Youtube has provided me with more than the founders could have ever planned for when they began their company and service. I have used Youtube in a number of ways, most prominently in trying to discover and listen to music. Included in my playlist is a video from a concert that was the year of my birth. This was an experience I would never had been able to see and hear if it were not for the digital archives of youtube, to which I also owe the pleasure of viewing a “tiny desk” concert provided by NPR. I believe the coolest part of youtube and its provisions of music are the live concerts and events that you can see vicariously through the eye of the camera.

In addition to music I also enjoy using youtube as an educational tool. In my playlist I have multiple videos that offer lessons on diverse concepts and crafts. I’m a self taught musician, but if I had to attribute my training to somewhere it would undoubtedly be the internet and more specifically youtube. Many of my adolescent days were spent watching videos on how to play guitar and eventually when I grew older, mandolin. Whether it had been a basic lesson in strumming rhythms or learning more advance jazz scales I could find nearly everything I needed on youtube. I’ve included a lecture from Leonard Bernstein which has been one of the most inspiring and interesting lectures I’ve ever seen. Aside from music I also enjoy watching videos that teach different concepts that touch upon a number of fields. Two videos on my playlist are from some of my favorite video series on youtube, those series are 8-bit philosophy and RSA animate. I love to hear the experts explain with ease the concepts that may be abstract and difficult to grasp in a textbook. The way they explain the material is digestible and by incorporating the multiple levels of media the clarity comes through even more. The interpretive visual aspect is something that, at least for me, is incredibly enlightening and strongly reinforces the concept at hand.

Then of course there is the delightful world of comedy. While youtube for me primarily serves as a platform for searching and discovering music and cool ideas I, like nearly everyone else, love to spend some time to have a good chuckle. I’ve included a view videos that I’ve thought were funny for their satire and parody. I enjoy the fact that youtube conglomerates multiple comedy groups on one platform so you can view them all conveniently. It makes watching college humor videos followed by SNL videos followed by random cat videos so much easier.

Some other uses that I have for youtube are for previewing games and products I might want to purchase. I enjoy watching a good speed run happen as well as viewing normal gameplay of games I used to have or hope to have.

Finally on my list I have a video that I created for a class last year. And while this is but a small dent in the youtube community I hope to become a greater contributor in the community as I try and create more digital projects like the one featured in my playlist.

For me, YouTube is often used as a form of entertainment. A few years ago, I decided to stop watching reality TV because it felt it was too “fake” and “trashy.” I didn’t like what was being offered to me on TV so I turned to YouTube. It was there where I fell in love with watching video bloggers (“Vloggers”.) For some reason, the fact that people produce, film, edit, and upload little moments of their life for my viewing pleasure completely fascinates me. Although the content is obviously produced with the intent of gaining views, I find that getting an insight into real people’s lives is more interesting to me than the mass-produced reality television that I was used to. I tend to watch travel vlogs and couples/families who vlog their lives together. An example of this is Jamie and Nikki – an Australian couple that vlogs their life. Nikki a South Sudanese former model and her husband a popular videographer record their life and post one to two videos per week. Vlogging has become so lucrative in the YouTube industry and the couple has gained enough subscribers that Nikki, who was studying nursing, is now able to take some time off following the recent birth of their daughter and Jamie is able to focus more on growing their channel instead of constantly on tour with musicians as their videographer.

In addition to watching video-blogs, I also watch sermons on YouTube. There are so many great churches but it’s impossible to visit them all on a Sunday. Some churches have YouTube channels and they regularly upload videos from past sermons, bible studies, and certain events. YouTube is a great way for me to be able to catch up on sermons that I might have missed. Constituents can go back and re-watch a message that they found particularly interesting and people who don’t even live in the area can stumble upon a sermon to watch. Over the summer, I found a clip to a sermon on Facebook (embedded YouTube post). I was so interested that searched for the church and found them on YouTube and went back and watched the entire sermon series.

Another thing that I use YouTube for is finding choreography. I am a group fitness instructor and I teach Zumba and Cardio Hip Hop classes at the gym. Sometimes I create my own choreography and routines for class, but when I’m feeling bored with what I’ve currently created or uninspired, I’ll turn to YouTube. Other instructors will post their choreography to certain songs and people can watch them, practice on their own, or even incorporate them into their classes. In addition to learning choreography, when I don’t feel like leaving the house I use YouTube for my workouts. There are tons of amazing trainers and fitness professionals on YouTube that have work outs uploaded. All I have to do is press play and I can get a workout in without even having to leave my room, pay for a gym membership or even buy a workout DVD from the infomercials.

Some of the other things that I use YouTube for are hair, makeup and beauty tutorials. If I don’t know how to do something, I will search for a video on YouTube that will walk me step by step on how to do it. I’ve learned how to do smokey-eye make up for a night out, how to fishtail braid my hair, and also how to reset my iPhone – all from videos that I’ve watched on YouTube.

Finally, while I mostly lean towards Spotify, sometimes if I can’t find a song that I like on there, I will play it on YouTube. However I prefer not to because the effort it takes to make a playlist is way more tedious than on other systems like Spotify, Pandora or even iTunes.

YouTube has definitely become more of a part of my daily life. It is way more accessible than watching a show on TV and often times I don’t have the time to watch a 1 hour tv show or the patience to sit through all of commercials. It’s an instant gratification in terms of entertainment.

My Youtube Playlist consists of a few different elements.

First, I use Youtube a lot for music and music videos. On my playlist you won’t find a lot of videos because the artists I like tend not to make official videos. So, it’s either a relevant piece of art or the album or single cover for the song. The artists I added in my playlist were Gramatik, BJ the Chicago Kid, Charles Mingus, Vulfpeck, Arctic Monkeys and, Earth Wind and Fire. As you might be able to interpret, those are from many different genres. For example, Gramatik is electronic dance music, BJ the Chicago Kid is R&B and soul and Neo, Charles Mingus is an old jazz musician and, Arctic Monkeys are a rock band and, Earth Wind and Fire are an old disco/rock band.

The second category of videos is political in nature. I don’t have many channels on my TV and, politicians and other media sources prefer to post videos from debates or interviews. It really allows me to target a specific topic I’m curious about and explore relevant videos. For example, I had noticed that Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump were using similar marketing strategies for their presidential campaign. And, to my surprise- I found a video of Bill O’Reily(a very right wing conservative Fox Anchor) discussing with Steven Colbert(a very left wing liberal late night show host) discussing the topic and I was able to educate myself much more on the topic. It was informative and quick and I was able to save it for future reference – one of my favorite Youtube capabilities.

Additionally, my limited TV capabilities prevents me from watching the republican debates. Which is a very entertaining and informative event that happens a lot. Recently, I found a video of Jeb Bush arguing with Donald Trump. It was entertaining because it’s representative of their entire relationship and their back and forth. Additionally, the comment section – which I tend to avoid shows supporters from both sides so it’s informative to see their opinions.

The next and most relevant part of my Youtube Playlist is filled with comedy. It includes comedy shows, comedy clips from tv and, youtube comedians.

Regarding comedy shows, a few comedians post their full comedy specials on YOutube and, those are really nice to watch once in a while. Some of the comedians I’ve added are: Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Patrice ONeal. They provide these entirely free of charge and don’t litigate on the private uploaders who upload them. Additionally, they have these broken down into parts so it’s very convenient to watch a different segment if you aren’t interested in watching the entire special.

Additionally, the other videos are from Key & Peele- a very famous Comedy Central show. Similar to SNL, they are a largely based skit show. Alternative to the SNL, they post many of their videos online and encourage viewers to check out their Comedy CEntral show to see the rest of their videos.

The last video on my playlist is from Remi, a French prankster who does a lot of filmed tricks on people. It’s a nice channel to subscribe to and view all his videos on a binge once in a while.