Remediating Tactility:

The Renegotiation of Sensory Experience in “Satisfying” Videos on YouTube

  • Stefan Werning

Abstract

This article investigates how ‘satisfying’ videos on YouTube have developed into a unique micro genre and established a new visuality based on remediating tactility (as well as other sensory experiences) via massively redundant visual characteristics and social media logic. To map this microgenre, the article outlines a novel technique rooted in cultural analytics, specifically the approach used by (Hochman and Manovich 2013) to study the visual imaginary of urban hubs. While these earlier studies focus on the chronological order of images within a (feature) film, this new approach allows for visualizing the emergence of a visual ‘vocabulary’ of ‘satisfying’ videos over time.

Published
2019-12-06