Never ever audience has been as important and in fact rather crucial as it is now – equipped with the latest technology we are able to express ourselves and engage in an immediate conversation with whoever we want. Apart from Barack Obama or other big people – I cast doubt on a response from him to your direct message on Twitter…
Apart from Twitter, where content is based on deep tweets , Youtube is amongst the most popular websites in the world. And I believe it wouldn’t be if its one billion users couldn’t participate actively.
One of the latest trends is Q&A videos, in which popular Youtubers of all genre answer questions which their subscribers have regarded as important. These, as I have noticed, are mostly dealing with personal life; for instance, who’s your first boyfriend; what were your teenage years like.
Along with videos, Youtube consists of comment section. It’s not only a place where discussions, sometimes meaningless or offensive, take place but also a way of channel subscribers suggesting ideas on next videos.
These, however, are mainly common in DIY and recipe videos.
I believe, without letting audience participate Youtube would no longer be Youtube as we know it – a place to find similarly thinking people; have a laugh at ‘’Epic Fails’’ videos or lurk into someone’s private life. Conversely, it would be a platform of people uploading videos with no content not even knowing if anyone is willing to watch them. Not too much fun, am I right?
Network Society and the Media 
I agree, YouTube and its content creators would be no where without the audience
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As someone who’s not a YouTube channel subscriber in any way, I’m always blown away by how popular YouTube users can be, on account of their subscribers: people who actively follow channels and participate in ‘suggesting the next video’. Much like I don’t really understand the appeal of watching other people play sport, I have no interest in watching other people apply make-up; or play video games. But while I might not subscribe, the variety of YouTube communities these channels create is impressive.
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