“Broadcast yourself.” In today’s cyberspace-obsessed world, this unbelievably catchy phrase is universally recognized as the slogan of one of the Internet’s most popular sites—YouTube. People all over the world use YouTube to share a wide variety of different videos. They showcase their most candid moments, exciting events, and creative projects for a virtually infinite audience. With a student body so large and diverse, it is curious to see just what can be discovered by using the search term “Choate.”
A number of videos posted by students are simply images of events that have occurred around campus or at off-campus competitions and other occasions. Musical performances, sporting events, and many other everyday spectacles are present on the long list of results. Sports highlights include the last seventeen seconds of a Choate versus Deerfield home game, which ended in a rousing Choate victory that caused ecstatic spectators to flood the court. In fact, many Choate victories seem to appear on the site, including more offbeat examples like the Choate Math Team’s 2007 win in the Connecticut state math competition. Performances from school meetings and gatherings have also been uploaded to YouTube: a few performances by Choate’s Hip-Hop Dance Club come up along with Senior Soccer’s infamous dance from a pep rally for Deerfield Day ’06. Two videos from last year’s SAC concert featuring SelfMadeSoul and Remember September are available as well: Janell Boone ’09, who filmed and posted the videos, says, “YouTube is great for informing people everywhere about things you want them to know about… [the bands] got a lot of new fans because of the videos I posted.”
A cappella groups on campus seem to enjoy the publicity they receive from YouTube. Numerous videos portray the singing talents of Choate’s own vocal groups in various locales: it is quite easy to find recordings from the Maiyeros’ recent performance at Westminster Abbey in London. Maiyeros member Jin Ha ’08 remarks, “YouTube is an amazing tool… it allows personal videos to be viewed on a global scale very easily. Any one of my peers or relatives who lives far away or overseas… can see and hear us sing via the Internet.” Dan Selinger ’09, a member of another boys’ a cappella group, the Kaprophones, explains, “YouTube has been a really great source of publicity for the Kaps so far. Because we’re still working on our CD that we plan to release next year, YouTube is really a way for fans of the group to get an on-demand performance just by searching ‘Kaprophones.’”
The selection of Choate-related videos on YouTube also includes examples of Choate alumni when they were residents on campus. An example of this is last year’s humorous video of Dae-Ro Lee ’07 singing along to Hoobastank’s “The Reason.” Even older is a two-part Star Trek fan video made by Choate students four years ago: “[The Star Trek video] is really entertaining,” says Caleb Johnson ’10. He continued, “It’s cool to see seniors from last year in it, like my friend John Tiholiz [’07].”
Outside sources occasionally post videos of Choate as well. The well-known “street crossing” video that was recorded last year is readily available for viewing by the public. The clip has caused a bit of controversy in the past among Wallingford locals and Choaties alike, but does it continue to spark debates despite its age? Jin Ha has lost interest: “I don’t really care that much. You’d hope that the local newspaper would spend more of its time covering more significant stories that could really intrigue its followers, but if people would like to record high school students crossing the roads in order to prove a tedious point… more power to them.”
Of course, when students post videos online, they must be careful not to show anything that could be considered offensive or inappropriate. Choate’s student handbook specifically states that “recordings of any person on the Choate Rosemary Hall campus or of any person identified as a member of the Choate Rosemary Hall community, or recordings of any Choate Rosemary Hall property may not be posted on Internet websites without express permission of the Dean of Students Office.” Fourth Form Dean David Webb explains: “…Generally, when we become aware of inappropriate stuff [online], the form dean addresses with the involved student. This can be ratcheted up if the matter crosses the line into harassment or any other of our school rules or Honor Code principles.” Clearly, there is a level of responsibility and good judgment that must accompany students’ recordings and posts.
