I Miss the Old Youtube
I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but life hits you like a truck, and even though I have extremely urgent school work to do, better late than never I guess.
Side note: this is all just purely my stream of consciousness. I am genuinely, truly not trying to shit on anyone here. There is no structure whatsoever, and this is all just internalised thoughts and reflections from over the last few years.
Bestdressed, Vlogs and Chatty Life Updates
Discovering Bestdressed back in 2018 was life changing. I know most of her subscribers say this but she was truly the older sister I never had. I loved ALL her content, and to this day, I still find myself expressing thoughts/interests that were at least influenced by her (like how a good pair of jeans should be a 100% cotton, or my forever ongoing quest in finding a nice pair of safety pin earrings that are like her now discontinued en-route collection).
To me, the thing that set Ashley apart from most youtubers in the past (and even now) was her candidness, sense of humour and how chatty she was on camera. I feel like that was also a thing of 2018-2020 pre-tiktok era youtube, where youtubers/vloggers actually talked to the camera and just did shit. Self-help, "productivity" vlogs weren't a big thing yet and they would literally just do whatever (Like all of simone's old clownery vlogs and fun videos.)
I know there is definitely an element of performativity, and some were definitely staged even if they all appeared more candid. BUT it still felt more natural, unpolished and imperfect (in a very very good way) as compared to youtubers now.
My Issues with Current Youtube...
Honestly, this whole post might just be a me problem because maybe I am just not discovering niche enough youtubers who make the content I like, or I am just blind and fussy. But whatever, my life, my rules.
My thing with current youtube is that all the videos look and feel the same. Don't get me wrong, I do love a good productivity study, college life vlog, and I am always searching them up to watch. However, all the videos that most of the youtubers I subscribed to last time or videos that now appear on my homefeed all follow this same format: The title is always like "Productive day in my life | study w me, cafe hopping, late night study sesh, yapping" or something along those lines, and then the thumbnail contains close ups of their face with the sans serif fonts and matcha or any other big activity they are doing.
Case in point. I also subscribe to 3 of these 6 youtubers.
NOT to say I hate these. I genuinely really do appreciate the fact that in this horrifying era of AI slop and shit, there is a constant stream of human-made content on real people's lives that are still being put out. My biggest gripe is that they aren't chatty enough (it's always the damn lofi and the timelapse) and the whole aesthetic, super pretty and pinterest-worthy lifestyle that is being shown. It's not bad, but it just feels too sterile and perfect. It doesn't feel engaging enough for me, and if I am watching it while eating lunch, I kind of switch off because do I really want to see a 1min timelapse of you journalling to lofi royalty free music while eating?
I know everything on the internet is curated, even those chatty 2018-2020 vlogs I loved that I talked about earlier. But current youtube videos on this genre just feel too curated if that makes sense. If it's a college day in your life, then I yearn for the fun talking to the camera moments or chaotic crash outs instead of 5823278 constant cuts of matcha being swirled, walks to school, or the school building with lofi (kpop) music playing.
Again, I guess that's what set Ashley's vlogs apart and why I still keep going back to them even though she hasn't released anything for almost 5+ years. Her college vlogs were chaotic, even if they were on her trying to get her life together or studying for her finals. I think it's because of the fact that she would do voiceovers on top of her timelapses with that iconic edm music softened in the background. That made her videos more engaging, and felt like I was actually watching someone's life that felt inherently more authentic (even if it 100% fully wasn't) instead of that picture-perfect lofi timelapse in the matcha cafes that are so common now.
Bestdressed my beloved...
So Why Do I Keep Watching and Subscribing to Them?
Like genuinely gun to my head, I have free will and power to just unsubscribe and stop watching all these. Nobody is forcing me to do this, and maybe then this whole post wouldn't exist. But like I said, I really do appreciate the fact that these videos are existing, and I can watch them. Like even after all my issues with these videos, sometimes I really do just need to see you make and swirl your matcha, and see you journal in your perfectly decorated office for 1 minute to lofi music. Plus, these videos are sometimes motivating and do make me want to romanticise my life a little more and be like them.
Then What is a Good Youtuber To ME?
I complain and say all this, and it probably just sounds very long-winded. SO, what is a good youtuber/youtube video for me then? The biggest criteria is chattiness and fun. I don't mind the aesthetic lifestyle and the timelapses, but too much of it and it coming across as too picture perfect and curated just doesn't work for me. I need funny people who can talk, and there is some chaos in their life and vlog.
New Gen Youtubers I Resonate With
Despite my complaints that my subscription list is filled with too many lifestyle youtubers who have too perfectly curated lives (I still love them though, genuinely), I have managed to discover and love some new gen youtubers!! Sadly, no one will ever live up to Ashley but I still love all of them.
First is Aletha (@lethxgyu). I followed her on IG a long time ago because she's so funny and cool, and then she started a youtube channel and those same chatty, fun vibes carried over which was LOVELY. I've also been really enjoying Ryan Crouse (@ryancrouse). He just has the great amount of chatty and chaos in his vlogs and his Japan life is so cool and makes me so excited for my trip in September!!
@Ryancrouse
Another great contender is Olivia (@OliviaSomersille). Her videos are so fun and lovely, and I love watching all her content. I think she might be in my top youtubers but she hasn't been posting as much which has been a little sad :")
End Notes
Honestly I don't know if I have more thoughts. I probably do but I'm so exhausted from school and the lack of sleep I've been getting so this will be all for now. Again, I genuinely don't want to come across as shitting on anybody, I DO appreciate all the videos that come across my feed that I've been blessed with. I'm just maybe too picky when it comes to the media I consume.