4 ms·

The article seems to be circle around some unstated idealistic point, it's unclear what it is.

by fooker 3y ago

bdjsiqoocwk 3y ago
Exactly my take away as well. Maybe we're just too stupid to get it, both of us.
readingnews 3y ago
I agree, while I just can not stand MrBeast or his videos, and I can not explain it (maybe they are just nothing but attention grabbers and have nothing to offer), I feel like this article also falls into "attention grabber with nothing foundational to offer". I stopped watching anything I am not deliberately searching for on YouTube, as they all seem to be MrBeast copy-cats. Never heard of this person they are interviewing in the article, but again, the article itself seemed to go nowhere... maybe we were duped, and that was the point?
- RetroTechie 3y ago
  Au contraire; imho the article offers several good viewpoints. But I'm undecided about who/what it says more: MrBeast & his antics, his audience, YT, its audience, other populair platforms & their audience, today's public in general, or how its preferences are changing. Personally I prefer authenticity, uniqueness. Seek out stuff that's found nowhere else. For which # of views are (mostly?) irrelevant as long as creators & maybe their audience enjoy it. Perhaps MrBeast is authentic in that way: copycats aplenty, but no-one is doing, or living exactly like him.
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    >But I'm undecided about who/what it says more: MrBeast & his antics, his audience, YT, its audience, other populair platforms & their audience, today's public in general, or how its preferences are changing. I think it's a sign of a new generation approaching the internet in a different way. We're at a point where Gen Alpha is starting to hit its teens and social media isn't a flashy new tool but a medium of life. When everything starts out shiny, nothing is. So they will start to cut through the glitter and simply be efficient with the platform. short form content made for the smartphone they co-existed with their whole life, a focus on more relatable creators (or the appearance of relatable) instead of the most eye catching, and a general resistance to clickbait and ads that have disappointed them young and early. meanwhile, the Genz/late millenial era is aging into its 30's and their interests are shifting. They literally grew out of the high energy roller coaster style of content and are likely still cynical of the world they grew into. They've had their fun but they will probably settle into different forms of content on Youtube. and/or creators will adjust their formats. I remember the early 10's era of "skit comedy" where every video felt like it needed to copy AVGN/Nostalgia critic and insert small skits between their reviews/analysis. That's pretty much all shifted towards a more documentary style of video with minimal fluff (or at the very most, very short interjections with meme visuals/sound FX, usually using the piece of media in question).
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  >I feel like this article also falls into "attention grabber with nothing foundational to offer". >I stopped watching anything I am not deliberately searching for on YouTube, as they all seem to be MrBeast copy-cats. you seem to inadvertently understand the point of the article and are in fact a subject of the supposed shift away from the Mr. Beast era. I think the issue is the article focuses too much on Mr. Beast, who is more of a metaphor for the actual trend than the actual subject of interest. When you cut out the biography you end up with 2 core points: 1. the "high energy" style of videos that feel like it's trying to dangle keys at you is shifting towards more authentic experiences (which apparently tiktok does) 2. people in general are shifting from long form to short form content with #1 as a factor. I do know Tiktok's biggest appeal is that it's really good at highlighting smaller creators, which works opposite to most other kind of social media. That could have been the focus instead of going over Beast's entire life story and thought process on how he makes videos. But Polygon is ironically in that same bus, knowing most people will click to focus on Beast instead of the actual "era" in question.
secretsatan 3y ago
It's lost me, I have heard of MrBeast and know he's extremely popular, but that's at it. I think the article is written from the perspective of someone who's in the fandom and that youtube doesn't really have content outside of it.
- kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
  I've never watched his videos but I use YT without logging in and flush cookies on browser restart. With no viewer profile, YT heavily promotes his content on the front page.
  - shabble 3y ago
    After being annoyed by this (and a handful of persistent others) a few too many times, I ended up with the following ublock rules: www.youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-media.ytd-rich-item-renderer:has(a[href='/@MrBeast']) www.youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-media.ytd-rich-item-renderer:has(a[href='/@BeastReacts']) www.youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-media.ytd-rich-item-renderer:has(a[href='/@BeastPhilanthropy'])
- internet101010 3y ago
  A lot of his videos are either competitions where contestants get a lot of money or comparing various levels of things ($1 boat vs $100M boat, etc.). Every Saturday he releases a new video that quickly racks up 120M+ views, which is on par with the Super Bowl.
boesboes 3y ago
Point seems rather clear to me: yt was about making ‘fun content’, now it is about maximizing clicks and views. Of course we can argue what is fun content, but it’s the same complaint as what with the internet as a whole: click-bait vs real content. Speaking to YT, many creators i watch needs to be prefaced with please like and comment, because these long videos are algorithm poison.
- fooker 3y ago
  >yt was about making ‘fun content’ yt was about selling ads on fun content. With shorts/reels/tiktoks, long form fun content no longer works. But that is not the point made in this article, at all.
  - johnnyanmac 3y ago
    >With shorts/reels/tiktoks, long form fun content no longer works. Yes, and no. It's weird. YT very much does want creators to make shorts. They take a bigger cut after all, and it's the big trend. But the traditional algorithms (from what I hear from creator who talk about the topic) hasn't changed too radically. The 8 minute target point is still a factor and longform videos still seem to be rewarded. I imagine YT is just trying to hit on multiple fronts. Shorts are for the Tiktok crowd while the normal videos are still tailored towards people who come to YT to get more substantial content. >But that is not the point made in this article, at all. The article directly mentions your point though: >So far, much of what’s been heralded in YouTube’s era of MrBeast sounds bleak, but the next era might already be upon us. If the old YouTube was Instagram, the new YouTube will be more like TikTok. That manifests in literal ways, with the company putting much of its energy into “shorts,” but also figuratively, beyond structural elements. TikTok’s strength lies in its ability to surface videos from everyday users to an enormous audience, and it’s so good at doing this that people talk about its algorithm in mystical terms.
poszlem 3y ago
I think it's a sloppy attempt at a takedown. For some reason, MrBeast really gets under the skin of a tiny, loud group of progressives who try to make him out to be the bad guy, and this article feels like it's just hopping on that bandwagon.
- LAC-Tech 3y ago
  I mean he's white and he's breathing, that's probably enough for them.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
the_gipsy 3y ago
Would you rather watch it condensed in a 30 second TikTok? You could then decide in the first 10 seconds if it's worth wasting your life with the remaining 20 seconds, or to go on swiping, chasing the next dopamine rush.
- fooker 3y ago
  Have you read the article?
  - the_gipsy 3y ago
    Yes.

The article seems to be circle around some unstated idealistic point, it's unclear what it is.

by fooker 3y ago

The article seems to be circle around some unstated idealistic point, it's unclear what it is.

bdjsiqoocwk 3y ago

Exactly my take away as well. Maybe we're just too stupid to get it, both of us.

readingnews 3y ago

I agree, while I just can not stand MrBeast or his videos, and I can not explain it (maybe they are just nothing but attention grabbers and have nothing to offer), I feel like this article also falls into "attention grabber with nothing foundational to offer". I stopped watching anything I am not deliberately searching for on YouTube, as they all seem to be MrBeast copy-cats. Never heard of this person they are interviewing in the article, but again, the article itself seemed to go nowhere... maybe we were duped, and that was the point?

RetroTechie 3y ago
Au contraire; imho the article offers several good viewpoints. But I'm undecided about who/what it says more: MrBeast & his antics, his audience, YT, its audience, other populair platforms & their audience, today's public in general, or how its preferences are changing. Personally I prefer authenticity, uniqueness. Seek out stuff that's found nowhere else. For which # of views are (mostly?) irrelevant as long as creators & maybe their audience enjoy it. Perhaps MrBeast is authentic in that way: copycats aplenty, but no-one is doing, or living exactly like him.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  >But I'm undecided about who/what it says more: MrBeast & his antics, his audience, YT, its audience, other populair platforms & their audience, today's public in general, or how its preferences are changing. I think it's a sign of a new generation approaching the internet in a different way. We're at a point where Gen Alpha is starting to hit its teens and social media isn't a flashy new tool but a medium of life. When everything starts out shiny, nothing is. So they will start to cut through the glitter and simply be efficient with the platform. short form content made for the smartphone they co-existed with their whole life, a focus on more relatable creators (or the appearance of relatable) instead of the most eye catching, and a general resistance to clickbait and ads that have disappointed them young and early. meanwhile, the Genz/late millenial era is aging into its 30's and their interests are shifting. They literally grew out of the high energy roller coaster style of content and are likely still cynical of the world they grew into. They've had their fun but they will probably settle into different forms of content on Youtube. and/or creators will adjust their formats. I remember the early 10's era of "skit comedy" where every video felt like it needed to copy AVGN/Nostalgia critic and insert small skits between their reviews/analysis. That's pretty much all shifted towards a more documentary style of video with minimal fluff (or at the very most, very short interjections with meme visuals/sound FX, usually using the piece of media in question).
johnnyanmac 3y ago
>I feel like this article also falls into "attention grabber with nothing foundational to offer". >I stopped watching anything I am not deliberately searching for on YouTube, as they all seem to be MrBeast copy-cats. you seem to inadvertently understand the point of the article and are in fact a subject of the supposed shift away from the Mr. Beast era. I think the issue is the article focuses too much on Mr. Beast, who is more of a metaphor for the actual trend than the actual subject of interest. When you cut out the biography you end up with 2 core points: 1. the "high energy" style of videos that feel like it's trying to dangle keys at you is shifting towards more authentic experiences (which apparently tiktok does) 2. people in general are shifting from long form to short form content with #1 as a factor. I do know Tiktok's biggest appeal is that it's really good at highlighting smaller creators, which works opposite to most other kind of social media. That could have been the focus instead of going over Beast's entire life story and thought process on how he makes videos. But Polygon is ironically in that same bus, knowing most people will click to focus on Beast instead of the actual "era" in question.

secretsatan 3y ago

It's lost me, I have heard of MrBeast and know he's extremely popular, but that's at it. I think the article is written from the perspective of someone who's in the fandom and that youtube doesn't really have content outside of it.

kevin_thibedeau 3y ago
I've never watched his videos but I use YT without logging in and flush cookies on browser restart. With no viewer profile, YT heavily promotes his content on the front page.
- shabble 3y ago
  After being annoyed by this (and a handful of persistent others) a few too many times, I ended up with the following ublock rules: www.youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-media.ytd-rich-item-renderer:has(a[href='/@MrBeast']) www.youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-media.ytd-rich-item-renderer:has(a[href='/@BeastReacts']) www.youtube.com##ytd-rich-grid-media.ytd-rich-item-renderer:has(a[href='/@BeastPhilanthropy'])
internet101010 3y ago
A lot of his videos are either competitions where contestants get a lot of money or comparing various levels of things ($1 boat vs $100M boat, etc.). Every Saturday he releases a new video that quickly racks up 120M+ views, which is on par with the Super Bowl.

boesboes 3y ago

Point seems rather clear to me: yt was about making ‘fun content’, now it is about maximizing clicks and views. Of course we can argue what is fun content, but it’s the same complaint as what with the internet as a whole: click-bait vs real content. Speaking to YT, many creators i watch needs to be prefaced with please like and comment, because these long videos are algorithm poison.

fooker 3y ago
>yt was about making ‘fun content’ yt was about selling ads on fun content. With shorts/reels/tiktoks, long form fun content no longer works. But that is not the point made in this article, at all.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago
  >With shorts/reels/tiktoks, long form fun content no longer works. Yes, and no. It's weird. YT very much does want creators to make shorts. They take a bigger cut after all, and it's the big trend. But the traditional algorithms (from what I hear from creator who talk about the topic) hasn't changed too radically. The 8 minute target point is still a factor and longform videos still seem to be rewarded. I imagine YT is just trying to hit on multiple fronts. Shorts are for the Tiktok crowd while the normal videos are still tailored towards people who come to YT to get more substantial content. >But that is not the point made in this article, at all. The article directly mentions your point though: >So far, much of what’s been heralded in YouTube’s era of MrBeast sounds bleak, but the next era might already be upon us. If the old YouTube was Instagram, the new YouTube will be more like TikTok. That manifests in literal ways, with the company putting much of its energy into “shorts,” but also figuratively, beyond structural elements. TikTok’s strength lies in its ability to surface videos from everyday users to an enormous audience, and it’s so good at doing this that people talk about its algorithm in mystical terms.

poszlem 3y ago

I think it's a sloppy attempt at a takedown. For some reason, MrBeast really gets under the skin of a tiny, loud group of progressives who try to make him out to be the bad guy, and this article feels like it's just hopping on that bandwagon.

LAC-Tech 3y ago
I mean he's white and he's breathing, that's probably enough for them.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

the_gipsy 3y ago

Would you rather watch it condensed in a 30 second TikTok? You could then decide in the first 10 seconds if it's worth wasting your life with the remaining 20 seconds, or to go on swiping, chasing the next dopamine rush.

fooker 3y ago
Have you read the article?
- the_gipsy 3y ago
  Yes.