DON'T YOU FORGET ABOUT ME

Abstract

In June 2008 the search term “Madeleine McCann” generated around 3700 videos on YouTube, attracting over seven million text responses. This research project used generic analysis to allocate videos to categories according to their content. Using critical discourse analysis, the nature of the comments posted in response to the videos was then assessed. Both methods were deployed to explore three broad research questions. First, what kind of content were people uploading to YouTube in response to the case? Second, where did YouTube users position themselves in relation to the dominant discourses of the news media in this case? Third, previous work demonstrates evidence of “collective expressiveness, emotionality, and identity” (Greer, 2004) in virtual communities structured around cases of child murder in the United Kingdom: to what extent were these characteristics of imagined community evident in responses to videos? Results demonstrate that YouTube provides a forum for a broad range of responses to the case, both accommodating and expanding on dominant mainstream discourses. Evidence of distinct imagined communities forming around particular responses to the case demonstrate nuanced and complex patterns of responses to mediated crime through YouTube, as technology erodes the traditional boundaries between producers and consumers of crime news.

Keywords:

• crime news
• Madeleine McCann
• user-generated content
• virtual community
• YouTube

Notes

1. An “arguido”, or “arguida” if female, normally translates as “formal suspect” in Portuguese law. It denotes someone whose status is more than that of witness, but who has not been arrested or charged. The status allows for a more accusatory line of questioning, but also affords legal protection such as the right to remain silent, and to legal representation (see Graham Keeley's Q & A for Times Online for further information (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2407089.ece).

2. The 3 Arguidos Forum, http://www.the3arguidos.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=20&sid=faabbcf7137bb205f11001175de77788, accessed 10 September 2008.