Abstract:

This article describes YouTube as an immersive medium on a level not as much of interface operation as of communication practices driving attention engagement with the content as the main source of experiences. The operation of the service will be analysed with regard to both the interface along with the algorithm behind it, and user practices.

This new approach — as compared to existing studies — is based on the proposition that immersion mechanisms be analysed through the lens of marketing pragmatics (content, organic and experimental marketing). Relying on critical reflection from the fields of media and cultural studies, one can identify certain technical and social factors to immersion — sensory activity but also engagement and absorption as a sort of game with the content. The predominant strategy for content dissemination, however, is to generate organic traffic. Content is understood here as an exchange medium for which the user’s attention is an equivalent, while content experience should strive to build lasting relationships with the channel-brand and the latter’s community.

Despite the great potential for the building of engaged communities, one can still note some negative consequences of building communication communities on the basis of the logic of market exchange — immersion can lead to the construction of a closed, inward-looking social-value system.