1. How many viewers are estimated to have watched the youtube video?
According to Chris Crocker's youtube page this video has received 34,190,488 views to date and the Wikipedia page on Crocker states that "Within the first 24 hours of its posting, the video had accumulated over 2 million views."
2. How would you rate the video?
- Is it of high quality in technical terms? Is it interesting aesthetically eg camera angles, use of light, the narrative, and so on?
“Bo” (1991). Catherine Opie vs. a still from Chris Crocker's "Leave Britney Alone"
- Does it raise interesting socio-cultural issues?
These are all complex issues and it's fascinating to consider that such a low-tech and brief video can touch on all of them but what I think is important to remember regarding this point is that youtube is about much more than the video itself. Many of these issues and the extent to which they were expressed via this video were seen more in the response to the video than the clip itself. What seems so significant about the youtube site is not just that anyone can post their work, but that anyone can view and respond to it. With this site we see a new type of forum for discussion and a way to expose people to numerous things they otherwise might not see. It is this two way street idea that makes youtube as powerful and significant as it is.
3. Do you think it deserved the attention that it reeived from the internet community?
Though in many ways the attention that this video received seems a bit excessive (when you compare it to all of the more "serious" and "important" issues out there that could receive this level of attention instead) but at the same time I think that it is fitting. I suppose the reason that it makes sense is the fact that it received attention in a community not dissimilar to what it is discussing for example shallow pop-culture blogs like Perez Hilton's site. What I mean by this is that within this context of online entertainment, a video like this that is commenting on issues related to online entertainment seems very relevant and therefore deserving of the attention it received.
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