I remember the first thing I watched on youtube. My friend Dennis posted a link on facebook - Jay Leno talking to dumb people on the street. haha. I remember laughing and being impressed at the speed it loaded. That was only four years ago, and no one knew (maybe the creators hoped) how huge it would become.
I think it's interesting that the first video I saw was something from a major television network. Not being an aspiring actor or director, I didn't see the potential of this new medium. I pretty much figured itd be a neat way to watch tv and movies for free. It's true that youtube is a place to look for clips of moments from hollywood, but by and large, it's known now for user-generated content. From a little kid in the back of a car drugged out from a trip to the dentist to a comedic song about shoes you tube is all about the people (who have some kind of camera).
You could even be entertained for an hour simply reading the comments on popular videos, as they range from non sequiter to absolutely offensive. Youtube became an indispensable way to listen to a music video and find that funny clip from your favorite stand up - but it also became a place to post your political opinion, cute dog in an outfit dancing around, comedy sketch show, fox jumping on a trampoline, and any other event you want to audio-visually broadcast to the internet world.
I have to leave with one of my most watched youtubes, which I'm not even sure I think is funny anymore.
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Even though I recently acquired a user account on youtube, I still rarely use it. It's so outside my creative competence that the thought of ever posting to youtube is absurd for me. And yet, as you point out, the site is pervasive. Just last night my mom stumbled on Mike Rowe from "Dirty Jobs" back when he was a TV host on QVC. The interesting about that, to me, was that my mom doesn't know much about youtube and never goes there first but she still wound up there. Because it's so a part of life now.
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned the range of user comments that can be found on YouTube in response to YouTube videos, and, for the first time, it dawned on me that, with the exception of comments left by friends in response to friends' videos, I've NEVER been impressed with an anonymous (or stranger's) YouTube comments. I am generally worn out really quickly by YouTube video surfing, and I only use the site to view videos that friends have posted or referred me to. I am even MORE quickly warn out by user comments, which are almost always poorly written, nonsensical, or offensive. I do realize that I can choose not to read them (and that I sound all crabby about this, especially since I’m discovering it for the first time), but I’m sure they seep into my consciousness somehow, and that tire me out really quickly. Thanks for helping me to identify this!
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