YouTube is one of the most well-known and widely discussed sites of participatory media in the contemporary online environment, and it is the first genuinely mass-popular platform for user-created video. In this timely and comprehensive introduction to how YouTube is being used and why it matters, Burgess and Green discuss the ways that it relates to wider transformations in culture, society and the economy.
The book critically examines the public debates surrounding the site, demonstrating how it is central to struggles for authority and control in the new media environment. Drawing on a range of theoretical sources and empirical research, the authors discuss how YouTube is being used by the media industries, by audiences and amateur producers, and by particular communities of interest, and the ways in which these uses challenge existing ideas about cultural production and consumption.
Rich with both concrete examples and featuring specially commissioned chapters by Henry Jenkins and John Hartley, the book is essential reading for anyone interested in the contemporary and future implications of online media. It will be particularly valuable for students and scholars in media, communication and cultural studies.

Jean Burgess is a research fellow at the Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.

Joshua Green is a research manager and Postdoctoral Researcher in the Comparative Media Studies program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Preface vii

Acknowledgments x

1 How YouTube Matters 1

2 YouTube and the Mainstream Media 15

3 YouTubes Popular Culture 38

4 YouTubes Social Network 58

5 YouTubes Cultural Politics 75

6 YouTubes Uncertain Futures 100

Henry Jenkins: What Happened Before YouTube 109

John Hartley: Uses of YouTube Digital Literacy and the Growth of Knowledge 126

Notes 144

References 152

Index 170