Drive-Thru

The New York Times reports in "YouTube, MySpace, and California's DMV" that the state agency that handles driver's licenses and vehicle registration is now embracing Web 2.0. Although the DMV YouTube channel has little of the traditional YouTube rhetoric of the self-documenting blogger or the camera turned on oddities, virtuoso performances, or DIY demonstrations, there are some interesting examples of what could be called meta-videos, such as Kyle's Driving Test, in which a high school student supposedly makes a video about how to fail the state's driving test. Because I have a student currently blogging about vehicle safety issues, I've been thinking about videos about on-the-road practices frequently of late. The Times also notes that the DMV has a MySpace page as well with a blog called "Ask George." Like many other MySpace pages, it also has a blaring soundtrack. Of course, this is ironic, should DOPA be approved, since schools and libraries would be barred from this useful information, given that it comes from a social network site and a website for video file-sharing.

Thanks to Suzanne Bolding of the Humanities Core Course for the link to this story.