all have access to it.
Just as the SA govt. (theoretically) gives each citizen a daily ration of water and electricity, they should give say a meg of data and roll out WiMax over the whole country. And have TV shows teaching how to use it.
The speed with which we adopted cellphone technology, despite its cost, shows the potential demand for more.
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