Technolandy

Day 25 (of 2025/26) #toontuesday – youtube as the next novel… TikTok as poetry? 

My son once asked… if schools are supposed to be preparing us for the future, where’s the class about youtube? Keep in mind he is more than a couple years beyond graduation… so this is not a new thought… and in New Media, I like bringing forward the notion that maybe we better legitimize the media as a legitimate variant of prose… its funny now, but once upon a time, the modern novel was mocked as a format and not seen as legitimate prose… in fact most experiments in literacy included something like a ‘dream sequence’ to get ‘permission’ to do something different… 

And there are some advantages being used by long-form video – ‘chapters’ are being provided to break apart videos to help with pacing/plot arcs… it is easy to re-view when you miss something… allusions in writing are the Easter eggs some of us like to find but instead of having to peruse shelves hoping to find something you’ll like… the algorithms present what is most likely to be liked based on your viewing habits… <— both good and bad… sometimes its good to get recommendations, but more times than not, I prefer to discover things on my own – in text as much as with video…

So in this analogy, some YouTube creators are our “novelists” of the digital era. Their channels are “oeuvres.” Viewers develop expectations of “voice,” genre, pacing. Certain creators might have a signature “style” (e.g. Casey Neistat’s camera work, pitch, editing transitions) that is analogous to Dickens’s or Austen’s style.

When viewing a long-form YouTube video, you can approach it with similar “close reading” techniques:

• What rhetorical “moves” or narrative structures does the creator use? (e.g. an opening hook, conflict or tension, resolution, call to action)

• What is the pacing like — how much time is spent developing context vs climax vs resolution?

• What choices in visuals, cuts, music, B-roll contribute to theme or emotional arcs?

• How does the creator interact with or respond to audience expectations or community, trends, comments — analogous to how authors may respond to their readership or cultural moment?

In this sense, a “long video essay” or “deep dive” piece might be your modern novel form. The difference is that the “text” is audiovisual, and the reader/viewer interaction is mediated by platform algorithms, interface, and feedback loops (comments, likes, shares).

And we all know that it is best when subtitles are on….

TikTok (and short-form) as “poetry” (or ephemera, fragments)

Poetry often compresses meaning, uses dense metaphor, leans on resonance, ambiguity, surprise, form, and emotional punch in small space. Short-form video does similarly:

• They convey a lot of meaning in seconds

• They rely on tone, juxtaposition, surprise, editing rhythm

• They are highly referential, remixable, participatory (duets, stitches)

• They are ephemeral, fast-moving, trend-driven

• They often emphasize affect, visual or sonic “hooks,” minimal exposition

Just as poets play with line breaks, enjambment, meter, imagery, short-form creators play with frame timing, snap cuts, transitions, sound cues, surprise twists. The same aesthetic vocabulary (metaphor, juxtaposition, subversion) might apply.

So in this schema:

• Long-form creators get the “novelist” treatment: themes, arcs, chapters, canon.

• Short-form creators / trends get the “poet / lyric / fragment” treatment: textual analysis, trend genealogy, echoes, allusions, forms.

Thus, the cultural criticism, scholarship, and fandom might evolve to treat YouTube creators like canonical authors, and TikTok creators/trends like poetic movements or traditions.

Most readers are gonna hate me here: Thinking about @SalishMatters as Dickens

Imagine that an account like @SalishMatters could be treated the way Dickens is now — i.e., its work analyzed, contextualized, lectured about, anthologized. That’s a strong idea. Over time, one could collect:

• A “selected videos” anthology

• Critical essays on recurring themes, visual style, rhetoric, impact

• Historical context (when and how the creator rose, platform constraints, algorithmic context)

• Influence on other creators, “school of style”

• Public reception, controversies, fan culture, community practices

That way, someone in 50 years studying @SalishMatters might do what a Dickens scholar does now: examine primary texts (videos), letters / interviews (behind-the-scenes), cultural reception, adaptations, parodies, influence.

Of course I have my own critiques and caveats / points to consider

• Media differences matter — Video is multimodal (audio + visual + temporal motion). You can’t fully reduce it to the “text + narrative” model without losing something. But I do like that youtube et al are letting us get to the true “back to basics” of communication – oral/aural storytelling before ‘the book’ made people think that there ought to only be one right way to share a story… 

• Algorithmic mediation — Unlike novels, YouTube content is surfaced, recommended, hidden, transformed by algorithms. The “reader” experience is mediated heavily by platform mechanics unlike the lists in newspapers that are in no way influenced by the publishing industry (sarcasm font??) 

• Interactivity / feedback loops — Comments, edits, updates, creator responsiveness mean that the “text” is not static and I only wish I could’ve added some comments and thoughts to the publications of Michael Crichton the way I can with BeardMeatsFood

• Ephemerality / platform change — Videos can get deleted, demonetized, shadowbanned. The medium is less stable than printed novels – and definitely emphasizes the ‘self publication’ model.. 

• Authorship ambiguity — Many creators repurpose, remix, collaborate. The boundary of “author” is less fixed especially when so many copy the trends used by early adopters and trend setters, which can also create some delightful discourse not unlike the rants between Steinbeck and Hemingway or Lewis and Tolkien!

But these aren’t fatal — they’re features that make the medium interesting and worthy of its own critical traditions. Explore the activities encouraged in this New Media share: https://youtu.be/g-5gfsXDr48