Week 3.1: YouTube Genre Display Case

As a follow-up to the previous post, this one’s a list of different genres on YouTube, a bit of a description, and links to example channels that generally fall into that category to give you an idea of how they play out. Note that many channels might fall into multiple genres, and also that this list is by no means exhaustive.

BookTube

People talking about books, typically in a very vloggy format. Reviews, book love exuberance, “what I’ve been reading,” etc…

YouTube EDU

Videos created with the express purpose of educating viewers on or inspiring curiosity about a subject; usually the same subject across a channel.

Gaming

Videos showing creators playing through a game while also providing narration or showing their reactions to the game.
  • Library Relevance: Sometimes folks will watch other people play the games that they can’t, or for entertainment value. Yep, including minecraft.
  • ExamplesjacksepticeyemarkiplierDaisyyMichelle

How-To

Videos created to guide the viewer through the completion of some kind of task or process.
  • Library Relevance: step-by-step instructions on how to do something very specific (home improvement, programming, cooking, math).
  • Examples: Bon Appétit, NanciPi, ExcelIsFun

Think Pieces

Similar to EDU, but more of a one-shot rather than following a theme or subject area across an entire channel.
  • Library Relevance: Satisfying curiosity, answering questions you didn’t realize you had. Often cover contemporary ideas.
  • ExamplesveritasiumVsaucePBS Idea Channel

Vlogs

V(ideo B)logs created as a platform for individuals to talk about whatever topics come to mind. Authentic, intimate, and interpersonal by design.

Week 3: YouTube, Genre, and Vlogs as the Primordial Soup of Online Video

Riding off of last week’s broad topic of how libraries and YouTube compare, this week let’s talk (more) about genre. I touched on it at the end of last week’s first post within the context of how different genres of videos map onto different library offerings, but this is a topic that I think deserves a lot of attention, for two reasons. Continue reading “Week 3: YouTube, Genre, and Vlogs as the Primordial Soup of Online Video”