YouTube is a hit in K-State classroom, world
Originally published 09:57 p.m., February 15, 2007
Updated 09:27 a.m., February 16, 2007
YouTube is an online video streaming service that allows anyone to view and share videos. It was founded in 2005 and quickly gained popularity.
And since anthropology is the science that deals with cultural and social development in humans, one K-State professor thought YouTube would be a great tool for students to learn how technology has changed us.
Who thought Anthropology could be so exciting?
Well, it is quite a hit in one classroom at K-State, thanks to a professor who has changed how student's study people's behavior through YouTube.
Assistant Professor Mike Wesch produced and posted a video on YouTube.
"It took me three days to actually make it - but it was months of actually thinking about what the web is all about and how it's changing," Wesch said.
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And how fast it's changing the way people communicate.
And just five days after, Wesch's video premiered at number one on YouTube.
That's the point of his class. It's the study of digital culture, the popularity of YouTube and raising awareness about how the web is changing society.
"The changes that go along with that in society and they can be very extensive," Wesch said.
Nine students are doing research as to why so many people are fascinated by it by diving into the world of YouTube themselves.
"It was kind of like an obsession," KSU anthropology senior Rebecca Roth said.
Roth just posted her first video of herself. In it, she's just talking about posting her first video.
"It feels like you're talking to a wall and you're not, you're talking to potentially millions of people," Roth said.
Curtis Schwieterman wrote a song in one day, went home and decided he wanted to see what other people thought.
"It's harder for the people close to you to see this than complete strangers," Schweiterman said.
This semester, the K-State students will ask these complete strangers why they use YouTube.
"The more we understand it the more we understand our future," Wesch said.
Throughout the semester the research group will ask the question, 'Why do YouTube?"
They hope to publish their findings on what else -- You Tube.
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