elearnspace

Trends can build and develop for long periods of time without significantly impacting status quo. Periodically, the trends coalesce and offer an expression of the nature of change. YouTube, for example, has had moments where it exerts its growing influence on existing political discourse (US presidential elections) and entertainment (pick any of the dozens of YouTube-created celebrities). Occasionally, an example of the depth of the power shift from The One to The Many arises. Dave Carroll’s damaged guitar, at the hands of United Airlines, resulted in this music video. Approaching 500,000 views, it has become an embarrassment to United and a rallying cry for frustrated travelers. The appeal of this video is largely based in the shared experience of suffering indignity and of “voice-less-ness” when dealing with large corporations. There is in this video, I think, as sense of expression given to our collective feelings of being powerless…followed by a sense (hope?) of the ability for emerging media to alter power relationships.