Online Video Isn’t Just For Honkies
Vlogger Pam Newman of Louisville, Kentucky posted a video on Vimeo last week that asked a provocative question: “Where are the Black People on Vimeo?” Needless to say, she got a lot of comments! Many, of course, from other people on Vimeo who identify as black — and not strictly African-American. YouTube heavyweight Renetto also broached the question a few months ago about that service.
It’s an important question to ask. African-Americans have not always been portrayed in the best light by mainstream media, if their lives and culture were reflected at all. If you look at the popular lip dub clip produced by the team at Connected Ventures (who run Vimeo) it’s not exactly material for a United Colors of Benetton campaign. So, then, where are the black people in online video?
George Kelly, a journalist for the Contra Costa Times who recently started his own vlog and has been writing about African-American culture online at Negrophile for years, pointed out in a conversation over the phone, “they’re doing the Chicken Noodle Soup!” He also mentioned that included in the sites that the US Military recently decided to ban was portal Black Planet, which boasts over 16 million users, where among other features, users can upload their own videos.
It’s important not to treat African-Americans as a monolithic mass — some even love James Taylor (and I’d be hard pressed to find many white friends who’d say that publicly). As Cecily Walker points out in the comments to Newman’s post, there are even black people outside of the United States — apparently there’s a whole continent that’s practically full of them!
Technology is a mirror, and while there is clearly a digital divide along many lines [PDF], including race, the actual tools are completely neutral, and different people use them differently. There is some danger that those seeking to see only themselves reflected could very well do just that, and people will naturally gather around shared interests and common backgrounds. But as any of the black filmmakers, entrepreneurs, journalists, artists and developers I’ve come to know online might point out, they are certainly there if you care to look.
For instance, if you post a clip on your favorite video service asking “Where Are All the Black People?” I imagine they’ll find you.
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Even though online video is mostly a white people thing at this point, I think it will naturally spread to all races who have access to the technology. I don’t know a lot of black people in real life and I’m not interested in their portrayal in mainstream media, so it will be exciting when they can invite me to their dining room table, so to speak, through a video camera.
Black folks are there. Just perhaps not where Pam is looking. Maybe online videographers should add a “blackpeople” tag to their posts?
As with the Internet in general, however, a big part of the equation is access. Computer + camera + broadband internet = a lot of money, if it’s even available in that neighborhood. No seriously — I lived in an apartment complex were you couldn’t get DSL until about two years ago (right before I moved). And the complex’ contracted cable provider didn’t offer cable Internet.
I think we’ll start to see more black people creating online video as we see more video-and-web capable mobile phones and faster mobile web network speeds.
Black American and Hispanics are heavier consumers of both mobile voice minutes and mobile data plans. I’d bet that will extend to video as soon as our networks are fast enough.
Very good point. Unfortunately, sufficient mobile network infrastructure seems to be about 12 – 24 months away at best.
I feel thats its not all a money issue. African-American people tend to be more conscious about their image and maybe not as open as Caucasians. This also can be a social thing whereas they are more accustom to socializing in person, groups or over the phone. Some people may consider that talking into a video camera isn’t what they consider to be social, so sites like UStream where you actually see that your being watched and can interact would be of more interest to them.
I certainly agree that mobile technology is becoming a key in communities traditionally underserved by the Internet. Just from my personal experience, there’s definitely lots of anecdotal evidence that minorities are passionate users of advanced phone features.
Again, though, I’d like to stress that there are lots of talented folks working online right now. Some of my favorite shows like Can We Do That?, young talent like Brandon Flowers, and even my artist and blogger friends are taking advantage of the medium like anyone else.
The point is that, once someone gets access, they’re on the same relatively level playing field as everyone else, and that’s a beautiful thing!
So I’m just now seeing this, over a month later.
My questions were directed to the general public and not intended to really shoot daggers at the community that I’m a member of.
It’s more so of a question regarding the status of our internet culture as a whole. Blackplanet.com really doesn’t have a worthwhile video feature, and the videos of youtube still don’t accurately show a wide range of African Americans as far as “Creative,” ventures.
So black people, pony up, get your cameras, and make some damn videos.
love,
Pam
oh, and by the way… who actually uses BLACK PEOPLE as a search term when looking for black folks?
That’s a joke, man. A joke.
Apparently it’s not that funny if I have to explain it over, and over, and over again. I did not expect the video to get much, if any attention at all.
my bad.
A Black person making videos online
http://www.centralelements.com/alexxthompson/video.html