Abstract

Loser-generated content? A social media microhistory of car race fans

The arrival of easy to use online video sharing services such as YouTube presents opportunities to access media histories of events beyond those usually presented by "official" sources. This presentation compares corporate coverage of motor racing in Bathurst with the online home movies of race fans. While the slick TV coverage focuses on the drivers, cars, teams and the infamous mountain circuit, the grassroots fan media captures an off-track carnivalesque sub-culture revelling in explosions, drunken mayhem, and burning vehicles.

David Cameron
Charles Sturt University