Can we even imagine what the world would be like without YouTube and its many imitators/innovators? YouTube was founded in 2000. This means that for a little less than 20 years now, we have been watching videos of any length, on any subject, on demand and on our smart phones (2008+) for free! Thanks to algorithms, most videos within easy reach are created for us and people like us. Others are made by us or even by total strangers we will never meet from all over the world.

Asking how videos on demand has changed the world is kind of like asking how TV or radio changed the world. Everything has been affected. But hopefully we can break it down a bit. How have such videos changed education and childhood socialization? What about kids' and adults' propensity - and ability - to read and write? Politics? News media? Culturally, have on-demand videos brought the world together or have they balkanized us like so many other social media technologies have?

What is next? We already have AI-created fake/altered videos and AI friends, some of which take 2-D (so far) human form. Some medical practitioners, including psychologists, are recording their patient sessions, with their permission presumably, and then showing the videos to AI programs to get advice on treatment techniques! Will *everything* we do soon be is videoed? We already have a nascent surveillance state and soon maybe, ubiquitous wearable or even implanted video technologies. Did YouTube help to make us a nation of voyeurs, or were we that already?

Obviously, my little list only included downsides. Of course, the YouTube era has brought many benefits, like consumer entertainment, all those how-to-install/fix-my-broken-XYZ videos, and as an assistant to law enforcement.

The larger point is: We have come a long way from cute cat videos, kids. Free videos of anything on demand is a revolution all by itself.

I am looking forward to researching this topic and learning more about group members' experiences with and opinions on the YouTube era and its consequences. Check back here the week before our 12/8 mtg for some optional readings.

**Optional Backgrounders –**

* TBA

DavidG

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