A few weekends ago I was babysitting my cousins who are ages eight and eleven. When they asked if they could watch YouTube I answered, yes, assuming we were going to watch some vine compilations (as I thought that’s where YouTube’s usefulness peaked).
But that day I was introduced to a whole new beast: Vlogs.
Vlogs are basically when a YouTuber takes you through their day (filming literally anything and everything). Essentially you are watching someone just live life. Most Vlogs don’t really seem to have a point or definite ending. Just as your everyday-life is not usually very exciting, the same is true for vlogs.
Yet this underwhelming content has garnered a mass following. Some bigtime influencers are Logan and Jake Paul, KSI, and PewDiePie who all have millions of subscribers on YouTube.
This trend is particularly infuriating to me because I struggle to see any value in these vlogs, and, with all due respect, I don’t think people should be paid for getting millions of brainwashed people to watch them make a sandwich. We’re living in the golden age of entertainment with the magic well of offerings from Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and many more, so seeing this brain-numbing garbage is quite distressful.
But the madness didn’t stop at vlogs; there are many other categories of this new frivolous media. My personal favorite is the “Unboxing” video, which is exactly what it sounds like: you watch someone unbox various goods like cell phones and toasters.
These pointless unboxing videos all follow the same formula: 1. Hey, my new toaster is here! (shows box) 2. Let’s open the box! (cuts tape) 3. Check out what’s in the box! (shows packaging, instruction booklet, and toaster). Seriously, how is this even a thing?
Disturbed by the countless hours wasted by our generation—and those younger than us—I plead with you: please stop watching other people live life. You know what’s even more delicious than watching someone bake cookies? Actually baking cookies and eating them. If you do more living and less watching immediately you’ll realize actual experiences can’t be replaced by simply seeing them on a screen.