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Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

nytimes.com

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Re: Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

#21

Post by mothsonasloth »

[Warning cynical and bitter post below]

Ah, Youtubers. I am not sure what's more tragic about them; making hyperbolic or fake events to attract viewers.

Or allowing viewers a "no-bars" tour around their personal lives and sometimes their own heads.

Or is the real tragedy the viewers, who binge vicariously into these empty vessels. Relishing in the rise, peak and eventual fall from fame of these online stars, with all the emotions and vulnerability put on for display.

Then for this audience to move onto the next piece of entertainment?

The worst part is the propagation that Youtubing is a legitimite vocation / lifestyle. It's almost as bad as these other fake lifestyles:

* Travel Bloggers, desecrating and ignoring local customs for the entertainment of readers.

* Forex / Bitcoin millionaires (Buy my eBook).

* The mum that makes £50,000 a week from doing online surveys.

* ASMR escorts

* Instagram influencers, prostituting themselves literally or metaphorically to businesses / media / rich saudi princes

To read more like this, please check out my blog, so I can live out my dream of being a digital nomad and pose with my expensive Macbook in a third world country...

tomaytotomato.com

Re: Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

#23

Post by jadel »

Kurtz79 wrote: post #18
ajbetteridge wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't make it any less true.

No, it makes it an opinion, with no argument supporting it provided by OP... It's not a self-evident truth, at least to me.

Youth cultures that become catalysts are expressive. They are pushing what you can do. Whether that is making music, doing drugs, skateboarding or being gay. Because when you actively escape the norm you receive ownership of some new part of society that wasn't there before.

However, most modern youth cultures are defined largely by their lack of culture. They are instead about passively escaping society. The top comment on the first video in the article is literally literally "I have no friends and I’m sitting alone in my room laughing hysterically at this video". There is increasingly nothing to understand. It is an entire generation being marginalized. But you can of course argue that many people always were.

Addition: Another example would be the relative failure of things that would be expressive like the "maker movement", platforms like SoundCloud and E-sports.

Re: Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

#24

Post by AFascistWorld »

minikites wrote: post #8

>Chamberlain edits each video she makes for between 20 and 30 hours, often at stretches of 10 or 15 hours at a time. Like other professional social media users, the work has taken a physical toll on her. (She releases roughly one video a week.) She used to edit at a desktop, but she developed back pain. Now she works from her bed. She keeps blue mood lighting on, but her vision has deteriorated. She works harder than…

For her subscription numbers, I guess millions of dollars per year is very realistic, for that kind of money, many adults would be willing to work long hours too.

And in the fickle world of internet fame, you would want to make the most of it while you are at it.

But for six figures or less, not much so.

Re: Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

#25

Post by chr1 »

mothsonasloth wrote: post #21

[Warning cynical and bitter post below] Ah, Youtubers. I am not sure what's more tragic about them; making hyperbolic or fake events to attract viewers. Or allowing viewers a "no-bars" tour around their personal lives and sometimes their own heads. Or is the real tragedy the viewers, who binge vicariously into these empty vessels. Relishing in the rise, peak and eventual fall from fame of these online stars, with all…

Is the tragedy for viewers any worse than binge watching tv which was more common before youtube?

Re: Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

#26

Post by davidcollantes »

piokoch wrote: post #4

I can't believe my eyes. Am I just too old? Some random persons shows herself in 5 different shirts or shows herself sitting all day on the balcony? Why is that interesting and so many people want to watch this?

I don't watch it, don't find it appealing, but I don't watch "reality shows" either, and consider them pure rubbish. I think videos like hers are very close to reality shows. Many people like those, right? They just simply entertain a range of viewers.

If you have children, or younger siblings, you will know they consume those like candies. Is it generational? I don't think so, unless "Internet, Youtube, Social Media... etc." is counted as a generation--which might as well be.

Re: Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

#27

Post by zzzcpan »

piokoch wrote: post #4

I can't believe my eyes. Am I just too old? Some random persons shows herself in 5 different shirts or shows herself sitting all day on the balcony? Why is that interesting and so many people want to watch this?

There are many reasons why independently created vlog-style content could be more appealing to many people. It's more relatable, not predictable, more current, there is more variety, fewer restrictions, much less propaganda (no pushing diversity, minorities, no pro-government, pro-police, pro-military propaganda, etc.).

Why so many people still want to watch hollywood movies is what I would ask instead.

Re: Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

#28

Post by mattmanser »

mothsonasloth wrote: post #21

[Warning cynical and bitter post below] Ah, Youtubers. I am not sure what's more tragic about them; making hyperbolic or fake events to attract viewers. Or allowing viewers a "no-bars" tour around their personal lives and sometimes their own heads. Or is the real tragedy the viewers, who binge vicariously into these empty vessels. Relishing in the rise, peak and eventual fall from fame of these online stars, with all…

I find this comment snobbish, arrogant and crass. I don't believe it belongs on HN.

In insulting other people lives and how they enjoy them, all you have shown is that you're an intolerant, elitist asshole.

Re: Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

#29

Post by pjc50 »

mothsonasloth wrote: post #21

[Warning cynical and bitter post below] Ah, Youtubers. I am not sure what's more tragic about them; making hyperbolic or fake events to attract viewers. Or allowing viewers a "no-bars" tour around their personal lives and sometimes their own heads. Or is the real tragedy the viewers, who binge vicariously into these empty vessels. Relishing in the rise, peak and eventual fall from fame of these online stars, with all…

How much of this is just disintermediated "reality" television, though? It used to be the case that only very few people could become celebrities, and this was mediated by the existing power brokers. Now people can become a TV star directly without having to go through the TV. Long hours are still required, but this is fundamentally a competition: you'll be beaten by someone putting in more hours. The real curse of full commoditisation of time and life.

The difficult bit is trying to untangle whether the audience's participation in it is just entertainment, or takes on unhealthy aspects of boundary crossing, addiction, or delusions of closeness.

> Forex / Bitcoin millionaires (Buy my eBook).

Popular financial frauds have a centuries-long history.

Re: Emma Chamberlain dropped out of school and changed the world of online video

#30

Post by zzzcpan »

pjc50 wrote: post #29
mothsonasloth wrote: post #21

[Warning cynical and bitter post below] Ah, Youtubers. I am not sure what's more tragic about them; making hyperbolic or fake events to attract viewers. Or allowing viewers a "no-bars" tour around their personal lives and sometimes their own heads. Or is the real tragedy the viewers, who binge vicariously into these empty vessels. Relishing in the rise, peak and eventual fall from fame of these online stars, with all…

How much of this is just disintermediated "reality" television, though? It used to be the case that only very few people could become celebrities, and this was mediated by the existing power brokers. Now people can become a TV star directly without having to go through the TV. Long hours are still required, but this is fundamentally a competition: you'll be beaten by someone putting in more hours. The real curse of f…

> The difficult bit is trying to untangle whether the audience's participation in it is just entertainment, or takes on unhealthy aspects of boundary crossing, addiction, or delusions of closeness.

Why is that even a concern? Would you be just as concerned if it was about veritasium or eevblog channels?

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