BYU NewsNet - YouTube on campus; don't surrender yet

YouTube. It's revolutionary. Its influence has reached into almost every realm of American life. Type a word, any word, into the search bar and you are sure to find a match... or thousands. News clips, home videos, episodes of canceled sitcoms, concerts, spoofs, documentaries, commercials... the sky is the limit. You can watch everything from in-flight safety instructional videos to women giving birth. Two of the cultural institutions which this phenomenon threatens most have decided to embrace YouTube in an effort to thwart its potentially parasitic relationship to them. If you can't beat YouTube, join it, they say.

On April 24 of this year, alternative rock band Weezer released their newest album, "The Red Album," debuting the music video for the track "Pork and Beans" on YouTube. The video, which is itself a parody of YouTube's most-watched videos, features band members dressed as various YouTube celebrities. Ironically enough, the music video was one of YouTube's most watched videos for weeks following its premier. Since the days of Napster and the massive file-sharing crackdowns, the music industry has been on guard. Weezer's triumph in beating YouTube before YouTube could beat it indicates a shift in thinking... YouTube can be a tool rather than an enemy.

YouTube is also a potential menace in the political realm. The bottom line is that anyone can post anything, making YouTube a breeding ground for misinformation and hostility. Many attribute the defeat of Republican Senator George Allen in 2006 to the heavy YouTube viewing during his campaign of a video clip of him making allegedly racist remarks. However, like the music industry, the world of politics has witnessed this power and adapted its approach. In collaboration with YouTube, CNN hosted a series of debates in which presidential candidates for the 2008 election fielded questions submitted in video form. Both CNN and YouTube were praised for organizing a debate, which actively involved a wider range of constituents than ever before.

At BYU, YouTube is more than just an obstacle to moneymaking or power-gaining. It's a threat to the inspiring, uplifting, productive, safe environment we now enjoy. YouTube's terms of service forbid uploading material that may be considered inappropriate or defamatory, but the sheer volume of videos uploaded makes that policy difficult to enforce. It's the nature of the beast. YouTube is, by no means, all bad. It has plenty of content with intrinsic educational and-it can even be argued-spiritual value. In arguing against the YouTube ban on campus, some may say that we have been given correct principles and we must be allowed to then govern ourselves by them. This is precisely why YouTube is not explicitly forbidden in the Honor Code. This is precisely why a student who accesses wholesome content on YouTube from an outside server will not be kicked out of BYU.

The titles of YouTube videos are sometimes misleading. Anyone could mistakenly open an obscene or even pornographic video. Although the likelihood of this occurring is small, the risk is too great. To have such content playing on a campus that has promised its students an environment of purity would be tragic. Someday they may develop a more efficient filtering system, and then we will be able to enjoy full access to its positive resources, but without schools like BYU taking a stand, YouTube will feel no pressure to do so. Yes, YouTube can be a useful tool, but to adopt the "if you can't beat YouTube, join it" attitude is to be cavalier with the values and virtues that BYU promised us and we promised BYU.

This editorial represents the opinion of The Daily Universe editorial board. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of BYU, its administration or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints..