muYT

muYT is a fictional, open source framework and metadata ontology created for studying short-form video content across online platforms. Developed by the MuYT Initiative in 2023 as a case study in digital media research, muYT provides a baseline schema and tooling to compare videos on different services.

Etymology and scope: The name combines mu from micro or multi-unit with YT as an allusion to video platforms commonly abbreviated as "YT." The project aims to offer a lightweight, privacy-aware toolkit for researchers and educators.

Purpose: muYT provides a standardized metadata schema for short-form videos, a compliant data-collection guide, and tooling to perform cross-platform comparisons while minimizing exposure of personal data.

Architecture: The project comprises four layers: (1) a metadata schema defining fields such as video_id, creator_id pseudonymization, duration, category, and tags; (2) a data-collector module with opt-in controls; (3) a processing pipeline for normalization and anonymization; and (4) a web dashboard.

Data model: Fields include video_id, platform, duration, category, tags, approximate visibility, and privacy level; an obfuscated embeddings field supports content similarity research without exposing raw media.

History: The initial release appeared in 2023 with community governance and an MIT license. Subsequent updates added stricter privacy controls and cross-platform export formats.

Impact and reception: muYT is used in academic courses and media literacy programs to teach data ethics and cross-platform analysis; critics caution that any such tool could be repurposed for surveillance if misused. See also: metadata standards, privacy in data science, short-form video research.