b10: Video Vortex

Geert Lovink's introduction to The Video Vortex Reader emphasizes the significance of YouTube (and similar sites) as a database through which we search to find content we want, and also as an active purveyor of content, pushing forward those items that seem, based on heuristic algorithms, to match our personal preferences.

Similarly, "The Practice of Everyday Media Life" (by Lev Manovich) notes the active role of social media sites, but also takes into account the impact of corporate interests in modulating the tone of the social media.

While Lovink focuses on the personalized aspect of the social media - targeted content and advertising - and the impact they have on our society, our self-image, and our personalities, Manovich interprets the development of internet subcultures as homogenization (albiet within groups) that is often directed by more traditional media corporations. Manovich does, however, concede that the internet (particularly the Web 2.0 camp) has led the way in personalizing products and media in ways that were practically unheard-of until recently. Still, Lovink pays more attention to the "mirror" effect of targeted content, reflecting our own interests, and to the ways in which social media sites harness and direct our tendency to multitask. Overall, Lovink views social media from the perspective of its impact on individual life, while Manovich is more interested in the relationship between corporate interests and the social media.