YouTube and the spoof culture on the internet

Abstract

The exponential expansion of the Internet as a databank has favored the preservation and diffusion of information traditionally considered expendable or of little cultural value. Private videos, independent productions, photo albums or schoolwork represent just a few examples of the type of material that is multiplying through cyberspace. according to david Shenk (1997), this excess of “unimportant” information cre- ates a kind of “datasmog” that is difficult to analyze and unheard of in the history of mankind, heretofore characterized essentially by a paucity of information. What stands out within this growing production of content is a practice known as “spoofing”, i.e., virtually infinite parodic variations of widely known media products such as TV commercials and television series. The goal of this work is to outline a possible theory of “digital trash”, based on the observation of the characteristics of spoofs on websites such as YouTube. Spoofing is also analyzed here in the context of the various poetics that pertain to the contemporary culture of technology.