Burgness and Green Essay
Burgness and Green argue that ordinary people who become celebrities through their own creative efforts remain within the system of celebrity native to, and controlled by the mass media. (Reader, p.269). Discuss argument giving an example of You Tube video. Specify chosen argument in your answer.
It is known that mass media represents a type of communication which can refer to a rather large audience. It includes not only newspapers and magazines, radio and television but also Internet and advertising and so on. Moreover, mass media is an important force in the present day culture. Mass media influences the culture. My means of mass media thousands of people have already become celebrities. (The Role of Mass Media, 2011)
Internet is the source which makes it possible to create celebrities from ordinary people. You Tube is one of those components of Internet which gives an opportunity to become celebrity within a short period of time. You Tube helps the users to express their opinions and show their talents.
I should say that You Tube helps to develop personality in some way. Today we can find that there is an increase in video participation of the users online. They represent their videos online because they want to become celebrities.
It is known that Jean Burgess and Joshua Green consider that You Tube is a platform for non professionals who express themselves democratically. These people who represent themselves by means of You Tube have a lot of fans of their successful videos. They are true celebrities but they “remain in the system of celebrity native to and controlled by the mass media”. (Burgess & Green, 2009, p.24)
The talented users whose talents were not discovered in the ordinary world have a chance to be highly appreciated by means of You Tube.
Here is an example of the video which became popular on You Tube. http://youtu.be/_PinbOUN260
A lot of You Tubers were interested in this video and a great deal of other videos produces by this guy. He seems to be funny but at the same time we can see his emotions which is also very interesting. Frezned is the name of that guy. Frezned has already produced a great number of his short videos. He is known as a celebrity on You Tube.
The other video which was also successful is A Story from my Life http://youtu.be/Ba-8V2ypSno
This guy can speak very fast and this fact attracts other You Tubers. They watch his videos and have fun. Frezned is a DIY celebrity and he has his own fans.
Among hundreds of thousands of videos which can be found on You Tube, one can find those which will satisfy his or her interests and demands. According to the statistical data, about 64% of users prefer to spend their free time watching You Tube. They are interested in other people’s talents and are ready to learn more and more about them.
Burgess and Green are sure that the improvement in the technologies made it possible to improve the talents of the users. They write that You Tube has been “mythologized as literally way to broadcast yourself into Fame and Fortune” (Burgess & Green, 2009, p.22)
The above mentioned example of the guy from Australia who can speak emotionally and very fast shows that this person became famous in the virtual world while in the real world his talents were not noticed. He was involved in the world of mass media in order to get his celebrity status.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is necessary to say that Burgess and Green’s argument that “ordinary people who became celebrities through their own creative efforts and talents remain within the system of celebrity native to and controlled by the mass media”, is absolutely true.
