YouTube as a Digital Medium

YouTube, since its launch on February 14, 2005, has revolutionized the way we stream videos online, and has given creators all over the world a platform to create and distribute their own video content. Whenever we want to watch a viral video, chances are that video went viral from YouTube. If we want to visually learn how to do something, chances are there's a tutorial for it on YouTube. If we want to study a famous pop star's music videos, chances are you can find all of them on YouTube. According to Dr. Janet Murray, for something to be considered a digital medium, it must meet four requirements, or "affordances," and YouTube meets all of them.

Procedural

Murray's first affordance of a digital medium is that it is procedural, meaning it is "composed of executable rules." Anyone who has ever tried to upload a video to YouTube publicly knows that the site has its own numerous (yet reasonable) rules for posting. They do not allow sexual, hateful, graphic, dangerous, threatening, or copyrighted content, as specified by the "Community Guidelines" page on their website. Because there are too many videos uploaded per day for them to monitor on their own, YouTube relies on the users to flag and report videos that do not meet their guidelines.

Those who have been hired by YouTube to post content regularly (also called YouTube Partners, Creators, or YouTubers), have another set of "advertiser-friendly" rules to follow. In addition to the regular community guidelines, these verified users must not upload content that is controversial or provocative, promotes drugs, or contains any strong profanity. Failure to meet these guidelines will result in the video getting demonetized, so the YouTuber will not make any money off of it.

Participatory

Murray's second affordance of a digital medium is that it is participatory, meaning it "[invites] human action and manipulation of the represented world." YouTube has a comment section which allows users to interact with the content of the videos, and with the uploader themselves. The YouTube comment section has a reputation of being horrible, because it is filled with bots, people saying they are "First!!" to comment, and above all, so much hate. Almost all the YouTubers I follow have had to make some kind of video in response to the mean comments they get on their channel as a way to call out their haters, or to send a message to their viewers not to let the hate get to them. See this video of John Oliver calling out his YouTube commenters in this Last Week Tonight web exclusive, for example.

Encyclopedic

Murray's third affordance of a digital medium is that it is encyclopedic, meaning it "[contains a] very high capacity of information in multiple media formats." YouTube's calling card is that they are a platform solely for video media, so they do not accommodate any other format. However, YouTube is encyclopedic in that it has videos in multiple different subjects. Videos on the site are organized into many categories, including (but not limited to) Education, Gaming, Comedy, Beauty, and Cooking. Just like an encyclopedia has information on almost anything you want to learn about, you can find a video about pretty much anything on YouTube.

Spatial

Murray's fourth and final affordance of a digital medium is that it is spatial, meaning it is "navigable as an information repository and/or a virtual place." YouTube's interface consists of three tabs: "Home," "Trending," and "Subscriptions." On the "Home" page, users see a list of recommended videos curated based on the videos they have watched recently, and a list of videos from the watch history just in case users want to watch something again. There is also a list of videos from frequently viewed channels that have been uploaded recently. On the "Trending" page, users see a list of videos that are going viral, receiving many views in a short amount of time. This tab is helpful for people to stay informed on the latest news and popular culture. On the final "Subscriptions" page, users can see the most recent videos their favorite channels have uploaded, so long as they have subscribed for updates. If users want to see videos from one specific YouTuber, they can go to that YouTuber's channel, and get a list of recently uploaded videos, or groups of similar videos in a playlist.