OK, so this kid puts up a video of himself ranting about the future of YouTube and asking a question:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=z7JgtjeIsuY

Then,

Lots of other folks put up some similar videos of themselves answering the question:

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=%22Re%3A+%22We%22Tube%22%22&search=Search

Now my curiosity here is that this is a new form of conversation. But it is a conversation to which we have no textual access. There is no transcript. The text of what the people have said is not searchable (by google or anywhere else).

When someone posts a video to YouTube and gets comments, that is most emphatically not a conversation. It is an item and responses. But, this kid posted a video that is explicitly a beginning to and a call for conversation.

Is anyone considering the consequences of media formats on the searchability of our cultural artifacts?