Something’s happened to my personal YouTube consumption…namely that I don’t do it anymore.
I’m still subscribed to about thirty or so channels. I personally don’t like to clutter my feed with hundreds of people; not on YouTube, not on Twitter, not on here, even. The only exception is Facebook and that’s because I know every single one of those four hundred or so people that make up my news feed every day. But on other social networks where I feel more comfortable reaching out to people I’ve never met before, too many microposts of information become overwhelming. I see celebrities on Twitter who have hundreds or thousands of followers. How are they possibly keeping up with all of those people? It’s impossible! The simple answer is that they don’t. The more complicated answer includes why they bother following so many people in the first place and in that regard, I cannot put words in their mouths.
I digress. I watched Charlie McDonnell’s newest video today and I realized how much I had missed in terms of what he’s being doing lately, what projects he worked on, and how he’s been dating someone who isn’t Bryarly Bishop (which is still just a smidgen upsetting for me, but that’s because they’re wonderful people; and I do wish him and the new flame Emily all the best) for the past half-year.
And that’s just one channel. I haven’t watched The Philip DeFranco Show in well over a year. Your Grammar Sucks #66 is hot off the press, but I’m still stuck at 50. I don’t even know which AskKingsley we’re on now. I have so much catching up to do and I have no desire to do any of it. Why?
Part of it is because I have so much catching up to do. It’s a mess. For some reason, I feel obligated to keep up and it’s become a chore. But now that I’ve gone so long without watching, it’s too much content to even begin sifting through. Where did I even leave off?
Actually, I think that may be the only reason. As far as I can tell, there hasn’t been a decrease in quality in these channels.
There is also a possibility that I’ve simply outgrown them. I unsubscribed from Shane Dawson when I realized I wasn’t fitting the tween/teen demographic for whom he was creating his conteHAHAHAHA just kidding. I unsubscribed from Shane Dawson because he’s a racist transphobic asshole. Not the best example. But when I read the comments on other channels like Charlie’s, Kingsley’s and Jack’s, I realize that I have no place in those respective fanbases. The videos are still well done, but they just don’t appeal to me like they used to. I still respect what they do and appreciate the entertainment they’ve given me over the years, but it isn’t the same anymore.
I’m not sure where I was going with this anymore. It started off as a slightly-more-well-put-together-than-usual stream of consciousness about YouTube when I realized that I had more videos to catch up on than I would ever have time, but now it’s just sort of trailed off. So I guess to end it in some way that isn’t terrible…it’s okay to outgrow your interests and find new ones, even if it means abandoning a medium that used to mean something to you? I don’t know. Take what you will from it.
Amanda Kathryn Storey 