‘KevJumba’ has contributed 34.1 They rarely exceed five minutes, and he gives
them all titles, names like “The Real Me” (May 4, 2007), “I Need Help with
Females” (May 29, 2007), “The Mac is Great for Porn” (December 7, 2007), and
“High School” (November 1, 2007). In most of them, KevJumba—whom regular
viewers know as Kevin, a Chinese American teenager living with his parents in Texas—follows an uncomplicated format. He sits at a desk in his sparsely
adorned bedroom and speaks into a still, digital camera that tightly frames him
from the shoulders up. The simplicity of this format, however, belies a more
complicated visual and auditory aesthetic performed in the videos. These are
slickly produced, fast-paced vignettes that rely on an editing style where quick
cuts, hip-hop beats, voice-overs, random dancing, role-playing, and talk intersperse
in comprising the narration of himself and of his world that KevJumba articulates
as he broadcasts from his bedroom desk. Three of these broadcasts have amassed
view counts that reach into the millions.2 In addition, with each new KevJumba
video come thousands of comments on YouTube message boards and an array
of video responses. In the world of YouTube, where countless young people post
and share videos, KevJumba’s status is exceptional. His videos are a repository of
connectivity for adolescents from around the world, who come together to view
and exchange information about what they see.
Saul, R. (2010).
KevJumba and the Adolescence of YouTube. Educational Studies, 46(5), 457-477.
doi:10.1080/00131946.2010.510404
very good work!
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