Serious Thoughts: No One Understands Youtube Culture
So, a few weeks ago, I read this blog post by Jenna Marbles, and, I have to say, it made me pretty angry. This is yet another example of how 'traditional' media just fails to understand how Youtube culture, and the internet in general, works.
Come on Good Morning America, Jenna Marbles is "the most famous person you've never heard of"? I've got news for you, if I asked fifty Penn State students randomly if they knew who Jenna Marbles was, I'm sure more of them would say yes than if I asked them if they knew who Cecilia Vega was. I mean where do they get off saying that no one's ever heard of her? Clearly the fact that her videos get millions of views means absolutely nothing.
Actually, I know quite a few people who don't even watch TV. If there's a particular show you want to see, you can usually watch it online and, anyway, Jenna Marbles' videos are way better than like 90% of the things on TV. Which is why when I read this this article by The New York Times, that insinuates that most Youtube stars are just trying to get noticed so that they can be on real television or something like that, I was offended.
What's so great about being on 'real' television anyway? I mean, you can reach just as many people through Youtube (maybe more because it's available all over the world and it's free to use) and you can make videos about whatever you want. People like Jenna Marbles can make videos from their homes about anything they want without having to worry about network executives or what's 'appropriate' for television. Why would you want to be on 'real' television? Sure, maybe some Youtubers are looking to cross over to movies and TV, but most of them are content with Youtube, and there's nothing wrong with that!
I think the reason behind all of these misconceptions about Youtubers is that a lot of people who grew up before the Internet/Youtube boom, can't understand why someone would rather be internet famous than television famous. Sure, there are some things that TV is good for, like watching the news and the weather, but you could find those things online if you wanted to. I don't think the traditional media realizes it yet, but they're losing the battle. In the future, more people will be turning to the internet for their entertainment than television. Not to say that a lot of people haven't caught onto that already. I read through some of the comments on the article and was surprised to find that a lot of forty and fifty year olds were coming to her defense. This proves that Jenna Marbles is not just a one hit wonder internet star for teenagers.
Take this line from the article"While few people older than 30 probably know who Jenna Marbles is, her popularity is unquestioned among teenage girls who live on the Internet"; I find this offensive on several levels. They make it sound like Jenna Marbles is a passing teen craze, like Justin Bieber, who is only taken seriously by lonely girls who "live on the internet". Just because someone prefers Youtube to television, it doesn't mean that they live on the internet, and it doesn't mean that they can be written off.
The fact that the New York Times has to interview people like "the executive editor of the online media blog NewMediaRockstars.com" in order to feel like they have some expertise just shows how little they understand what they're talking about. First of all, I've never heard of a blog that wasn't online and second of all, the overlap of people who read that particular blog and watch Jenna Marbles' videos is probably close to zero. The title of the article, "The Woman with 1 Billion Clicks", gives a similar impression. Clicks? Do you mean views or likes or something that would actually make sense? Clearly, the people who wrote this article have no idea what they're talking about. They even refer to her videos as episodes!
Also, the New York Times said Game of Thrones was stupid, so I'm not seriously questioning their ability to, you know, think. Maybe someday, they'll get it right.
Just sayin'
Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/fashion/jenna-marbles.html?pagewanted=all&_r=3&
http://jennamarblesblog.com/oh-great-job-good-morning-america/
Come on Good Morning America, Jenna Marbles is "the most famous person you've never heard of"? I've got news for you, if I asked fifty Penn State students randomly if they knew who Jenna Marbles was, I'm sure more of them would say yes than if I asked them if they knew who Cecilia Vega was. I mean where do they get off saying that no one's ever heard of her? Clearly the fact that her videos get millions of views means absolutely nothing.
Actually, I know quite a few people who don't even watch TV. If there's a particular show you want to see, you can usually watch it online and, anyway, Jenna Marbles' videos are way better than like 90% of the things on TV. Which is why when I read this this article by The New York Times, that insinuates that most Youtube stars are just trying to get noticed so that they can be on real television or something like that, I was offended.
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| And that's why youtube is better than TV |
I think the reason behind all of these misconceptions about Youtubers is that a lot of people who grew up before the Internet/Youtube boom, can't understand why someone would rather be internet famous than television famous. Sure, there are some things that TV is good for, like watching the news and the weather, but you could find those things online if you wanted to. I don't think the traditional media realizes it yet, but they're losing the battle. In the future, more people will be turning to the internet for their entertainment than television. Not to say that a lot of people haven't caught onto that already. I read through some of the comments on the article and was surprised to find that a lot of forty and fifty year olds were coming to her defense. This proves that Jenna Marbles is not just a one hit wonder internet star for teenagers.
The fact that the New York Times has to interview people like "the executive editor of the online media blog NewMediaRockstars.com" in order to feel like they have some expertise just shows how little they understand what they're talking about. First of all, I've never heard of a blog that wasn't online and second of all, the overlap of people who read that particular blog and watch Jenna Marbles' videos is probably close to zero. The title of the article, "The Woman with 1 Billion Clicks", gives a similar impression. Clicks? Do you mean views or likes or something that would actually make sense? Clearly, the people who wrote this article have no idea what they're talking about. They even refer to her videos as episodes!
Also, the New York Times said Game of Thrones was stupid, so I'm not seriously questioning their ability to, you know, think. Maybe someday, they'll get it right.
Just sayin'
Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/14/fashion/jenna-marbles.html?pagewanted=all&_r=3&
http://jennamarblesblog.com/oh-great-job-good-morning-america/
I still feel sooo angry at Cecilia Vega...I'd like to see her try to make weekly vlogs
ReplyDeleteI know! There's no respect.
ReplyDelete