Suspected vandals caught after posting YouTube video

Four Scottsdale youths posted a video “of us breaking stuff” by smashing skateboards into vending machines and cars on YouTube, gathering over 1,300 hits.

Police identified them on the video and the youths face charges in Maricopa County Juvenile Court.

Throughout this whole blog I’ve argued that YouTube shouldn’t allow these videos to be posted online. Many have disagreed with me…but look where it got these teenagers. Obviously I don’t know for sure, but YouTube must have been some sort of incentive for these teenagers to “break stuff”. It’s a way of them getting recognition. If YouTube didn’t allow such footage to be posted online than one could hypothetically say that they never would have committed such a crime…

On the other hand…YouTube is a sharing website and people should be allowed to upload whatever they want, and if teenagers want to upload videos of themselves ruining people’s property than they should be able to…at the risk of being found by the police that is!

What do you think? Do you agree that the video should never have been allowed to be posted online? Or do you believe that YouTube are just in allowing this video to be published?

All comments welcome…

Gang fight in Gwinnett school captured on YouTube

Yet another school fight was posted on YouTube. This time the fight took place at Mill Creek High where six students were suspended for beating up a fellow class mate.

YouTube NEED to censor these videos, however, it’s true that this would be a long and difficult process. There must be another way in which they can deal with inappropriate videos. A solution occurred to me…When school fights are posted online, instead of removing them, another video should be posted illustrating how the people involved were punished. That way, others become more aware of the consequences of such bullying and violence… This is just an idea…and it may not necessarily work as the people involved may object to such a video being posted online…But hey YouTube is a sharing website and anything can be posted right?

What do you think? All comments welcome…

YouTube clip ‘incited suicide’

´How To´ suicide videos are on the rise on YouTube.

The telegraph told us on March 22nd that tougher regulation of the internet is needed to stop websites giving detailed instructions on how to commit suicide.

In one YouTube clip, viewed by the Bridgend coroner, an American man explains how to tie a hangman’s noose and mentions his growing fan base in the UK.

Mr Walters, the Bridgend coroner, said the man’s diary was very disturbing and that there was no doubt it was encouraging people to take their own lives.

This finding is extremely disturbing. It´s sad to think that so many people watched and copied this hideous footage. Like Mr Walters said, this kind of footage promotes, and can encourage others to commit suicide. I really think that YouTube shouldn’t publish videos giving instructions on how to commit suicide. YouTube don’t realise the extent to which such footage can influence people’s behaviour.

What do you think? All comments welcome…

Turkey blocks YouTube access

Turkey blocked access to the popular video-sharing Web site YouTube on Thursday in response to a video clip deemed insulting to the country’s revered founding father, state-run media said.

This is not the first time YouTube has been blocked in a country due to insulting videos.

The YouTube bans in Turkey have highlighted the country’s troubled record on free expression which Turkey wants to improve as part of its bid to join the European Union.

The questions which need to be asked here is Turkey correct? Is YouTube wrong for allowing such videos to be posted on their website OR is it fair?

It’s difficult to answer such questions because we are not in the Turks position. Had someone posted a video insulting Tony Blair or Margaret Thatcher would Britain react in the same way?

What do you think? All comments welcome…

Youngsters dice with death in YouTube railway stunts

Yesterday it was reported that youngsters are filming trains speeding towards them as they stand near the platform edge, with their cameras shaking because of the speed of the trains.

The youngsters try to get the drivers to sound train horns and then post videos on YouTube, with titles such as “horny drivers” and “awesome horn”.

This suggests that their incentive for carrying out such dangerous performances is that they will be praised via YouTube. By YouTube allowing such footage to be posted on their website they are encouraging this risky and harmful behaviour.

What do you think? All comments welcome…

YouTube Posting Leads to Arrests in Assault

Video images of first degree assaults were posted on YouTube reveals the NY Times today.

Police were tipped off about the footage when interviewing students about a separate incident. The footage shows punching, kicking and the use of a pocketknife against the victim.

It has now been removed from the website.

I’m finding it difficult to decide whether I think this video should have been posted on YouTube…On the one hand, it’s awful as it advocates violence and the use of weaponry. It also exemplifies how corrupt society has become that teenagers are firstly abusing one another, and secondly using mobile phones to record their abuse and then post it online. It’s as if they are proud of what they have accomplished which may in fact influence others to copy their obscene behaviour.

However, as a result of this footage being posted on YouTube the police were able to find the students and arrest them. The fact that this was the second local arrest in the past month linked to YouTube shows two things. One, evidently there is a lot of crime in this area, and two, the people in this district feel it necessary to display their felony online.

Therefore, by teenagers posting such videos on YouTube they are assisting police in finding and arresting them. Now, police will find it easier to locate such criminals. This illustrates how YouTube can actually be seen as an essential source for police when fighting against crime in New York.

What do you think? All comments welcome…

YouTube Video Causes Stir on Island

In today’s online edition of the Daily Times, an article was published on a video clip posted on YouTube revealing students imitating lewd sex acts in their high school toilet.

It managed to rank a few hundred views before it was eventually removed from YouTube.

Personally, I don’t understand how this video could have been posted online in the first place. There is nothing to gain from such a stupid and unpleasant video.

It also gives a bad name to their school as now it has become associated with ‘those boys on YouTube’.

I believe that this is the type of footage which should be censored from the public because no one benefits from it.

What do you think? All comments welcome…

Swedish Police Act after Violent YouTube Video

A 30 year old man in southern Sweden is under suspicion for serious weapons offenses, after he posted a film of himself and a friend firing pistols on YouTube, Huliq.com published yesterday.

Here is another example of how criminals use YouTube as an incentive to commit felonious crimes. Police believe that it’s common for criminals to post videos of themselves online.

One of the main problematic consequences of such anti social behaviour being published online, especially to a massive audience, is that there is a possibility that viewers may replicate the criminal’s actions.

There have been many psychology experiments which illustrate how true this is. Bandura (1965) conducted an experiment whereby children watched adults behaving aggressively or with a Bobo doll. After, the children were given the chance to play with the Bobo dolls and lo and behold the children replicated the adult’s behaviour and were violent with the doll. Bandura’s experiment is one of many which illustrate such findings.

Unfortunately, it’s safe to say that society is becoming more dangerous every day. We hear stories of children raping young children and teenager murders. If violent videos weren’t published on YouTube, such as the above, then maybe these vulgar acts would decline.

What do you think? All comments welcome…

US servicemen ’snorting drugs’ video

Footage of American service men snorting drugs was posted on YouTube, reports Metro Online today.

Drug abuse is increasing.

 

These kinds of videos on YouTube are extremely damaging as they act as drug promotion. Viewers may think ‘If American service men snort drugs then why can’t I?’ This could lead to them replicating the men’s behaviour.

Additionally, these American service men are supposed to be representing the United States Air Force and the state of America, who are currently attempting to reduce drug abuse…not advocate it.

There is an organization called “The Partnership for a Drug – Free America” who carry out drug education campaigns, and are determined to diminish drug abuse in America. They even have a channel on YouTube. However, this channel isn’t doing so well with only 3969 views and 23 subscribers.

What do you think? All comments welcome…

Lack of Control

YouTube have a lack of control.

People can upload whatever they want with little level of control in place. As you can see in the articles below YouTube have allowed such horrendous videos to be posted online. Sometimes, the videos are removed after a sufficient amount of complaints are served, however, simply removing them does not solve the problem. They should never have been allowed online in the first place. Once YouTube realise that they have to control the videos posted before they are actually online YouTube would be a happier place.

The video which disturbs me the most is ‘’YouTube Rape’ Mum Condemns Perverts Who Watched Online Footage’. The fact that over 600 people viewed this footage sickens me further. This is the kind of footage which encourages other criminals to carry out such crime. It’s sad that this is what YouTube has come to…gang rape footage, threats against schools, footage of officers behaving badly etc.

Aside from some of the footage being inappropriate, the comments on the videos can be even worse. Beyonce’s video for the song Listen attracted over 9 million viewers and over 6,000 comments. Among those comments – which were mainly from her fans – were crude racist remarks. There is nothing wrong with the video, or the song, in fact it’s a lovely song with beautiful lyrics, however, people still made offensive racist remarks which sparked off an argument within the comment page. YouTube did mark some racist comments as spam however the majority is still there when it should be removed. Unfortunately there are many other similar comments on other videos. This is a clear example of how YouTube lack control over the content being posted on their site.

I’m not saying that YouTube is an awful website, in fact I think highly of it in certain aspects. I think it’s great how music videos, funny scenes from movies, interviews with famous people, documentaries and other such footage are posted on YouTube.

However, they have to up their control over the videos and comments posted on the website.

What do you think? All comments welcome…