User-generated video and the online public sphere: Will YouTube facilitate digital freedom of expression in Atlantic Canada?

Abstract

Democracy relies on freedom of expression and the opportunity for citizens to exchange views and form public opinion about issues of social concern. User-generated online video (UGOV) has allowed hundreds of thousands of audiovisual content creators and gatherers to upload clips and video blogs to video portal sites such as YouTube, where they can be accessed by anyone with adequate computer hardware, software and Internet bandwidth. Video-posters and viewers can communicate through textual and video commentaries as well as video rating systems. To assess the opportunities and limitations on the freedom offered by this new type of expression, our study surveyed YouTube users in Atlantic Canada as well as Atlantic Canadian UGOVs on YouTube to assess whether and how UGOV is contributing to the online public sphere.

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