YouTube

In the early day of social media I was drawn to YouTube because it seemed different. Videos were a bit amateurish and fun and you felt connected to the people that made them. Of course this has changed just as the internet itself has changed. With increasing corporate interest and with AI, much of it is indistinguishable from mainstream media. Now of course, YouTube is a behemoth. There are videos of every conceivable subject from the sublime to the ridiculous (and everything in between). The offbeat content is still there but so is the informative including news channels and informed opinion otherwise inaccessible from mainstream media. It is the opportunity to see this nuanced and alternative opinion that’s interesting. There are channels featuring those with like minded interests by the zillion and you can easily fall into the time wastage trap. And herein lies the paradox: are you able to consciously monitor the content, or are you merely a passive recipient of algorithm‑driven material? Is the content actually constructive in the sense that it is informative or is it really reinforcing set narratives? Are you subject to increasingly addictively driven content that you are unable to resist? Maybe you can find the answers on YouTube 🙂