Video sharing sites are often held in low esteem because of the Lonelygirls, but there are also the use of video as a form of social cultural criticism, a la the anti-Axe commercial. But there have been some unconventional uses of video sharing and activism.
Some of you may recall a recent story about how the owner of a cigar store in Mesa, angered by the fact that he was burglarized, put up his surveillance video on YouTube. Within weeks there was a tip off and the burglar was arrested -whether of not as a result of it is debatable.
Keeping watch on the neighborhood seems to have taken off. I came across a video vigilante site called JohnTV as a way of attacking human trafficking and prostitution in Oklahoma. No different perhaps from the format used by NBC Dateline's, in the "To Catch a Predator."
Whether you call them citizen journalists or video vigilantes, it takes video sharing to a new level of activism.
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