“Surfing the Tube” for Latin American Song: The Blessings (and Curses) of YouTube

This article describes YouTube’s functional horizons by taking note of three communicative modalities, each defined by the role that YouTube plays in disseminating expressive culture. I argue that YouTube productions are multifaceted objects composed of multiple semiotic surfaces, each with its own sensory channel and sense-making potential, operating independently of one another yet integrated into a composite communicative module.