Main Argument

The main argument in this book centers on how YouTube is interacting with other forms of media today.  The authors argue that YouTube is essential the struggles of control and authority in the new media revolution and that YouTube helps to facilitate these struggles in an interactive, user-created way.  This interaction is seen through the emergence of participatory culture, YouTube’s conversation with mainstream media, and the site’s own popular culture and social network.

About the Authors

YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture was co-written by Jean Burguss and Joshua Green.  Both authors are extremely well versed in the medium of participatory culture and technology.  Green and Burguss are both associate professors of the Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation at Queensland University of Technology in Australia. There, they research, teach, and publish on the politics and possibilities of user-created content and online social networks.  Burguss, in particular, has also developed several research partnerships with community-based organizations, focusing on the uses of co-creative media for cultural participation, advocacy and engagement.