SARAH BUITENDACH: Ray of light in a cesspool
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In this article ( for last week’s Financial Mail, Toby Shapshak described YouTube as “the cesspool of the internet”.
His commentary of the behemoth went on to say: “People who still believe the Earth is flat have a platform on the video-sharing site, given the number of conspiracy videos there. These are the same people who seem to believe the moon landings were fake and 5G causes the coronavirus”.
It’s probably not the next big slogan its owners Google have cued up for the brand – but it did make me laugh, and think about the weird things you find curled up in the furthest reaches of the World Wide Web.
Tucked in between the proliferation of mad and bad are blitzes of magic; things so amusing or delightful or heartwarming that they they make the whole dodgy net seem momentarily palatable. Even YouTube.
One such winner, in the category of “this has made me laugh all the way through Covid” is this video ( from the Fleming family. Their home movie, of an attempt to catch a bat in their kitchen a few years ago, has been doing the rounds again. And it is comedy gold: I defy you not to start saying “he’s makin’ a mockery of you!” in an attempted Irish accent once you’ve watched it a couple of times.
Then there are the YouTube twins: 22-year-old, Indiana-based, hip hop-loving Fred and Tim Williams, who recorded themselves listening to classic songs for the first time. This genre of “reaction” videos is a big thing, but recently the youngsters have become the poster kids for the movement. I’ve been watching them for months, lured in by their maiden playing of Dolly Parton’s Jolene (
You can see the attraction. There is an unmitigated magic to hearing a musical work of art for the first time, and seeing the twins do so — especially if it’s a tune you love — comes a close second. Last week I caught their reaction to The Fugees’ 1996 version of Killing Me Softly ( Watching them react with surprise and pleasure to the beat dropping in the 36th second of the song brought me unimaginable joy.
As my sister put it, “these two are the best thing to come out of the pandemic. We must protect them at all costs”.
This lovely article ( from the New York Times explains the psychology ...
His commentary of the behemoth went on to say: “People who still believe the Earth is flat have a platform on the video-sharing site, given the number of conspiracy videos there. These are the same people who seem to believe the moon landings were fake and 5G causes the coronavirus”.
It’s probably not the next big slogan its owners Google have cued up for the brand – but it did make me laugh, and think about the weird things you find curled up in the furthest reaches of the World Wide Web.
Tucked in between the proliferation of mad and bad are blitzes of magic; things so amusing or delightful or heartwarming that they they make the whole dodgy net seem momentarily palatable. Even YouTube.
One such winner, in the category of “this has made me laugh all the way through Covid” is this video ( from the Fleming family. Their home movie, of an attempt to catch a bat in their kitchen a few years ago, has been doing the rounds again. And it is comedy gold: I defy you not to start saying “he’s makin’ a mockery of you!” in an attempted Irish accent once you’ve watched it a couple of times.
Then there are the YouTube twins: 22-year-old, Indiana-based, hip hop-loving Fred and Tim Williams, who recorded themselves listening to classic songs for the first time. This genre of “reaction” videos is a big thing, but recently the youngsters have become the poster kids for the movement. I’ve been watching them for months, lured in by their maiden playing of Dolly Parton’s Jolene (
You can see the attraction. There is an unmitigated magic to hearing a musical work of art for the first time, and seeing the twins do so — especially if it’s a tune you love — comes a close second. Last week I caught their reaction to The Fugees’ 1996 version of Killing Me Softly ( Watching them react with surprise and pleasure to the beat dropping in the 36th second of the song brought me unimaginable joy.
As my sister put it, “these two are the best thing to come out of the pandemic. We must protect them at all costs”.
This lovely article ( from the New York Times explains the psychology ...
