Critical Media Ethnography: Researching Youth Media
By Korina Jocson
Reply by: Shu Shi

As the author Jocson suggests, I watched the video “Slip of the Tongue” made by Karen, a filmmaker who at the time was a high school student. I can see a strong self-esteem and a new way of self-expression revealed in the video. On the one hand, Karen had been affected by the neighborhood; on the other hand, she deeply knew that there was always something unattainable through those standards. Fortunately, she found a vent, Adriel Luis’s poem combining with her self-made video, to express her ambivalence.

In the text Jocson talks about a new phenomenon that to some extent the “growing media-savvy generation”(p.106) has been empowered by the digital literacy/multimedia writing; and I agree. Most articles analyzing adolescent leaners’ psychological state, character traits and social activities are written by scholars. Where is the voice of main characters though? With the appearance of self-media, we have more channels to hear from these young adults.

However, I can’t help thinking that Karen’s video can receive so much praise owing to her creativity and the positive influence brought with the video, but how about those videos arousing negative or pessimistic attitude? How can we diminish their impact? I know in China we have strict monitor rules for self-videos and internet users, so it is unlikely to upload some inappropriate passages or videos; but how about here in America? How does American government regulate self-videos? How should we deal with the potentially over-empowered issue? I look forward to hearing from my peers in the class.