Videoblogging Human Rights on YouTube

ABSTRACT This study discusses what happens when, instead of co-existing, our online and offline worlds clash. In an age where the difference between virtual reality and real life becomes almost impossible to distinguish, a re-examination of core values and ethics becomes a necessity to ensure that human decency is not abandoned and that ethical standards become a core part of virtual public spheres. This study discusses a fundamental theme of modern human communication that involves a shift from traditional face-to-face interaction to one that is heavily mediated. Specifically, this study focused on the role of different websites in providing a virtual public sphere, one exemplified by YouTube, where anonymity and immediacy greatly influence human communication in ways that may result in either fomenting greater divisions among societies and propagating a culture of carelessness and disregard for human rights, or one where human rights abuses are exposed, but victims’ identities are concealed and carefully protected.

ABOUT THE LECTURER Jacques DM Gimeno obtained her master’s degree in Mass Communication, with a concentration on human rights and political communication, from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Her research is focused on discourse analysis in different settings such as politics, human rights, and emancipation of women, children, and aborigines. She is currently looking into the role of geopolitics in conflict resolution and peace especially among international organizations directly involved with conflict countries in Asia and Africa. She has published and presented her studies in Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America.