Youtube is a double-edged sword for public opinion, which can play both positive and negative effects. On the one hand, as an important media force, it plays the role of constructing a public discourse space, social morality, and democratization; on the other hand, it can make the sensational events spread. There is even a frequent occurrence of breakthroughs of the legal and moral restrictions, which have a vicious impact on the ecology of public opinion. This essay explores into how Youtube impacts public opinion.

The video on Youtube has gradually become a new way to impact public opinion, as video from Youtube provides people with a new and convenient way of communication. There is a rise of video sharing giants like Youtube and Google Video (Botha, 2014, p.363). Youtube has created a huge online space, further expanding the discourse space of individuals and media. It records life in the form of an intuitive image. It is profoundly and powerfully changing the way people live and interact. Direct democracy is popular (Vreese, 2007, p.1). The public can participate in social discussions more conveniently and directly, making the events more sensational in the era. But on the other hand, although it brings convenience to people’s lives, it also leads to many undesirable phenomena, such as the misrepresentation of the content and the vulgarity of the information.

At the same time, however, the low threshold of filming and dissemination of media videos has led to the different qualities of its content, with the difficulty of distinguishing between true and false. In the video, personal expression is more intuitive, and the communication effect is more realistic and persuasive. It is more likely to confuse right and wrong, and accordingly it is more likely to cause adverse consequences, and harm the public. The situation endangers social stability and even national security. The media field are both in a process of rapid change, with close connection between media texts and contexts of production and reception (Busch, 2006, p.609). The low threshold of video from the media platform and the motivation to pursue fun provide a broad space platform for media information entertainment.

The short and intuitive discourse mode and the visualized virtual reality are obviously more in line with the fast pace of modern society and the fast-paced psychology of the public. The audience is satisfied with the sensory pleasure from it, and gradually gives up rational thinking about complex things and public opinion. The mainstream values are gradually weakening, directly affecting the information value of the communication in media space , thus causing the disorder of the social discourse system in the real space. With the continuous development of Youtube videos from the media, the convenience of information dissemination will be further enhanced, but how to effectively prevent and control the spread of some bad videos is a very difficult problem.

In the case of Youtube, a dual society is generated which may make public opinion deviate from the principle of rationality. With the wide application of Youtube, it has gradually formed a dual society, that is, a new type of society based on citizens and netizens as the basis of new social structure. The network society formed by Youtube is different from the real society. The biggest difference between the two is that the real society is composed of people, and the network society is an extension of the real society and depends on the real society.

Due to the nature of the dual element, the boundary between the real society and the virtual society is gradually blurred. When the virtual community based on Youtube coincides with real life, the community on Youtube will contribute to the generation of neighborhood relations, that is, the virtual network society and the real society overlap, which is conducive to the generation of public opinion. The video information is rich in types. The simultaneous transmission of sound and picture can visually restore the truth of the news.

In the process of spreading multiple news events, it is hard for videos to exclude false information, and public opinion can not always maintain rationality. Fragmentation and distortion in the dissemination of Youtube are in fact related to one-sided descriptions. In the modern society where mass communication is extremely developed, the description of the real environment by the mass media is a presented after undergoing selective processing.

Thus, it is necessary to guide the video by the media platform especially in the era when Youtube videos are popular and users are anonymous. The Youtube users have a new feature that is, participation of both celebrity and ordinary people in a free manner. The life of the celebrity is originally mysterious, but under the operation mode of Youtube video platform, many celebrities have shared their life in Youtube and become the publishers of short video. And the content released is often sought after by the majority of netizens, and can even create hot topics, trigger viral spread, and further promote the development of the video platforms. The relative anonymity makes netizens free from the constraints of the real world. They are free to express their opinions, and update the content they want to publish.

Youtube’s mechanisms of producing content can ensure the users’ access to it and use rights, so that the audience can express their opinions. The Media in the modern 24 hour media cycle competes for space readers and viewers of their message and opinions (Schulz, 2012). This kind of operation model makes some irresponsible or sensational remarks and news spread indiscriminately. In the process, some videos on Youtube are only for the purpose of gaining attention or seeking a sense of identity. There is a clear pattern of subtopic difference, gender and sentiment in Youtube (Thelwall, 2017, p.1). Some users deliberately send some videos to cause controversy and participate in social topic discussions. The individuals have formed group, which has caused huge public opinion pressure. The irrational expression, uncontrollable spread and false content that the public uses when using Youtube are the reasons for the regulation.

Due to the popularity of Youtube, although the credibility of Youtube is weaker than that of traditional news media, the use of Youtube is far greater in its influence on public opinions than the use of traditional media. In fact, they have broken through the limitations of traditional media, and this will effectively encourage the public to be more enthusiastic about discussing the public. This has promoted the formation of public opinion forces.

Reference lists
Botha, E. (2014). A means to an end: using political satire to go viral. Public Relations Review, 40(2), 363-374.

Thelwall, M. (2017). Social media analytics for youtube comments: potential and limitations. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 1-14.

Vreese, C. H. D. . (2007). Context, elites, media and public opinion in referendums: why campaigns really matter. Dynamics of Referendum Campaigns in International Perspective, 1-20.

Schulz, P. D. . (2012). Courts the media and infotainment: a discourse of disrespect. SSRN Electronic Journal.

Busch, B. . (2006). Media, politics, and discourse: interactions. Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics, 609-616.