I have YouTube bookmarked in my browser, but I find that it’s a link I rarely click. In fact, a quick peek at my browser history reveals that I only visited YouTube twice in the last month: once to view a lyric video of a song I like, and another time to watch an episode of LAHWF, a comedic web series which features a guy playing awkward pranks on other people.
LAHWF is hilariously awkward:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/Ne_vPuRbaX0?list=PL989QMRUITFt3pHUEikzZG-2CTyM1naG3[/youtube]
I would like to believe that YouTube doesn’t play a significant role in my life. When YouTube first started gaining popularity, I held no interest in what the site had to offer: a bunch of people vlogging about their personal lives. I didn’t care about what they were talking about. I didn’t care about their teenage angst, their drama, their hair. It was all so irrelevant. I found more amusement from actual cable. I chose Spongebob over RandomYouTubeUser123. Despite YouTube’s growth since that era, I find that I still choose Spongebob.
I don’t have cable, but I still tend to avoid turning to YouTube for recreation. Instead, I turn to Netflix. I binge on Netflix. Hours and hours will pass before I move an inch from my couch thanks to Netflix—not YouTube. When I do use YouTube, I use it sparingly and briefly.
I’m much like Michael Scott in that I just don’t “get” YouTube sometimes.
I use YouTube when I need a brief distraction. I use YouTube as a last resort when I find that I can’t engage in something more exciting. For example, if I’m in a long line between 2 strangers, and I see that it won’t be moving any time soon, I pull out my phone and watch a short clip. I find that I don’t open the YouTube app, but I open an app like BuzzFeed that in turn opens up a video on YouTube that BuzzFeed created. For example:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/8lK475dxZds?list=PL989QMRUITFt3pHUEikzZG-2CTyM1naG3[/youtube]
I also use YouTube for tutorials. If I want to mix up my makeup routine I check in with one of my favorite makeup gurus for a step-by-step guide on how to create the perfect winged liner or how to contour like a Kardashian. Or if I’m having problems with my laptop or an application on my laptop, I’ve utilized YouTube to guide me through many technical issues. For example, I’ve used videos like the following to run Windows on my Mac:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/HNkT9uybiUw?list=PL989QMRUITFt3pHUEikzZG-2CTyM1naG3[/youtube]
I use YouTube for reviews. I watch videos on YouTube if I want to buy an expensive makeup product, but don’t want to invest without the honest opinion of a normal, everyday person like myself. I watch videos created by obviously unpaid laypeople like myself. They tell me if its worth the money, and I know I can trust them because I know they aren’t being paid to lie about how awesome a product is. For example, in the following video the author doesn’t appear to be being paid. She’s trustworthy. Her review is honest, straightforward, and well-organized:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/ij-jfo3k2OI?list=PL989QMRUITFt3pHUEikzZG-2CTyM1naG3[/youtube]
I use Youtube to watch short clips of moments in shows I like. For example, I’ve watched this video a thousand times and I could watch it a thousand more:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/31g0YE61PLQ?list=PL989QMRUITFt3pHUEikzZG-2CTyM1naG3[/youtube]
Finally, I use YouTube for music. If I can’t find a song I like on Spotify, I turn to YouTube. If I want to know the lyrics to a song, I turn to YouTube. If I want a friend to get into a band I like, I share one of their best music videos. For example, the following is the last song I searched for and listened to via YouTube. It’s a reggae band from Hawaii, too unpopular for Spotify:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/m-Ao-GjS3Fk?list=PL989QMRUITFt3pHUEikzZG-2CTyM1naG3[/youtube]
I think that YouTube is definitely a valuable and useful tool, but I don’t think it’s as significant an aspect of my life like either Google, Facebook, or Netflix are. Google offers me information. Facebook offers me social interaction. Netflix offers me hours upon hours of entertainment. However, I find that YouTube doesn’t offer me one sole thing. YouTube offers information, social interaction, and entertainment but these aren’t its specialties. Perhaps I find YouTube so unappealing because it offers all of these aspects instead of specializing in just one. YouTube concentrates on the user and user-created content. For this reason, I think YouTube is incapable of specializing and catering to one sole feature, and is therefore unable to be the provider of any one thing (as Google does with information, Facebook does with social interaction, etc). A lot of the time, unless it directly affects me, I have no interest in other people’s videos like mashups, OOTD (outfit of the day) videos, etc.
Here is my complete playlist which includes the above videos and more!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL989QMRUITFt3pHUEikzZG-2CTyM1naG3[/youtube]