With the movement of many of our daily practices to digital means, the movement of our viewing and consumption of video was inevitable. What wasn't nearly as predictable was the way that the internet-faring public responded to the new medium.

"An anthropological introduction to YouTube" demonstrates this shift using a few examples; among them, the collective numa numa and soulja boy videos, video blogging, and the different dynamics and social changes that have resulted from youtube's introduction. Online video had been previously possible, but not in such an accessible format.

I found it fascinating how other parts of online culture migrated onto Youtube, and not only established themselves there but made use of the visuals to bring people seemingly closer together. Social communities can exist on blog sites, or social networking sites like facebook, but can't quite achieve the feeling closeness that youtube can provide, or at least, could not provide it until after its introduction. Posting video-recorded opinions and having them responded to in the same fashion actively simulates a face to face conversation, albeit one with a time delay. But until then, expressing oneself and interacting with others hadn't been quite so fluid.