"Unboxing," the act of opening packages and commenting on their contents, is one of the most popular formats on YouTube. In a seminar held from September 16th to 20th, 2019, students in grades 8 to 10 at Friedensburg High School "unboxed" their experiences on social media channels and looked behind the scenes at YouTube and other platforms.
According to the 2018 JIM study, 90 percent of young people use the video platform several times a week, with 64 percent using it daily. Their high usage exemplifies the natural way they embrace digital technology. However, only 8 percent of young YouTube users upload their own videos once or several times, meaning that 92 percent never do. To enable and encourage participation in and thus engagement with the World Wide Web, the seminar combined an exploration of social media with hands-on media projects.
The result is three distinct films. A common thread is, on the one hand, ironic perspectives, and on the other hand, the question posed by the young participants: what is truly important to us in a life that merges digital and physical space in social interaction? How should and can I act in this environment?
- “Fame isn’t everything” – how does success as an influencer change a person, their actions, and their social interactions?
- "Everything for Fame," a challenge that promises YouTube fame. What am I doing to achieve this? How do I, as an influencer, cope with the pressure and expectations of my followers for a constant stream of new content?
- “Livestream” – what does constant online presence in the flow of, for example, advertising on social media mean for attention and interaction?
All videos and documentary photos were published on the blog of the Media+Communication courses at Friedensburg High School at http://muk.fosbe.de/tag/unboxing-social-media/
Enjoy watching!
The seminar was funded as part of the collaboration in the program “Political Youth Education in the AdB” in the project group “Digital Media and Democracy” and by the Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family.
