SNL’s “A Special Christmas Box” Digital Short is pretty funny, but that’s not why I think the clip is really interesting. I think it’s really interesting because NBC chose to post the uncensored version online via YouTube. Normally, uncensored videos make it online via a bootleg copy of a copy, but this version came straight from the source. It appears NBC recorded an uncensored version of the song just so that it could be shown online. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for self select censorship. The problem with television censorship is that the network has no way of knowing who want to see the uncensored version and who would be offended by it. With online content, user’s can self select what they want to see and want they don’t. By allowing users to watch a clip, knowing before hand that the content may offend, networks could potentially create more explicit content, and then host it online for anyone who wants to see it to see it. I always wanted the networks to devise a way to program each television set so you could choose between censored and uncensored content, but until then, I guess this is the next best thing.
[Via: Digg]
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