Solo traveler strolling through a local market while making an analysis of the area and its people, systematically eating from a range of palettes displayed voluntarily on a large table, a group of dancers grooving to the latest peppy song of the recent movie in an air-conditioned room or shopping avenue, peeling and chopping vegetables to prepare a meal, organizing cosmetics/spices/attires into differently shaped boxes/containers/foldable bags, simply tapping different objects to induce us to sleep or relax (action called ASMR- autonomous sensory meridian response), young girl role-playing doctor with dog and kitten, random visitors imitating animals in the zoo and vice-versa, interviews of known/unknown personalities through podcasts, education influencers trying to make an impact with his/her rationality, fashion influencers starting from scratch to making oneself visible in gala events- the list is endless, and diverse.
The above are some of the contents in YouTube that I have consumed as casual entertainment. While every content may not possess the quality that we expect, however, it serves the purpose of engaging us in one way or another. Many successful YouTube channels has stood a money spinner by amassing our views. However, it is necessary to acknowledge that these contents also come at the price of courage, imagination, and confidence of the creators.
For a very long time, video contents in YouTube had a limited list of contents. Primarily launched as a video sharing platform in February 14th, 2005, YouTube gave us access to audio and video songs, movies, news portal having a channel, and a handful who uploaded moments, memories, and events. But brewing for some time now, there is a spurt of videos available with a diverse range of contents. It is a different matter that one’s subjectivity would define whether some contents are meaningful or meaningless. However, it has rather culminated in a cultural phenomenon where a large of people are participating to communicate ordinary/extraordinary events to the audience in an online mode.
What we see today is the evolution of human adaptations to the cultural transmission of contents. Busy in the content bandwagon are the new, old, expert and amateur creators who are attempting to disseminate novelty in its content production. Like in other fields, while shared existence is necessary but many at times is not sufficient. In online platform like YouTube, there is the requirement of a stubborn curiosity among the YouTubers to push against their limits in order to have a taste of glory. Navigating one’s creativity becomes utmost important for one’s upheaval of contents in the wake of competition. Because only those who would grace content with attention would have its garden, else a desert is certain.
In this hustle and bustle of creation, it is fascinating to look at the process of scooping out content from everyday life of an individual or a group or a situation. Everyday life can be depicted as the details of day to day routine activities. But little did I know about its potentialities of infusing such an optimistic energy among the YouTube creators. If looked closely one can observe the maximum cheerfulness being brought into the ordinary things and happenings of every day. Hence, everyday life has been given a purpose to be communicated online. In discipline of sociology, the concept of everyday life finds a beautiful elaboration. De Certeau (1984,1988) highlighted it as comprising innumerable practices, and becoming a site of opportunity for spontaneity, and the potential for diverse outcomes. This reverberates to how creators showcase any mundane activity of a day. But glittering the video content with captivating titles, thumbnails, humor, compelling narrative, voice over or music create an appealing effect. This makes evident that creators find joy, meaning, and contentment in the daily experiences by looking at the grandeur of the everyday. Thus, every act taken up by a creator to elevate it as content is a reflection of their preference and strange exhilaration. It is made an art of possibility by converting a personal act for public consumption.
Coming to viewership, we again get lured to consume the contents either for valuable/valueless engagement, to get a respite from boredom, to release dopamine, get instant relief from stress or simply scroll past as a time pass activity. It seeps into the crevices of our minds in such a way that we start developing a knack for it. We get so attracted to visual storytelling of any ordinary occurrence that we forget the quality of time and our attention. In fact, the everyday and ordinary activity of an individual or a group are designed in such a manner to help immerse ourselves in the chaos or peace of others. It is actually the visual appetite of the human brain that get enhanced to rely on others’ lives for entertainment.
The creators are also adept enough to carefully craft activity of the everyday that enables us a personalized viewing experience. It has actually altered the viewership patterns. From traditional TV programs to direct experience of viewing and interaction over a content is indeed a big shift. It is no longer the passive consumption of content like we engaged in traditional media. The scope of hitting the like/dislike button and expressing our opinions in the comment section has defined continuous user engagement. We reward the contents through numerous views, shares, and promotions. This results in generation of revenue helping creators get rich or filthy rich.
But in the event of such consumption we often fail to draw the line between appreciation and hate, applaud and jealousy, happiness and sorrow, knowledge and distractions, harmless and dangerous, witty and insult, or good and bad. There even comes a time when we give more precedence to unrealistic ideals, unproductivity, or misinformation. We fail to realize how our normal functioning gets disturbed on account of excessive screen time because not all content has a fruitful message. But maybe- this is it. We find it very difficult to resist the unwanted contents. And have enveloped ourselves in a layer of confusion without a willingness to prepare for a change.
