The Web is Us/ing Us

Unfortunately, this video essay doesn't really explore the implications of its title and the ways that "users" can be "used" by corporate and political interests. I'm also not sure about the way it presents XML as a way to separate "form" and "content" rather than see it as metadata, which it is. Moreover, this video raises a lot of issues about fundamental social change at the very end -- ironically some of the same issues deferred in the comforting pap of this corporate ad -- that don't really get airtime.

But as someone who has done a YouTube video essay and knows the rhetorical challenges of the medium, I think it is an impressive effort. Despite the virtuoso performance, however, the creator of this video describes it as a "draft." It is interesting also to note that this YouTube video essay is actually presented as a response to this one on Web 2.0. (Of course, this video has already generated its own response, which compares Web 2.0 to reality TV.)