Broadcasting oneself: Staging authenticity in YouTube viral videos
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| Year of publication | 2014 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The presentation considers the phenomenon of popular follow-up videos through which users “broadcast themselves” on YouTube, more specifically those that recreate and sometimes parody professionally made video commercials. It appears that the follow-up videos strategically employ non-professionalism in order to project the non-expertness of their authors and protagonists, while otherwise remaining multimodally coherent with the originals. Whether genuine or staged, the authenticity and the ineptitude of those who broadcast themselves in this way not only contrast sharply with the original commercials but also provide the clue to our understanding of the whole phenomenon: rather than subjecting the original commercials to criticism or ridicule, the follow-up videos try to capitalize on their own non-professionalism and non-seriousness as a way of increasing their chances of online success. Arguably, in a world where popularity depends on the number of views, intentional underperformance may be one of the ways that lead to success. |