The New Genres: Video in the Internet Age

More than two decades into its short history, internet video remains a frontier of experimentation. The staggering number of creators producing and distributing video outside the commercial mainstream—made possible by the pervasiveness of affordable cameras and network connections—has resulted in an avalanche of free, readily viewable video that is only a tap away. Today, more than a million hours of original video are being uploaded, streamed, or shared online every day. 

This mass influx of new voices and the various platforms that inform and enable them have accelerated the genre-making process, creating more than a handful of recognizable forms. The New Genres presents a survey of the most significant, influential, and representational of these videos, including the vlog, a direct-to-camera diary in dialogue with the audience; Let’s Play, a narrated video game playthrough; unboxing, the unwrapping of a consumer product or object; and ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response), created to produce a tingling sensation on viewers’ skin. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.