Learning the 5 Lessons of YouTube: After Trying to Teach There, I Don’t Believe the Hype

Introduction: DIY vs. Punk

“DIY” is new media’s latest buzz-word1: ”prosumers” mashing up the Simpsons, Jessica or Bart; YouTubers uploading streams of lonely video. Bollocks! Let’s do pay mind to the buzz-cocks. DIY2 is nothing new. While web 2.0 may radically expand access and distribution of media to its erstwhile viewers, DIY was once punk, and it meant much more than friendly citizen-practitioner.

Wikipedia explains, “Common punk views include the DIY ethic, rejection of conformity, direct action for political change, and not selling out to mainstream interests for personal gain.” Punk was Rotten and Vicious. Sincere, or even Cynical contributions to the corporate machine do not a DIY ethics make.

• 1. USC’s Institute for Multimedia Literacy recently held the conference 24/7: A DIY Media Summit: http://iml.usc.edu/diy/stream.
• 2. http://www.youtube.com/user/BlankTV