13 ms·

Important to note that the paper the article is referencing [1] is titled: "Salad Fingers: Pre-YouTube digital uncanny and the ‘weird’ future of animation" So

Important to note that the paper the article is referencing [1] is titled: "Salad Fingers: Pre-YouTube digital uncanny and the ‘weird’ future of animation" So, the actual data is about PRE-Youtube weird internet. Baffling why they chose to focus on YouTube instead of Newgrounds like the original paper does I think I'm reacting like this because I'm actually unaware of anything that originated on Youtube that fits into this category. Youtube just reposted stuff from elsewhere (it's the biggest pirate site on the internet probably). Edit: The key point is that there is a huge network of weird internet that predated and continues outside of YT. The Absolutely[2] Produced stuff is the standard bearer here [1] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13548565231208569 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13548565231208569 [2] https://absolutelyproductions.com/ https://absolutelyproductions.com/

epiccoleman 3y ago
Maybe MeatCanyon[1], or Joe Cappa's stuff[2], could fall into the modern "YouTube weird" - but I think a lot of the particular "weird" vibe of the early days of the modern web is pretty much dead - or at least not mainstream enough for me to know about it. There was a much more amateur bent to a lot of the old viral flash stuff, which I think just wouldn't stand out today. These two are a sort of new kind of weird - MeatCanyon is based largely around gross-out body horror parodies of pop culture, and Joe Cappa is ... I'm not sure what it is, but I love his stuff. If you like either of these videos the rest of their work is well worth a look. Especially the Joe Cappa "Haha You Clowns" series is just the weirdest kind of hilarious. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3BJpO59F4g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3BJpO59F4g [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUQckI_NqgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUQckI_NqgY
- bitvoid 3y ago
  Also, H3H3's original videos before he started doing reaction/commentary stuff as well, which was more early YouTube than current.
- j33zusjuice 3y ago
  Dude, that is the best shit on YT right now. I think it’s more “absurd,” than “weird,” though. It’s more in the spirit of Tim & Eric than Salad Fingers. I haven’t checked MeatCanyon, but I will be soon.
  - epiccoleman 3y ago
    Maybe so, and I even agree - but if being in the spirit of Tim and Eric doesn't qualify as weird, idk what does.
    - serf 3y ago
      my personal rule of thumb : if they're going for the eccentricity, it's absurd -- but if they just act that way and they lean-in they're weird. Tim & Eric and similar acts are absurd -- the people themselves are somewhat normal and put on a show when the gong sounds; this is obvious in their 'normal' productions. Bjork, Steven Wright, Emo Phillips, Andy Kaufman, Tom Waits -- they roll out of bed 'acting that way'.
- Kiro 3y ago
  > There was a much more amateur bent to a lot of the old viral flash stuff, which I think just wouldn't stand out today. The biggest thing right now is DaFuq!?Boom! and the Skibidi Toilet series, which looks like it was made in Garry's Mod or something.
  - epiccoleman 3y ago
    Skibidi Toilet is 100% worth calling out - very in line with that DIY weird vibe of the Newgrounds/AlbinoBlackSheep era. Has to have been Garry's Mod or probably these days, Source Filmmaker (SFM). Makes me feel old, though - that's a meme from my kids generation, which I know about only because of them.
    - quacksilver 3y ago
      I think it is source filmmaker. My nephew and everyone in his generation seem to be really into it, even to the extent that I heard kids singing 'tears for fears' songs (from the 80s) used in it in the street the other day. I tried to show him source filmmaker in an attempt to get him to be interested in messing around / producing stuff rather than consuming it on an iPad, but sadly he wasn't interested.
    - astrange 3y ago
      There's a YouTube channel called BuiltByGamers that does nothing but post absurd fake podcast clips where two guys pretend to argue about FNAF and Skibidi Toilet and get all the lore wrong. I think it's interesting because I've never thought of trolling elementary schoolers as a business idea. Watching them feels like getting a lobotomy though.
      - epiccoleman 3y ago
        That reminds me, tangentially, of the videos with deepfaked voices of Obama, Trump, and Biden playing video games together. For me it gets stale fast, but I will admit there's something pretty hilarious about the whole setup.
- doublepg23 3y ago
  > but I think a lot of the particular "weird" vibe of the early days of the modern web is pretty much dead I take it you haven't had a 12 year old talk your ear off about Five Nights at Freddy's lore or "SCP" then? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCP_Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCP_Foundation
  - epiccoleman 3y ago
    SCP Foundation has been around for like 15 years! The wiki itself is absolutely great though, it's definitely a good example of that DIY ethos. It's been interesting to see how much content has been generated from the stuff on the site over the last few years. My kids seem to enjoy the SCP lore explainer videos (at least, when they're allowed on YouTube).
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - cafeinux 3y ago
    Oh, I see you've met my godson...
- zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
  Check out Conner O'Malley's stuff on YouTube. He did some really great stuff around the 2020 election.
  - zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
    He just posted a new video. NSFW. Uses AI images and voices. https://youtu.be/pQs26c1klAU?feature=shared https://youtu.be/pQs26c1klAU?feature=shared
- archontes 3y ago
  It may not be as aberrant as MeatCanyon, but I would say that Felix Colgrave is defining his own genre enough to be considered weird. https://www.youtube.com/@FelixColgrave https://www.youtube.com/@FelixColgrave
  - epiccoleman 3y ago
    Oh man, I absolutely love his stuff. Every once in a while that Fever the Ghost song gets stuck in my head, even a decade after that video debuted. He's definitely got a very psychedelic and surreal style that is 100% Felix Colgrave. And I think that he certainly deserves the title of weird as much as anyone. Especially his earlier stuff very much has that old school net sensibility about it. (Although he's talented and polished enough that it's not _quite_ the same amateur vibe of those early Newground days). Another source of phenomenally cool and interesting "content" is the Adult Swim Off the Air series, which also has a very psychedelic vibe to it. The series collects a wide variety of really awesome animations (and also lots of silly stuff). Probably my favorite thing to ever come from the Off The Air oeuvre is the animated music video for Dan Deacon's song When I Was Done Dying[1]. They also did a 20 minute special episode featuring Dan Deacon's music which is extremely cool[2]. I was exposed to so much cool stuff via Off The Air, the first episode is still one of my favorite ten minutes of weirdness[3]. There are so many other great episodes, too, if you like this kind of thing. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QBOO6m210 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QBOO6m210 [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X4fYP9bqqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X4fYP9bqqw [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QBOO6m210 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QBOO6m210
  - dale_glass 3y ago
    JaimeR is also weirdness on another level: https://www.youtube.com/@JaimeR2D https://www.youtube.com/@JaimeR2D
afavour 3y ago
Yeah, this threw me too. Salad Fingers is absolutely pre-YouTube. I remember watching that, Weebl and Bob, Charlie the Unicorn etc etc, all as Flash videos.
- pjot 3y ago
  Too Many Cooks, I think, originated on YouTube.
  - quickthrowman 3y ago
    Too Many Cooks was produced by Williams Street and aired on Adult Swim.
- zikduruqe 3y ago
  > Charlie the Unicorn Shun the non-believer....
  - magicalhippo 3y ago
    Caaaaaarrrrl[1]... Ending of that series caught me off guard a bit, got really down for a while first time. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJOwdrTA8Gw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJOwdrTA8Gw
    - galangalalgol 3y ago
      We can stop linking YouTube now, wasm and rust and some awsome people brought back flash at newgrounds https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/280260 https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/280260
- _kb 3y ago
  Don’t forget strong bad / trogdor and end of the world. Classics of the era.
  - blackshaw 3y ago
ogurechny 3y ago
It's quite obvious that the author doesn't understand the difference between “internet” and “internet TV”, and only used the latter. Otherwise, the article would say “weird internet”.
foota 3y ago
Green is not a creative color? https://youtu.be/9C_HReR_McQ?si=hPwd3zmnOx21ww1L https://youtu.be/9C_HReR_McQ?si=hPwd3zmnOx21ww1L
- Quekid5 3y ago
  Green is not rusty enough. Is Green even a memory safe language? (The whole arc of DHMIS is crazy... but similar for the Spooooons.)
- Eater_of_food 3y ago
  I'm fairly certain that played on British TV and was subsequently uploaded to YouTube (though the sequels did originate there).
  - rozab 3y ago
    It's the inverse, there was a sequel like 8 years later on Channel 4
bombcar 3y ago
I believe YouTube poop originated in YouTube. But maybe it was available from things like YTMND.
- archagon 3y ago
  Seems like a cousin of the animutation to me.
  - Dwedit 3y ago
    The really crazy thing is that I initially hated Youtube poop for some reason, despite having made several Animutations. Later on I realized how silly that was.
- RankingMember 3y ago
  Yeah YTP is what I think of when I think of YouTube-originated art form. It's sort of like a visual version of the "Paul's Boutique" crazy sampling to make new art.
  - epiccoleman 3y ago
    Absolutely true - it's actually crazy how much of an art form YTP became. (Not sure how popular it is these days?). It was a whole style with its own conventions, memes, etc. And on the surface, it seems really stupid, but there's a lot of creativity and talent that went into those wild videos. This one is an old favorite of mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTdxPliBdZs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTdxPliBdZs Also, the "Wow, It's Made" series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMapmlUwerw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMapmlUwerw
    - willis936 3y ago
      I love Hank of the Hill. Green Wedding and some of the Toy Story ones still get me too. https://youtu.be/Rf7MCiei9uI https://youtu.be/Rf7MCiei9uI
earthscienceman 3y ago
"Unaware of anything that originated on Youtube that fits into this category"... What?! Currently the most watched animator on youtube falls squarely into this category. You don't know about it because you're old. TBF I only heard about it from an elementary school teacher. Here's a summary for the old folks, aka everyone here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K50D_P4kpZM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K50D_P4kpZM First video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzD9OxAHtzU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzD9OxAHtzU
- AndrewKemendo 3y ago
  I have children and am unfortunately aware of Skibidi toilet so while you are correct that I am old, I stand by my comment. This isn’t genre defining stuff

epiccoleman 3y ago

Maybe MeatCanyon[1], or Joe Cappa's stuff[2], could fall into the modern "YouTube weird" - but I think a lot of the particular "weird" vibe of the early days of the modern web is pretty much dead - or at least not mainstream enough for me to know about it. There was a much more amateur bent to a lot of the old viral flash stuff, which I think just wouldn't stand out today. These two are a sort of new kind of weird - MeatCanyon is based largely around gross-out body horror parodies of pop culture, and Joe Cappa is ... I'm not sure what it is, but I love his stuff. If you like either of these videos the rest of their work is well worth a look. Especially the Joe Cappa "Haha You Clowns" series is just the weirdest kind of hilarious. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3BJpO59F4g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3BJpO59F4g [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUQckI_NqgY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUQckI_NqgY

bitvoid 3y ago
Also, H3H3's original videos before he started doing reaction/commentary stuff as well, which was more early YouTube than current.
j33zusjuice 3y ago
Dude, that is the best shit on YT right now. I think it’s more “absurd,” than “weird,” though. It’s more in the spirit of Tim & Eric than Salad Fingers. I haven’t checked MeatCanyon, but I will be soon.
- epiccoleman 3y ago
  Maybe so, and I even agree - but if being in the spirit of Tim and Eric doesn't qualify as weird, idk what does.
  - serf 3y ago
    my personal rule of thumb : if they're going for the eccentricity, it's absurd -- but if they just act that way and they lean-in they're weird. Tim & Eric and similar acts are absurd -- the people themselves are somewhat normal and put on a show when the gong sounds; this is obvious in their 'normal' productions. Bjork, Steven Wright, Emo Phillips, Andy Kaufman, Tom Waits -- they roll out of bed 'acting that way'.
Kiro 3y ago
> There was a much more amateur bent to a lot of the old viral flash stuff, which I think just wouldn't stand out today. The biggest thing right now is DaFuq!?Boom! and the Skibidi Toilet series, which looks like it was made in Garry's Mod or something.
- epiccoleman 3y ago
  Skibidi Toilet is 100% worth calling out - very in line with that DIY weird vibe of the Newgrounds/AlbinoBlackSheep era. Has to have been Garry's Mod or probably these days, Source Filmmaker (SFM). Makes me feel old, though - that's a meme from my kids generation, which I know about only because of them.
  - quacksilver 3y ago
    I think it is source filmmaker. My nephew and everyone in his generation seem to be really into it, even to the extent that I heard kids singing 'tears for fears' songs (from the 80s) used in it in the street the other day. I tried to show him source filmmaker in an attempt to get him to be interested in messing around / producing stuff rather than consuming it on an iPad, but sadly he wasn't interested.
  - astrange 3y ago
    There's a YouTube channel called BuiltByGamers that does nothing but post absurd fake podcast clips where two guys pretend to argue about FNAF and Skibidi Toilet and get all the lore wrong. I think it's interesting because I've never thought of trolling elementary schoolers as a business idea. Watching them feels like getting a lobotomy though.
    - epiccoleman 3y ago
      That reminds me, tangentially, of the videos with deepfaked voices of Obama, Trump, and Biden playing video games together. For me it gets stale fast, but I will admit there's something pretty hilarious about the whole setup.
doublepg23 3y ago
> but I think a lot of the particular "weird" vibe of the early days of the modern web is pretty much dead I take it you haven't had a 12 year old talk your ear off about Five Nights at Freddy's lore or "SCP" then? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCP_Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCP_Foundation
- epiccoleman 3y ago
  SCP Foundation has been around for like 15 years! The wiki itself is absolutely great though, it's definitely a good example of that DIY ethos. It's been interesting to see how much content has been generated from the stuff on the site over the last few years. My kids seem to enjoy the SCP lore explainer videos (at least, when they're allowed on YouTube).
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- cafeinux 3y ago
  Oh, I see you've met my godson...
zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
Check out Conner O'Malley's stuff on YouTube. He did some really great stuff around the 2020 election.
- zoklet-enjoyer 3y ago
  He just posted a new video. NSFW. Uses AI images and voices. https://youtu.be/pQs26c1klAU?feature=shared https://youtu.be/pQs26c1klAU?feature=shared
archontes 3y ago
It may not be as aberrant as MeatCanyon, but I would say that Felix Colgrave is defining his own genre enough to be considered weird. https://www.youtube.com/@FelixColgrave https://www.youtube.com/@FelixColgrave
- epiccoleman 3y ago
  Oh man, I absolutely love his stuff. Every once in a while that Fever the Ghost song gets stuck in my head, even a decade after that video debuted. He's definitely got a very psychedelic and surreal style that is 100% Felix Colgrave. And I think that he certainly deserves the title of weird as much as anyone. Especially his earlier stuff very much has that old school net sensibility about it. (Although he's talented and polished enough that it's not _quite_ the same amateur vibe of those early Newground days). Another source of phenomenally cool and interesting "content" is the Adult Swim Off the Air series, which also has a very psychedelic vibe to it. The series collects a wide variety of really awesome animations (and also lots of silly stuff). Probably my favorite thing to ever come from the Off The Air oeuvre is the animated music video for Dan Deacon's song When I Was Done Dying[1]. They also did a 20 minute special episode featuring Dan Deacon's music which is extremely cool[2]. I was exposed to so much cool stuff via Off The Air, the first episode is still one of my favorite ten minutes of weirdness[3]. There are so many other great episodes, too, if you like this kind of thing. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QBOO6m210 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QBOO6m210 [2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X4fYP9bqqw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X4fYP9bqqw [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QBOO6m210 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59QBOO6m210
- dale_glass 3y ago
  JaimeR is also weirdness on another level: https://www.youtube.com/@JaimeR2D https://www.youtube.com/@JaimeR2D

afavour 3y ago

Yeah, this threw me too. Salad Fingers is absolutely pre-YouTube. I remember watching that, Weebl and Bob, Charlie the Unicorn etc etc, all as Flash videos.

pjot 3y ago
Too Many Cooks, I think, originated on YouTube.
- quickthrowman 3y ago
  Too Many Cooks was produced by Williams Street and aired on Adult Swim.
zikduruqe 3y ago
> Charlie the Unicorn Shun the non-believer....
- magicalhippo 3y ago
  Caaaaaarrrrl[1]... Ending of that series caught me off guard a bit, got really down for a while first time. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJOwdrTA8Gw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJOwdrTA8Gw
  - galangalalgol 3y ago
    We can stop linking YouTube now, wasm and rust and some awsome people brought back flash at newgrounds https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/280260 https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/280260
_kb 3y ago
Don’t forget strong bad / trogdor and end of the world. Classics of the era.
- blackshaw 3y ago

ogurechny 3y ago

It's quite obvious that the author doesn't understand the difference between “internet” and “internet TV”, and only used the latter. Otherwise, the article would say “weird internet”.

foota 3y ago

Green is not a creative color? https://youtu.be/9C_HReR_McQ?si=hPwd3zmnOx21ww1L https://youtu.be/9C_HReR_McQ?si=hPwd3zmnOx21ww1L

Quekid5 3y ago
Green is not rusty enough. Is Green even a memory safe language? (The whole arc of DHMIS is crazy... but similar for the Spooooons.)
Eater_of_food 3y ago
I'm fairly certain that played on British TV and was subsequently uploaded to YouTube (though the sequels did originate there).
- rozab 3y ago
  It's the inverse, there was a sequel like 8 years later on Channel 4

bombcar 3y ago

I believe YouTube poop originated in YouTube. But maybe it was available from things like YTMND.

archagon 3y ago
Seems like a cousin of the animutation to me.
- Dwedit 3y ago
  The really crazy thing is that I initially hated Youtube poop for some reason, despite having made several Animutations. Later on I realized how silly that was.
RankingMember 3y ago
Yeah YTP is what I think of when I think of YouTube-originated art form. It's sort of like a visual version of the "Paul's Boutique" crazy sampling to make new art.
- epiccoleman 3y ago
  Absolutely true - it's actually crazy how much of an art form YTP became. (Not sure how popular it is these days?). It was a whole style with its own conventions, memes, etc. And on the surface, it seems really stupid, but there's a lot of creativity and talent that went into those wild videos. This one is an old favorite of mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTdxPliBdZs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTdxPliBdZs Also, the "Wow, It's Made" series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMapmlUwerw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMapmlUwerw
  - willis936 3y ago
    I love Hank of the Hill. Green Wedding and some of the Toy Story ones still get me too. https://youtu.be/Rf7MCiei9uI https://youtu.be/Rf7MCiei9uI

earthscienceman 3y ago

"Unaware of anything that originated on Youtube that fits into this category"... What?! Currently the most watched animator on youtube falls squarely into this category. You don't know about it because you're old. TBF I only heard about it from an elementary school teacher. Here's a summary for the old folks, aka everyone here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K50D_P4kpZM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K50D_P4kpZM First video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzD9OxAHtzU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzD9OxAHtzU

AndrewKemendo 3y ago
I have children and am unfortunately aware of Skibidi toilet so while you are correct that I am old, I stand by my comment. This isn’t genre defining stuff