User Generated Content (UGC) is re-shaping the way people watch video and TV, with millions of video producers and consumers. In particular, UGC sites are creating new viewing patterns and social interactions, empowering users to be more creative, and developing new business opportunities. To better understand the impact of UGC systems, we have analyzed YouTube, the world's largest UGC VoD system. Based on a large amount of data collected, we provide an in-depth study of YouTube and other similar UGC systems. In particular, we study the popularity life-cycle of videos, the intrinsic statistical properties of requests and their relationship with video age, and the level of content aliasing or of illegal content in the system.
The recent case of a Columbia grad, Carla Franklin, seeking to have YouTube release the identity of an anonymous user who posted defamatory comments and videos about her has reignited the debate over internet users' right to privacy:
The founder of 4chan, a controversial, uncensored online imageboard, describes its subculture, some of the Internet "memes" it has launched, and the incident in which its users managed a very public, precision hack of a mainstream media website. The talk raises questions about the power -- and price -- of anonymity.
Facebook, a site primarily used by college students and young graduates transitioning into the work force. The outcome of this initial case study is a framework for understanding how users manage self-presentation while maintaining social relationships in heterogeneous networks.
The present study investigates identity construction on Facebook, a newly emerged nonymous online environment. Based on content analysis of 63 Facebook accounts, we find that the identities produced in this nonymous environment differ from those constructed in the anonymous online environments previously reported. Facebook users predominantly claim their identities implicitly rather than explicitly; they "show rather than tell" and stress group and consumer identities over personally narrated ones. The characteristics of such identities are described and the implications of this finding are discussed.
Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships Early research on online self-presentation mostly focused on identity constructions in anonymous online environments. Such studies found that individuals tended to engage in role-play games and anti-normative behaviors in the online world.
Let's face it; YouTube sucks you in, it is a vortex of fascinating videos, some awesome, some awesomely disturbing! Below are the top 5 people who got famous (warranted or not) strictly through YouTube. Enjoy!
YouTube is a social website where the sport of trolling has thrived due to limited technical support, but some users are now striking back by filing lawsuits to have the identity of their harassers made public.