Towards a Methodology of Unwatched Digital Media

Abstract

Cinema and Media Studies scholarship has historically been grounded in examining media that has been deemed significant. Whether that significance has been determined to be social, aesthetic, political, or even economic, our focus has been trained on understanding and explaining its import. In the age of digital media networks, we now have the added metrics of shares and likes to support our methods of media consumption and engagement, or at the least confirm that there is indeed an active audience. Building from established approaches in the field, this article seeks to bring attention to the digital media landscape to ask, what do digital audiovisual media that have been posted online but do not circulate have to offer? A close textual analysis of several such videos is used to advocate for a methodology to elucidate the themes, identities, and production practices that are escaping (algorithmically informed) representation.