https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlqnhjpM0ruuc1_aaEL95iusPwtAX3S4A

After looking through my history I found that I really only use youtube for a few things. The first, and most primary is music. I enjoy looking up music in my spare time especially because it is as easy as typing in lyrics that you hear on the radio into the search engine of your choice (google strikes again!) and the video pops right up! I find that youtube makes music really accessible, and when I am in my car and I need to hear my jam without using all of my daily skips on pandora I normally just look it up on youtube. I really like that I can find music and even discover new music when youtube recommends things to me in the side column.

I also use youtube to check out rock climbing videos. I am a huge climbing enthusiast and I really enjoy watching bouldering and amazing climbs that people are doing around the world. A lot of times there are great back stories to the people climbing as well as amazing places that these people visit while attempting climbs. I love to travel, camp, backpack, and all of these videos inspire me to get out and climb in different areas and also allow me to see places that I would potentially like to climb in the future. I also watch bouldering a lot to inspire myself to take risks in my own climbing and to see what I could eventually accomplish.

The last use of youtube for me is to watch funny videos. I love cats, the minions from Despicable Me, and many other comedic videos. The NFL lip sync’s are some of my favorite videos when I need a laugh. However, I do not really go looking for these videos. Normally I only watch them when they are recommended by a friend.

Reflecting back to the readings, I do feel like there is a hierarchy as far as videos go. Most of the music that I enjoy is much less watched than music videos like “Gangnam Style” and “The Harlem Shake”. While these videos do (unfortunately) have their place within our society, I do not feel like the messages they convey are as important as other videos that have not become as popular. I feel that there are many videos that miss out on recognition because they do not have the financial backing that many others do. I mentioned before that I click on the “recommended” videos a lot in order to discover new music, but not all videos are included in this section. I enjoy many videos that have less than 10k views and those rarely end up in anyone’s recommended section.

I feel like my use of YouTube is sparse, but that it holds a lot of information, instruction, entertainment, and culture. I think there is a lot you can discover and learn and it’s really a great platform for people to share what they want with the world. Unfortunately it is a cite fueled by money and cultural popularity but at this point there really is little to be done, and luckily everyone can still share their work and interests, no matter what they are.