Commercialization and Authenticity
Taken from http://boyeseysblog.blogspot.com/

Test the statement: We express commercialization but we value authenticity.

Two points can help to express this:

• One is that a report was published last year that concluded that schoolchildren in the US know up to 1000 company logos but don’t know as much as 10 of their own native flora (plants).

• The second is that, with the arrival of electronic imaging and digital technology, it is possible for almost anything to be copied and that often the copy is better than the fake. This gives rise to the idea of a simulacra (a copy of something that does not exist), meaning that the copy is something that we have known has existed all along but that we have not expressed it sufficiently yet.

How does youtube and the online age help to express this point of Wesch's theory?
Youtube and the online age express the point of Weschs theory because of the freedom of speech and ideas on youtube and online, Wesch proves that the idea of the new online age is that anyone anywhere no matter what interest or ideas they have they can find someone with the same ideas on their certain subject. Also that his idea of how you truly do not know who you are talking to on chat sites. And that on youtube the opinions the speaker is expressing could be dubbed and change which is a negative. However it shows that the online age has added a level of freedom of speech and the idea of individualism in the certain people on their ideas because they can truly express their opinions.

Research Possibilities

· Consider how authenticity came to be so valued - is it now a rare commodity? How do commercial media products express this renewed desire for authenticity?

· Debate how vlogging on youtube can be seen as more authentic than other forms of social networking.

· Consider how hyper-reality affects the way that we behave i.e. we are so aware of the media that we automatically assume the manner of presenters and TV celebrities.

· Debate whether mash-ups are a tribute or a menace? Do some mash-ups actually come across as more authentic than the originals?

· Try to find out how many youtube videos are inspired by actual media products compared to those that are trends derived from the community.

· Is youtube special in that it allows us to be ‘prosumers’ more so than ever?What examples can you find of ‘prosumers’ on youtube?

· Youtube has been described as a ‘meta-business’ (meaning there is no ‘physical product’). Does this add to or reduce its authenticity?

· Do you think the only way of defining youtube’s effect on people is by looking at how it is used?

· Even though youtube has been described as giving rise to ‘vernacular creativity’, is it just going to be exploited by being ‘tapped into’ and used by business? Can youtube ever escape commercialisation? In order to escape it, must it forever evolve into new forms?

· The cinema business has recently found a renewed interest in realism. What methods make sure that some movies appear real to us?

· Seek out definitions of hyper-reality. Discuss how something can seen to be “more real than reality.”

· Does youtube help to democratise the internet by giving people room to express themselves and thereby gain more power?

· Explore how big an impact that user generated content has had on commercial businesses and how active modern audiences are. This has been defined by the theorist Tim O’Reilly as a ‘bottom up’ strategy.