“It’s time to turn your televisions off and your computers on.” Declared Katy Perry as she opened the first ever YouTube Live event last Saturday night in San Francisco. The event resembles a live festival featuring everyone’s favourite YouTube personalities and shows just how much YouTube has affected pop culture. Gavin Newsom the Mayor of San Francisco, also opened the event with the announcement of the inaugural YouTube Video Award. He shortly explained how YouTube has changed social networking and political campaigns and then later awarded Queen Rania of Jordan the award because of her use of YouTube for breaking down stereotypes and combating misconceptions about the Arab world. Along with the Mayor, Discovery channel’s Mythbusters painted a portrait with Leonardo 2.0, Freddy Wong played Guitar Hero with guitar legend Joe Satriani and Blendtec inventor Tom Dickson blended Chad Vader’s lunch on YouTube Live 08. The social impact of YouTube is incredible; it’s changed the way we spend time traditionally used to watch television and the way we communicate. In January 08 alone, 79 million YouTube users had made over 3 billion video views. Obviously the power of YouTube is incredible and YouTube Live 08 is just an example of what’s to come and where we are heading in the digital world we live in.
This is such a cool evolution of digital pop culture.
My perception of YouTube has just improved with what Queen Rania is using it for:) And I want one of those blenders!!!