NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Deeper Meaning in a Live YouTube April Fools' Gag
Deeper Meaning in a Live YouTube April Fools' Gag
http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/001018.html
As I'm typing this at around 16:45 PDT on April Fools' Day, Google's
YouTube is running one of the funniest stunts I've seen in years.
On this currently live video feed ( http://j.mp/X9E9pj ) we have a
pair of presenters reading the titles and uploader descriptions of
seemingly rather randomly selected YouTube videos. They're not
showing the videos mind you (except for a few being "spotlighted") --
just reading texts from large piles of red and white YouTube cards, in
a manner reminiscent of some twisted awards ceremony from an
alternative universe.
And in fact, this April Fools' Day event is part of a larger gag (one
of many deployed by Google for today -- others included "Gmail Blue,"
"Google Nose," and more).
In this case our presenters are purportedly in the process of
announcing every video ever uploaded to YouTube, in preparation for
shutting down YouTube for a decade, while the corpus of existing
videos is reviewed to select the "best of them all" -- to be announced
in 2023, of course.
What's so very fine about this particular joke is the way the pair of
presenters (Donald and Kendra) are playing it all absolutely straight,
with barely a smile cracked as they intone out loud video descriptions
ranging from touching to ludicrous, all of which appear to be 100%
absolutely legit. And of course, the juxtaposition of completely
unrelated descriptions only adds to the amusement.
But as this delightful spectacle continues to stream onto a screen to
my left at this very moment, I'm thinking that there is a deeper
meaning in play.
Those YouTube video descriptions -- from serious to silly, from banal
to urbane -- and by definition the videos associated with them -- are
a cross-section of real life, in all its stupendous variety and
wonder.
Soldiers in battle. Dog eating burger. Bad guitar players. A
tribute to a lost friend. Millions and millions and millions of
videos, every single one meaning something to whomever took the time
to upload them.
Lots of people make money posting on YouTube, but vastly more post
simply for the joy of sharing what they care about, and within those
piles of cards being read aloud today is the very essence of that
meaning -- remarkably clear even absent the actual videos themselves.
I think this is a truth worth noting. And since D and K were just
provided with chairs at last, it looks like the show may be good to go
for quite a while yet!
Even in the midst of this great April Fools' concept, there is a
teachable moment in every video upload, in every video description.
Together they're a distillation of so many persons' loves (and hates),
desires, fantasies and memories.
That's quite remarkable, really.
And it's no joke.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
- Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
_______________________________________________
nnsquad mailing list
http://lists.nnsquad.org/mailman/listinfo/nnsquad