Over the past five years YouTube has become more than just a trend. YouTube is an American obsession. I was in seventh grade the first time that I tried to find a video on YouTube. It was something that everyone was talking about so my little twelve year old self thought I would search this new phenomenon and find my music video that I was dying to see, probably the equivalent of some Justin Beiber song with which I had become obsessed. So I go to my computer and type in on Google “utube.” Obviously nothing came up under that name but I had a little common sense at that time and after a few searches I found what I was looking for, the illustrious YouTube. For reasons you can probably already tell, that day changed my life. Had I known the countless hours I would spend searching and watching and laughing at videos, I think I would have been more excited than embarrassed that it took me a while to find the site that I probably visit at least once a day five years later.
So what makes YouTube so great? What makes people take their video cameras into the car while they are driving or film themselves doing anything to get another view (aka GloZell)? What makes people want to make an account with no intention of ever posting videos but simply to “favorite” them (aka me)? Why can I waste hours watching and laughing so hard my stomach hurts at two minute clips when I should be doing my English homework? And finally what makes a video viral? How is it even possible that my friends who live hundreds of miles away are watching the exact same thing that I randomly come across? These are some of the questions I want to explore and hopefully answer in my blog on top of watching some downright hilarious stuff.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorites and one simple question. Is this real life?
