I couldn't help noticing this morning as I arrived on the youtube homepage that there had been a categorisation error for some of the videos. The Christchurch Earthquake was displayed under the entertainment headline and under the sport headline was a recorded online match of the Starcraft 2 computer game.
As I pondered these media highlights I realised that there may not have been a categorisation mishap at all. The Christchurch Earthquake was quite a devastating event for sure. Many people are without homes and neccesities and a young child rode his bicycle into a large crack that had developed in the ground. However I assume that for the vast majority of the people browsing youtube who are not affected by the event, this really is just an entertainment video. Many people are going to click on this video hoping to see buildings falling down and vehicles exploding, I notice I have done this myself sometimes. When the news comes on and annoucnes that a volcano has erupted and pelted a small nearby village with rocks before enulfing it with lava, I will say something along the lines of "Oh dear me, oh my, those poor people!", meanwhile my mind is tingling with anticipation for the upcoming footage. If it turns out it is just me that does this then I admit it, I have a problem. If it is not just me, then perhaps youtube has caught onto the way humans work and decided to categorise things honestly for once.
As for the sport section. Starcraft is a very serious game, at least in South Korea. If you do not believe me then type 'Korea national sport' in Google. Computer games are gaining traction around the world as serious competitive events with big money prizes and it is not just in Korea. Who knows where this trend will lead, perhaps the Starcraft World Cup?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.