Mormons and Youtube Ryan Reeder
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All Graduate Plan B and other Reports Graduate Studies 8-2017 Mormons and YouTube Ryan Reeder Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports Part of the American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Reeder, Ryan, "Mormons and YouTube" (2017). All Graduate Plan B and other Reports. 1096. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/gradreports/1096 This Creative Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Graduate Plan B and other Reports by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MORMONS AND YOUTUBE by Ryan B. Reeder A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in American Studies Approved: ____________________________ ____________________________ Philip L. Barlow, Ph.D. Lynne S. McNeill, Ph.D. Major Professor Committee Member ____________________________ Jared S. Colton, Ph.D. Committee Member UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY Logan, Utah 2017 ii Copyright © Ryan Reeder 2017 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT MORMONS AND YOUTUBE by Ryan B. Reeder, Master of Arts Utah State University, 2017 Major Professor: Philip Barlow Department: American Studies As the internet’s second-most trafficked site, behind only Google in both the United States and globally, and with 600,000 hours of content uploaded and one billion hours viewed daily by more than one billion monthly users, YouTube’s reach and scope is vast. Growing out of a need to better facilitate the production and distribution of online video, YouTube was able to become dominant through a combination of factors including the implementation of innovative features, an ability to capitalize on popular videos hosted on its site, and good timing in managing to become a key component of the social media revolution. YouTube, through its ubiquity and ease of use, has provided the tools for institutions, professionals, and individual members of society to tell their own stories, to share their own talents, to play their own music, both literally and figuratively, and to otherwise express themselves as never before. In translating their culture onto YouTube, Mormons have been able to do all of this, with an additional focus on sharing their beliefs, values, and religion, both directly and indirectly. While elements of Mormon belief, history and society can be found reflected in their YouTube videos, Moreover, YouTube has allowed Mormons and other cultures to refine and add new iv dimensions to their cultures, which in turn has helped to reshape their societies. In this symbiotic process, culture continues to develop the societies that create it. (148 pages) v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In writing this thesis, I have received support and encouragement from a number of people. The idea for this topic first struck me in an American Studies course taught by Dr. Victoria Grieve, in which I was exposed to the Vivian Sobchak essay that opens this work. Administrative work from Dr. Christine Cooper-Rompato and Candi Checketts was timely and appreciated. In selecting my committee, I chose experts in the areas of Mormon Studies, Digital Folklore and Technical Communication. The suggestions and feedback of Dr. Philip Barlow, Dr. Lynne McNeill and Dr. Jared Colton have been invaluable, particularly the work and efforts of Dr. Barlow, my committee chair, whose advice and guidance have strengthened the thesis considerably. Family members have also been supportive. Dr. Brent Muhlestein spurred me to renew my educational pursuits. Hyrum and Becky Checketts have provided numerous instances of support and encouragement. On a visit, Brent and Nancy Pearce provided useful, insightful questions that helped to focus my research. My parents, Brent and Carma Reeder, have always been supportive. And my wife, Rachel Checketts Reeder, deserves all of the praise I can give and more for sticking with me through moments of frustration and many long hours of work (and trying to work) while we maintained a busy schedule in other areas. A few of her insights made their way into the work. I love you forever, and I expect to love you more, OK? Finally, many prayers answered by moments of insight and continuously opened doors also lead me to credit and acknowledge the hand of my Heavenly Father, through whom all things are possible. Ryan Reeder vi CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................ i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................ iii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................v CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................1 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................4 II. VIRAL VIDEO AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUTUBE .........................8 III. PEOPLE, POSSIBILITIES AND POTENTIAL: WHY MORMONS USE YOUTUBE .................................................................................................... 17 IV. PRECEDENT, PURPOSE AND POPULAR CULTURE: WHY MORMONS AND YOUTUBE MATTER ..........................................................................35 The 0th Wave ..........................................................................................................40 The First Wave .......................................................................................................46 The Second Wave ..................................................................................................51 The Third Wave ................................................................................................... 54 The Fourth Wave ..................................................................................................60 V. MORMONS AND YOUTUBE: THE FIFTH WAVE ......................................83 V. CONCLUSIONS, CONCERNS AND CONFIDENCE: THE FUTURE OF MORMONS AND YOUTUBE ...................................................................107 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...........................................................................................................115 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page . 4.1 Expansion of Engagement........................................................................................60 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION In 1980, Vivian Sobchak made the case for the inclusion of Film Studies within the canon of American Studies. “Film Studies is as integral a part of American Studies as American Studies is a part of Film Studies,” she wrote. “American film and American culture are considered mutually interdependent, each illuminating and providing a context for the other.” She went on to say further, “The cinema doesn’t just illustrate but has been and is American art, history, politics, culture, and institution from 1895 to the present. It does not seem too strong to say that without the inclusion of film, American Studies is not studying America” (Sobchak 280-281, 300). By the time Sobchak wrote, American cinema had been well established. It had passed through its early Silent Era, enjoyed a Golden Age, and was well on its way to the modern Blockbuster Period. Film had certainly earned its place to be regarded as a major component in the study of American culture. With the advent and popularization of the internet in the mid-1990s, a new phase in American Studies began to emerge, which has also become vitally important to the understanding of America. The impact of the World Wide Web on society can hardly be understated. Vast storehouses of information have become instantly available to everyone. It has transformed and reshaped the ways we communicate with each other, both professionally and privately. And it has provided a medium through which film has been created and disseminated on a scale heretofore hardly imaginable. Just as the study of film had earned its inclusion in studies of American society by 1980 (if not long before), the internet has now long merited its place in the canon. Online 2 video has become one of the most dominant features of the internet, and YouTube is the dominant provider of online video. In February 2017, YouTube, now the second-most trafficked site on the internet (Alexa), noted that its viewers were watching more than one billion hours of video per day (Goodrow), and the Wall Street Journal predicted that it would soon eclipse American television’s 1.25 billion daily hours (Nicas). Not only has YouTube dominated online film, but in the twelve years since its creation, YouTube has grown to become a major part of both the internet and film. The development of YouTube has created a platform through which both individuals and institutions can tell their own stories without being filtered by an established media system. Therefore, YouTube as a venue has the potential to more closely parallel actual human society than any other medium. Print media reveal much, but visual media tend to reveal more. Motion pictures can reveal even more than still pictures. And motion pictures, freely and easily available for anyone to use without outside control, provide an optimal platform for societal self-expression. Within society, nearly every culture, ethnic group, nationality, age group, religion or other category or class