Anyway, I want to specifically spend some time on two websites that are starting to irk me a little when it comes to this kind of social sharing. These sites are YouTube and Instagram. YouTube is a site almost everyone knows about. Instagram maybe not so much. It's a photo sharing social media site that allows a user to upload square photos while applying filters to them to make them look "artsy." Of course your friends and more can see them, like them, comment, all that junk. In the last couple of years or so it's become a kind of "dream" for people everywhere to try and make it big on YouTube. To be perfectally honest, I think people turn to this option for the sole purpose of making money the easy way. The generation today is getting lazy, stupid, and technology oriented. Those who are sucessful on YouTube have earned that success by working very hard at what they do, and of course it helps to be very personable. Ever since these things called "YouTube partnerships" allowed every day people to make money based on certain variables, random people have been doing on of the most annoying things to do on the internet. Beg.
It brings me to the terminology found in the title of this blog. All of the popular videos nowadays are filled with people stating "sub4sub" as in, if you subsribe to their channel, they would subscribe to yours. First things first... that's NOT a way to get climb the social media ladder. The worst part is, I've gone through some of these channels and they don't even have videos upkoaded. So what EXACTLY am I subscribing to? What benefit is it of yours if people are actually dumb enough to do this? That isn't how it works around here. Subscribers are obtained through what the user feels is good content. They're loyal to stay becasue they keep producing good content. So you, random stranger, are asking me to subscribe to a channel that has nothing? It's like turning on the tv and watching nothing but static. To take it a step further, these people are everywhere. It's really annoying as it takes content away from actually readable comments. Which is a good transition to another annoyance.
Comments have gotten a thumbs up/down system since late, and the top comments are usually put just below the video for all to see. This leads us naturally competitive humans to try and get into this position. So consequently, a goo chunk of a videos comments consist of "Thumbs up if (insert statement related to video here)". Sometimes it's creative sure, but almost all the time it's an absolute annoyance. It goes the same with the rating system. Back them it was based on stars 1-5, but now it's just likes/dislikes. So if a certain video on say cats got 34 dislikes, a comment would appear along the lines of "34 dogs didn't like this video." Come on. That's really stupid. Mainly becasue in a few hours the number of dislikes will change, and another stupid comment like that will pop up. Like I said previously though, sometimes they're creative... but almost all the time they're annoying and stupid. People buy into that crap too. Comments like those will reach top rated, and whether or not its spammed, I just feel really bad for the people who find that type of bland humour appealing.
It takes away substance. It takes away good insight. There are some comments out there worth reading, and worth discussing about, but if more than half of the videos are filled with comments asking sub4sub or L4L (like for like) or F4F (friend for friend) it kind of makes the video almost unwatchable. What I don't understand is how it benefits the user if they're rated top comment, or have the most fake subscribers? It's like I said before, those ruling YouTube are those who work hard and deserve it. Begging and doing favors is just so pathetic.
Let's talk Instagram. I'm pretty new to the whole experience, but they do have a section where the most liked photos (usually off celebrities) are displayed in front of all to see. When examining the pictures, most of the comments are one of the following: "Like x amount of my photos and i'll like y amount of yours!" "Follow me and I'll follow you!" "Are you really (insert celeb name here)?" Now with YouTube I understand that being popular probably means you're going to get paid. Instagram however? I have no idea. Theres no money involved, the only thing being popular gets on Instagram is just a page featuring a bunch of other photos. Yours would be just one in a special bunch. And you didn't even earn it. Because you begged. Not because you take good/interesting photos. For me, if I got to the "top" that way, it would just feel wrong. And for those who are successful through this type of strategy... shame on you.
One of the only reasons I might be able to justify this whole need to have followers, and to have this type of success is to just feel that sense of satisfaction, purpose, and importance. I did get a top commetn on YouTube for a little while and it hit a soft spot on me. Made me feel special. But I'm not DYING for that kind of attention. There was even a time where a friend and I were 1/10ths famous on YouTube. So I understand that feeling of success by strangers. It's a good feel. Only when you deserve it. Let that be a lesson to all of you. We all have to work hard to be successful in something. If you want to make money by returning favors, be a prostitute. And if you want to beg? Head to your nearest intersection and go full on hobo. Don't beg behind a computer, its just as worse as trolling.
ta ta kids
____POST EIDT____
Just found a website where you can pay to get subscribers on YouTube. It's pathetic. And counterintuitive.
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