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January 5, 2008

WWJYT?

The past two nights I have spent a good amount of time watching YouTube videos with friends. Talk about connecting people through media! There is nothing better than seeing the latest creation from some artistic mind out there in the world. Whether it be 'Chocolate Rain', 'Crack Spider', 'Scary Mary', or whatever the case may be for the day, it is so fun to laugh at what people come up with.

Today network TV executives are scrambling to find a way to beat the system that is YouTube. Once a pop culture phenomenon, Marc Cherry and everyone else at the writing desk of Desperate Housewives are trying to figure out how their show could have lost 8 million viewers in the past two years...one answer, YouTube! The latest and greatest video is always something new...not the same ol' same ol'. I can't help but wonder how much effect YouTube has had on the Neilson report. With the wonders of YouTube and MySpace, and Facebook as well, people can make movies or skits and show them off...to people they don't even know. The people that make these videos get coverage and millions of people see them through word of mouth...it's amazing!
Along with Desperate Housewives, Saturday Night Live has lost many viewers as well. The show is not funny...but have you seen the Jesus videos made by Vintage21? Now those are funny! They're creative! Inventive even! YouTube it.
There is something about the longing for individualism yet being a part of the group that makes this video-viewing website so attractive. Once you have your YouTube account you can save videos and rate them. In this way, you can introduce people to who you are, so to speak. When I was younger I would make mixtapes every month or so, it helped me show how cool I was. Teenagers now use YouTube as their vehicle for boasting at what they found, and therefore, proving the same thing I did, that they're cool.
What I like about these trends is that as individual as it is...it's communal at the same time. Why would I post a blog if I thought no one would look at? The same goes for YouTubers, Facebookers, MySpacers, etc. It is through these types of media that we get to know each other a little bit better, that we experience other peoples' thoughts in a visual way, we see each other's creations and celebrate each other's gifts! We get to share our thoughts and hear opinions that may not be our own. We learn. I just love it. Even the geekiest of geeks can be appreciated for what they've done...that never happened when I was 16.
I wonder what God's thoughts must be of YouTube or Facebook. I see many people being creative and putting their minds together to produce a mini-film that connects people. He must be pleased. Although I also see how some use these websites for fame and wrong motives, there are good things happening. Even CNN used YouTube for their Presidential Debates. But what would the Lord have to say about YouTube? I believe God is all over the website. In fact, the next thing you know we'll all be walking around with WWJYT? bracelets. It'll be pretty funny...but such a sign of the times. OK, I won't be wearing one of those...but I bet a lot of people will.

| By Nathan Gemayel | 10:45 PM

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