warning: strong language/ swearing
kay, so
I want to preface this by saying YouTube is basically my life. I watch YouTube videos almost everyday and I love the app/website as well as the people who make videos on YouTube. It's a wonderful internet community that I am proud to be a part of.
Having said that, I gotta admit that YouTube is, IMO, probably at the lowest of the lows it has ever reached before. For every genuinely entertaining and meaningful channel or content creator, there's double or triple the amount of unnecessarily negative and straight-up bitchy people who just can't seem to spend a weekend without starting drama with someone or dragging someone, or just making someone feel bad. And it's so shitty.
YouTube used to be a place where mostly (but not only) social misfits and outcasts would go to make videos because they were passionate about it and they wanted to make people/themselves feel happy, and it was a hobby. Then it became a career option, when people started making money from the videos the made, and inevitably it became a very appealing career to a lot of people because not only were you getting paid for making videos, you got a shit-ton of fame from doing so.
I mean, who doesn't like that, am I right? Especially for people who started it as a hobby, being able to do what they love and make money from it is such a blessing.
That is until people start making YouTube videos and becoming "YouTubers" for the sole purpose of fame and money, and not because of the passion they have for creating content. There are few YouTubers who started out making videos as a passion or hobby and managed to make it big and still create authentic, entertaining content while being down to earth and not losing sight of their ambitions in life. A great example of this for me personally is Lilly Singh. I discovered her about 4 years ago and instantly loved her comedic videos and personality. To this day, she has 11M+ subscribers (which is v impressive) and she continues to make videos she is passionate about and puts a lot of work into them. I know some people miss her older videos where she would talk to her camera in front of her iconic bedroom wall compared to the more professionally created skits and pieces she does now, but you have to admit that she's still just as humble and entertaining, and fame didn't change her in a bad way.
But she's one of a handful of people who are making videos for the sheer happiness and satisfaction of making people feel good. So many people on YouTube make videos that could honestly be made by anyone, and make so much money from it.
And that makes me completely understand why some adults hate YouTubers and think that being a YouTuber isn't a real job, because when you make YouTube videos that aren't unique or special or can be done by someone else and you manage to make a living from it, that can be frustrating to someone who has worked through blood, sweat and tears to get to the stage they are at now.
That's not to say that YouTubing (is that a word lol) isn't hard or can be done by anyone. But there are a lot of YouTubers who honestly don't deserve the vast success they have because they haven't worked hard enough for it.
You might be thinking "well hun, joke's on you - these people make a lotta money from what they do so it doesn't matter if their content is bad.. they're minted and living the life lolol wbu"
and yes that's true. At this moment in time, it doesn't matter what your content is like, if you have a lot of viewers and good AdSense then you're sorted. And that's so sad but it's true. And especially the youth today, we are so absorbed in YouTube and social media in general, which only makes it easier for people who may not work that hard to make it big.
so yeah, it makes me sad that YouTube isn't what it used to be and that ppl are able to make a living from it when they don't actually do much.
I know there are a lot of great creators on there, but it's so unfortunate that their outnumbered by YouTubers who have more fame and don't do much.
anyways thanks for reading :)
edit: i wrote this a while back before the whole logan paul shit happened and needless to say he further proved my point about YouTubers who just don't do anything meaningful and worth the huge number of subscribers they have. also logan paul is a wet sock of a person who deserves to be made severely ill from eating raw meat and food-poisoning inducing chinese food.
