Do others find YouTubers false and their content oddly manipulative?

[PerkyOchrePeer]

I want to come on here and raise a topic of youtubers. I believe them to be false. I dont understand how anyone can document their life for anyone to watch. People can message them in the comments and they will message back they are doing so to hook people into subscribing in order to get more viewers. They start off on their video by saying hello friends. I find that totally false. They draw you in and you watch them and thinking you know all about them. I started watching one but got so fed up of the boring content that I stopped watching. Its just a false of entertainment for daddy's and vulnerable gullible people who should go out and get a life.

Agreed

Sounds like YouTube isn’t for you!

I’m not much into Formula One, myself.

And this is why I don’t bother with them. My DSis engages with several, to the point she pays for YouTube Premium. I wouldn’t say go out and get a life because you could equally entertain yourself with podcasts, like me. If it’s not for you, fine. It’s fine for some people. I’ll stick to my podcasts and music and still touch grass where necessary 😂 if it’s not affecting you directly, what’s it to you what people choose to spend their time listening to? Your judgement won’t take a second thought from anyone else who enjoys these things 😂

I don't really like influencer culture, full stop, whether that's YouTube, TikTok, or somewhere else.

It's not that I find the subject matter boring (although I invariably do) - it's that in many cases they're peddling a lie. Make up influencers who use filters when showing people how good they look, travel influencers who photoshop the backdrop in to pretend they're in a different country, celebrities who photoshop their bodies to get more fans, and so on.

I think as an overall thing, influencer culture is unhealthy and promotes the idea of close "friendships" with people that you don't actually know.

Are they all terrible? Absolutely not. I'm sure there are some really great, worthwhile influencers out there. The problem is that you have to sort through such a vast pile of absolute shit, it's hard to find the ones that genuinely have something valuable to share.

But then again, I'm 50 so I very much doubt I'm their target audience. I'm sure they'll do just fine without my approval 😂

I guess it's OK if you just see it as entertainment and not a substitute for real face to face interactions. I have a social group. We meet monthly for outings and social stuff. That to me is far more beneficial than some stranger on a screen saying hello my friend

But why is Mumsnet any different?

It's entertainment

Like watching TV used to be

no big deal

I mean, it depends on the YouTuber?

Personally I like a lot of different YouTube channels and creators, such as Evan Edinger, Tom Scott, Safiya Nygaard, and Swell Entertainment. I don't think any of them come across as manipulative, nor do the media theory and analysis channels I follow. I know they're not my friends, and it's far from a substitute for in-person interaction, just that I like to watch videos about things I'm interested in the same way I would read books or watch TV shows about my interests. I liked a lot of the "classic" YouTubers still, those who were there back when making videos was purely for the love of the game with no real hope of making any money, and I still like some of those who are still around.

The ones I avoid like the plague are anyone considered an "influencer" as opposed to a YouTuber. I can't stand those style of videos and never have been able to, even back at the very start of the "daily vlogging" boom. I'm just not interested in their everyday lives or the parasocial aspect, so I do understand where you're coming from to some extent.

That isn't a sensible comparison

There will be people in your monthly social who watch some of these things on YouTube

It's not either/ or - why would you compare a social group to watching YouTube? If you said you were in the pub every night and you thought that was better I would understand it but comparing it to a monthly social group doesn't make sense.

Depends on who you watch, I have a few I watch who do the same hobby as me, they’re entertaining and give me some ideas for where to go etc. There’s a few I watch everything they put out and others I dip into and some I stop following. I don’t think you can dismiss the whole platform outright.

Oh, and yes, I have a real life too.

YouTube is an enormous platform now, with content in every single genre imaginable. Some of it is awful but other stuff is great.

I like the idea that perhaps it offers a way into comedy or documentary making or whatever other kind of media you are interested in without having to have family connections or otherwise going through a middleman.

I think quite a few Mumsnetters watch, "Tasting History" with Max Miller. Very entertaining, well produced and researched, Max is fun to watch and he's made himself a good career through hard work.

Would he have got a cooking show on network television back in 2020 when he started making videos? Absolutely not. He was awful. Too shy. Too awkward, terrible camera work.

The subject matter wouldn't have interested mainstream TV. "I want to make a half hour show making inedible food with ingredients you can't get that people in 17th century Belgium ate during a famine that gave them all rickets."

Nope.

But he got better. There's lots of Max's.

Whether they cook, garden, look into history, travel, do politics or comedy.

There was a post on Mumsnet the other week about somebody going to see Laura Ramoso doing a stand up gig in London.

She's a Canadian woman who started by doing short skits on Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube about her German/Italian family. Who live in Canada.
German Italian Canadian Parents jokes.

Now that's niche humour. Or so you'd think. She's selling out big venues all over Europe and the USA now. She's funny. People like her. It's gentle but intelligent entertainment.

But she never would have made it onto SNL.

I did watch a few videos made by a highly academic woman hoping to study for a PHD. She gained a masters degree at Oxford University. Good on her of she has the brains to do a PHD. She documents her studies but in most ofhervideos she sits playing with her long hair. I find that a bit irritating and whilst her videos were interesting j domt watch anymore because she's trying to tell people how to tackle doing a PHD and she is not a university professor which are the only people I would listen to if I were doing a degree. She has not even completed her PHD

Just don’t watch if it’s not for you. There are a couple of sports people who have YouTube channels who I occasionally watch their videos.

I’m not vulnerable or gullible and know these people are not my friends. I have real life friends. I just like to watch their training etc.

Honestly, your best bet is to focus on you. If you don’t like YouTubers then don’t watch the. There is no obligation to.

Yes I am focussing on myself and my interests.

Yes, I don’t like it when intelligent women ‘dumb down’, if that’s what she was doing.

i watch travel bloggers who travel in a certain way. It’s great for ideas but I’ll definitely do it my own way. I find them funny and interesting.

I’ve just googled quickly and there are over 300,000 channels with over a 100,000 subscribers, so I think there are so many you can’t base an opinion on just viewing a few. Even if you’ve watched 100 channels, that’s only 0.03%.

I used to love watching Rosie Henshaw for fashion tips. Her body type was the same as mine, before I lost weight, and now she's lost weight so we're similar, again. However, she has gone from being really likeable to really annoying and false. She's not the only one so I don't know if they turn out this way when they get big enough to start sponsorships for ad revenue. The authenticity seems to go out the window which is a shame.

What do you mean by dumb down

Depends on who you watch and what your interests are.

Most of my YouTube is full of gardening videos, YouTubers with their allotments etc. Or wild camping. Quite small follower base but great contents. also some true crime and crochet.

I have no interest in influencers, family vloggers etc

I do have YouTube premium, I can’t stand the ads when I’m trying to watch something.

I also have a real life.

I don't understand the 'Agreed' bit at the end of the post.

Who are you agreeing with, yourself?

I post on social media - I haven’t got a huge following (1100 or so), but I pride myself on documenting things very truthfully. I mainly focus on fitness as a plus size woman, as well as doing things solo. I don’t think I’m manipulative or false!

I know exactly who you mean and you are definitely not her target audience.

I’m not particularly a fan but I think you’re being unfair in the description of her “playing with her long hair” in most videos. I’ve seen a lot of them and it’s not something I’ve ever noticed.

She has been vlogging since childhood and rather than “dumbing down”, she was more on the precocious side as a kid!

Are u sure u know who I am talking about, and how do u know she did vlogs as a child?

I never for one minute.ite thought i was her target audience. I am too thick lol. On the other hand, j probably do things she is not capable of doing. I can play 2 musical instruments. Can she maybe she can but we will never know because we only see a fraction of these people's lives

I watch a few channels, mainly about people living in a country I’m hoping to move to in the next few years. It’s interesting and useful to see and hear about challenges that they encounter. I don’t subscribe or comment. I don’t think I’m their friend, I see them like a tv presenter or similar, and really prefer when they steer clear of sharing personal stuff.

I’m very aware that they are all ultimately salespeople - even if they start off just documenting or informing as a hobby, eventually they all try to sell you something; either indirectly through advertising, or directly with merchandise, or selling courses, or buy me a coffee etc. I really don’t like the sales pitch. However, there’s a lot of money to be made if your channel is succesful, which is why everyone and their dog seems to try their hand at being a youtuber.

While I understand that making and editing videos is time consuming, sadly it does turn into a bit of a showy performance, with clickbait titles and more extreme attention seeking content. I guess it’s a competitive area and they have to try and get the most clicks to keep going.

That being said, there is some good stuff on there - although you have to wade through a lot of crap to get to it. I have watched some good documentaries made by youtubers, which in my opinion are as good as something you would see on netlflix, so it’s not all bad.

The main problem is, there is money to be made and not much gatekeeping, so people will post outlandish crap to just get clicks and revenue, such as embarrassing / controversial stunts etc. like Johhny Somali etc. which is why I won’t watch that nonsense even just to hate watch, as it only encourages them.

I’m still struggling to see your point with this thread. I understand that you don’t like or approve of vloggers, which is fine. But then what is there to discuss?