Being totally incapable of doing anything else on a computer than using my mouse and the keyboard for more than the basic things, it is not surprising that I am a mere YouTube user and not a provider. I have never ‘overused’ the internet but I definitely have to admit that I am completely dependent on the internet and life without it is hard to imagine. But where do I have to place YouTube compared to all the other websites in the World Wide Web?
For me, YouTube is not one of the websites that I could not live without (that would rather be e-mail providers and research possibilities) but I suppose it is still in the top ten as I use YouTube quite frequently; not entirely but mainly for entertainment purposes. I also use YouTube for following up on my interests or sometimes it is just useful in daily life.
As I mentioned before entertainment takes up a huge part on why I use YouTube and what it means to me. I am guessing that a lot of people are using YouTube to listen to music and to watch the music videos belonging to it. For me, YouTube definitely is about music but not mainly. The kind of music I listen to on YouTube has more to do with nostalgic feelings than anything else (does not entirely exclude other music). I love to listen to British/Irish bands because I spent a year in Great Britain as an AuPair and this brings memories back (f.e. the ‘Maximo Park’ video) and I saw them a couple of times live. As child I also saw a lot of Disney movies and for me they never lost their charm so I like to listen to some of the songs every once in a while (however they are in German (as I am from Germany) and it is weird to listen to them in English).
Entertainment wise I use YouTube mostly to watch something funny. Parodies, blooper scenes from movies or TV shows, the funniest scene taken out of a show/movie etc. are the ones that I watch mostly. But there really is no deeper meaning to it and I simply have to admit that I usually watch videos like that out of boredom or as a distraction (way more than I would like it to be).
If YouTube has any movies they are mainly older movies. Regrettably they took one of my favourite movies from there (‘1 2 3’ by Billy Wilder, 1961) otherwise it would have been on the list. I learned a lot from it (historically) just by watching it even though it is meant as a parody. However, the movie that is on my list has equal meaning to me: it entertains me every time but it also teaches me one or two things. Unfortunately it is in German but being German is a part of me that I cannot simply cut off but I apologize for putting it up. In this respect, YouTube also means for me to be able to have some ‘German time’ if I want to.
Besides for all the entertainment, I really like YouTube for its documentaries. They are easily accessible, interesting (of course not all of them) and help me to add new knowledge to my so deeply loved list of random facts. Sometimes I just use it if I need help with something. Last fall my bike breaks needed replacement and my Dad was not around, so I asked YouTube and it gave me a very good and useful answer.
To sum it up, YouTube most of the time means nostalgia, annoyed roommates because I laugh too hard and too much, following up on interests and getting useful advices and tips to me.
Check out my Top 15: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biFX2URXmxE&list=PLcFpbCTwySteCH4vKjSLU-lfSR9rGy28E
I completely agree that YouTube is nostalgic. I often rediscover songs that I used to listen to in middle school while on YouTube. I like that the suggested videos section lists other music videos from the same time period when I’m listening to older music – a lot of times YouTube suggests that I watch the music videos of songs I completely forgot existed which is always really fun.
It’s so awesome that you’ve traveled so much, and that YouTube has followed you all that way. It is a really great way to stay connected with your roots, whether those roots are in another part of the US (like mine) or in another nation. Man, so jealous you’re multilingual! Also, I love Weird Al. Good taste, in my opinion!
Yeah I started watching documentary about dogs on your playlist which I’ll probably finish when I have more time. I also really liked the video about how German sounds in comparison to other languages. It’s crazy that there are some words that sound so similar in other languages and are completely different in German.
It’s so true about the documentaries. Its great in the fact that they have so many available to watch. Thats nice that you can have “German time” for yourself too, despite living in the United States currently.
VICE’s short documentary-style videos are really great. If you’re into that sort of thing, you should check ’em out.
Also Will Ferrell’s bloopers are amazing.
I like how you mentioned instructional YouTube videos, like the bike break replacement one you watched. I look up a TON of instructional videos myself. A couple months ago my friend’s car died and we had no idea how to jump the battery but we didn’t want to succumb to female stereotypes and ask our male friends for help. We turned to YouTube! We followed a step-by-step instructional video on how to jump a car’s battery and it worked! There’s all sorts of awesome resources like that one on the internet and YouTube specifically is the most convenient channel for such videos.
I like that you watch videos in German. I’m sure it’s nice to have that “German time” that you refer to!
I’ve felt very similarly towards YouTube up until now. I’ve used it mainly for entertainment purposes, particularly for music. At this point I could also live without it, as I could adapt to alternative platforms for music listening. However, by deepening my level of engagement, I hope my attitude about that will eventually change!
I think it’s really cool that you use Youtube to watch videos in German and to remind you of places/bands that you miss. I never really thought of Youtube as being nostalgic before, but it is true that you can find a lot of things on there that will make you miss all sorts of things.
I’m a little bit amused that in the same sentence you said you depend on the internet but don’t overuse it. Not that it’s actually a contradictory statement, but I think a lot of people who don’t use the internet would consider dependence on it synonymous with an addiction.