I don't think it's too mysterious why so many people 'willingly submit to that competitive machine'.
If you look at the YouTube bigwigs, none of them are popular IRL. None of them are going to walk into a room and have people wonder "who is that guy?" or "who is that chick?". I'm not talking about professional entertainers who create channels to capitalize on the fame they already have. I'm talking about the people sitting in Arkansas talking into their webcams either about things they consider to be real or making up characters and scenarios to express those characters. They have no voice whatsoever IRL. Enter YouTube...... All of a sudden, people in China are subscribed to your video channel that you record in Alabama. People in Hollywood are subscribed to your channel that you record in France. Not only are people watching your videos, they're talking about YOU... They're leaving comments to YOU on your videos. They're making video responses talking directly to YOU and answering questions that YOU asked them. YouTube is an instant opportunity for anyone to become a YouTube celebrity, and if not, you can still mingle with them. You don't have the chance to make video comments and get replies from Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie. You get to interact with the YouTube stars, though. You can be as much a part of the show as you want to. Suddenly, this person with no attention whatsoever has 2500 people subscribed to their channel, and they get to see that there are 100 comments on the video they posted 3 hours ago. That has GOT to be addictive for people that aren't used to people giving a damn about them at all. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a major wave of depression, should YouTube go offline for a couple of days. --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Eric Rice" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The part that fascinates is how so many people willingly submit to that competitive > machine is all. Today's youth and all. Heh. > > Oh, and I never published muched to Everyday Films, in fact, I haven't vlogged in half a > year, nor done a podcast. So most feeds aside from blog are dead (it's all a universal feed, > same url for everything) > > ER > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, Rupert <rupert@> wrote: > > > > Hi Eric, > > > > At the risk of repeating myself, I agree that the strength of YouTube > > is to have a place where you can have an audience and be seen. I > > also agree that that has the potential for great power. And I'm not > > rejecting YouTube on principle, or because I'm particularly > > ideologically driven to have my own site, or so full of > > 'individuality and wanting something better'. > > > > All the strengths you mention are great, but are all undercut for me > > by the competitiveness at the center of YouTube - the ratings and > > number of views, comments, honours, number of times honoured and > > favourited. It drags my videos into being watched in the context of > > how successful they've been, when all I want is to put some video up > > there to be watched by some random people in unexpected places around > > the world - to put the video at the center, not wrapped around by all > > these judgements that interfere with the viewer's perception and my > > enjoyment. And what pushes you away from YouTube draws attention-seekers to it. Every rating, every view, every comment... positive or negative... means someone reacted to something that you did. It's all about affirmation. Affirmation that you in particular don't need in this context, so it's useless to you. YouTube is a game... "high school rules", as you put it. Get popular. Be heard. Get commented on. Make alliances with other bigwigs. Campaign against other bigwigs. It's really no different from "The Sims" or "Second Life". Make a character and see what you can do with it. -- Bill C. http://ReelSolid.TV > > On YouTube a few hundred views feels like a very, very different > > thing to on a blog. It's my gift to strangers, and I don't have to > > care if they don't like it. Even with a couple of hundred views, and > > without really trying, I'm reaching out further I ever did when i > > used to show my 'proper' shorts at short film festivals. > > > > What slightly depresses me is that there'll be lots of people out > > there like me who just feel inspired every so often to film and edit > > something and put it out there, who will find their engagement with > > an audience all screwed up by YouTube's tone, and then they'll think > > "Publishing on the internet is horrible" because all they've heard > > about is YouTube, and they'll stop and never do it again. When they > > could have had a very different non-competitive experience and made > > their world a tiny bit happier and better. It's turning Online Video > > into high school rules. Ugh. > > > > I don't really want to make money from it, mostly because I want to > > be free to put up whatever I want without worrying about alienating > > my regular large audience or drawing "BORING" and "YOU SUCK" > > comments, and so growing and sustaining large audience numbers are > > not important to me. Most people who post on YouTube would never > > make money from it (whatever its competitive/popularity focus might > > lead them to hope at first). > > > > Glad you're getting paid to vlog, though, and enjoying it. Always > > liked your vlogs whenever I've seen them. I'm subscribed to Everyday > > films with Eric Rice, but I guess it's wrong feed cos I'm not getting > > anything through it. > > > > Rupert > > > > http://www.fatgirlinohio.org > > http://feeds.feedburner.com/fatgirlinohio/ > > > > On 5 Mar 2007, at 08:35, Eric Rice wrote: > > Yeah, we can argue about individuality and wanting something better > > until the cows come home. Also, the expressive, personal, non- > > promotional crowd might not be one of the best to ask this to... > > > > Being part of a 'place' where you have an audience and can be seen? > > Ewww, stinky answer. > > > > I'd be curious if anyone who is a regular YouTuber even cares about > > people going to their own site? Or, maybe contextually, their > > myspace? And even then, everyone else is there. > > > > And ah, yes, the comments. Get popular enough or cover something that > > has a wide > > appeal, and the comments, that concentric circle 'conversation' (ask > > Amanda about that) gets vicious. > > > > YouTube represents the flipside-- it's the mass reality of everday > > people fitting snugly into that mode that the idealist inside of us > > despises. It slapped RSS in the face, by debunking our ideals of > > 'ohhh i wanna take it wiiiith meeeeee'. Apparently, that didn't seem > > to be the case for a little part of the population. > > > > So, we ignore it, we embrace it, or we lock and load and pull on some > > iron fists. > > > > It's more anarchy than democracy, but hey, both movements can have > > little flags and > > berets. > > > > Power! > > > > ER > > > > --- In videoblogging@yahoogroups.com, "Peter Van Dijck" > > <petervandijck@> wrote: > > > > > > I've always been interested in why young people prefer to post on > > > youtube & myspace versus on their own (video)blog (for the > > comments of > > > course!) - in this group we seem to think having your own vlog is > > much > > > superior. > > > > > > But today I realized: my photos are on flickr, instead of having my > > > own instance of some opensource script like Gallery - for the > > > community aspect (and the superior functionality), so isn't that the > > > same? > > > > > > Just a thought. > > > P > > > > > > -- > > > Find 10000s of videoblogs and podcasts at http://mefeedia.com > > > my blog: http://poorbuthappy.com/ease/ > > > my job: http://petervandijck.net > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > >
