Youtube Rewind 2019 just came out. It's still crap

Youtube Rewind is an annual tradition that started in 2011 in which Youtube would make a year-end video to compile every achievement this site has made over the year, and honor the most successful content creators as well as their most successful products.

However, over the years, this tradition has become more and more constrained as Youtube made an effort to renew its image as a mainstream, family-friendly platform that doesn't tolerate any content that doesn't fit its narrow scope of political correctness. In pushing such a heavily-biased view, Youtube also created a considerable constraint on creators' freedom, heavily promoting content geared towards younger generations such as gaming streams, prank videos, beauty tips and,...well, fidget spinners and slimes. This is especially ironic considering how Youtube's recent COPPA fiasco is severely threatening content creators geared towards younger audiences. Other popular forms of entertainment that used to dominate the platform through the endorsement of viewers themselves, on the other hand, is given the short end of the stick, especially mature comedy skits which were taken off recommendations and trending list, or even demonetized, as most forms of comedy can come off as offensive in 2019 to a particular demographic.

Youtube Rewind consequently became a means for Youtube to promote its agenda which is definitely NOT endorsed by the community, as it failed to credit the MOST important contributor to its platform, namely Pewdiepie, due to his tendency for actions that contradict its desired image, for many years in a row. The disconnect between Youtube and its users arrived at its peak in December 2018 upon the release of Youtube Rewind 2018. This video was the most disliked Youtube video ever created, which is the result of the entire community's (both creators and viewers) backlash in response to Youtube's failure to connect with them. Aspiring to do better, Youtube just released this year's rewind 4 days ago, and (spoiler alert) it's still bad, as evidenced by its currently 6.5 million dislikes, more than one third of what Youtube Rewind 2018 got in ONE YEAR.

Youtube Rewind 2019 was essentially a glorified list, as they presented 10 ten lists of most successful creators and videos in different categories of entertainment with some relatively trending music and really, really downgraded background visual, most likely due to a lower budget. While the rationale behind its presentation is understandable, as a top-10 list pulled directly from Youtube's algorithm's numbers is undeniably true to viewers' interest, which is partially true, the community is instead disappointed this time by the seemingly low efforts Youtube even bother sparing in fixing its mistake. Furthermore, its passive-aggressive undertone at the beginning of the video rubbed many people the wrong way and made its apology seem very disingenuous.

Let me know what you guys think about this. Did you like Youtube Rewind 2019? Did it, in any way, shape, or form, meet your expectations? Do you think Youtube can ever recover from the stigmas surrounding Rewind, or should it just scrap the tradition for good?

FOMO Syndrome

Were you ever sitting at home in your dorm or apartment at school and scrolled through Instagram and watched people's Snapchat stories just to see them out having a good time while you we're eating a bag of chips binge watching YouTube videos? Or did you ever see everyone posting about their lives and you realized you haven't posted in a while so you start to scroll through your camera roll to find something to post? Did you ever think to yourself, "Wow why am I not out right now having fun?", "There's so many other exciting things I can do instead of staying in". 

I like to call this, FOMO. Or, the fear of missing out syndrome. I feel like almost everyone has experienced this before. 

Fear of missing out (FOMO) is described as "a pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent". - Wikipedia 

Even artists mention this in some song lyrics: 

-Swae Lee, Hopeless Romantic 

Practice Mindfullness. Practice Mindfullness. Practice Mindfullness. 

How to break this problem? Don't pay attention to what others are doing. They are only posting for people to see what they are doing. Do not seek validation. This only feeds into your social media addiction! Stop worrying what people are doing. Don't you have homework to do?? I find that now I am in my senior year of college, I don't really mind staying in and cleaning/keeping myself busy. I like to think I am past the partying stage of college and I am ready to graduate and move on with my life and start a career. 

So, stay in sometimes and binge watch your cooking videos on YouTube. You don't have to post all the time as well. Enjoy life without social media for a few hours a week! 

Multi-Level Marketing- Scam or Not?

Have you met anybody that is apart of a MLM company? Or have you been approached by someone on social media that you rarely talked to just so they can get you to buy their products?

A typical conversation would be among the lines of: 

Random girl from HS- 

"Hey girl we haven't talked in a while. How have you been?" 

You- 

"Good, what about you?" 

Girl- 

"GREAT! I've noticed you do your makeup awesome. I have an awesome mascara product that would enhance your lashes and make them look 10x bigger and prettier! Would you like to be one of my lucky candidates?"

You-

"Uh, no thx." 

Honestly, multi-level marketing companies are basically marketing schemes. I've had one of my close friends try to sell me something and I really felt bad for her. People who are involved in these schemes are typically doing everything they can to make barely any money. The least they can do is be less greedy. This is one of the reasons why I don't use Facebook as often. 

Personally, I have never bought anything from these companies, have you? I've heard good things about Younique, however, is it really worth it? Or should you just go to the store and buy some mascara in less than half an hour. 

The website Home Business talks about some red flags that you can avoid if you are ever approached like this meme posted above. 

1. Building a team 

2. Outrageous product claims 

3. Crazy sales tactics 

4. Pressure to BUY 

5. Unsettling feeling 

First of all, more team members or sales reps there are, the bigger the red flag it is. The income that comes in from the products they sell is going to the team, not the recruiting. 

Outrageous product claims is another red flag. Don't fall for some skin lotion that "works miracles" and is only $100. 

The pressure to buy... Yeah, we've all seen this one before. 

You might get an unsettling feeling when you get one of those messages about their new and exciting product. They have to be greedy because they need to sell everything in their inventory, or else they don't get their money back. 

Don't mind my argument, though! There are actual MLM companies that do just fine and aren't illegal scams. This is just from my experience. The memes that I searched are quite funny: 

Captain Hack Sparrow

I have sensed a small disturbance in the force lately. With the launch of Disney Plus, yet another platform has dipped its toes into the sea of monthly subscriptions. Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, Amazon Prime Video, HBOgo… the list is growing. The death of the cable industry happened when us millenials and gen x/y/zers realized that we can’t afford the luxury of paying close to $150.00 USD to watch commercially riddled programs at set times.

Thus came the revolution of the pirates; looting the web of it’s free content, and downloading countless torrents. The pirate life is still thriving, however Netflix/Hulu curbed some of the traffic for a bit. Paying $25.00 a month doesn’t seem like all that much, and is by all means affordable even for the financially doomed. But then ame Amazon Prime Video. Then came HBOgo. Then came Hulu with commercials, making it more expensive. Now we have Disney Plus. 

At $6.99 a month, it one of the cheapest options available. It gives you access to all the old Disney classics we loved as children, and access to all the Star Wars films. Of course I have subscribed, but I’m beginning to tally up the total of my subscriptions and finding that I’m climbing ever slowly to that old school cable price my father is always boasting about. The cable industry hasn’t died, it has been reborn, and as more and more subscriptions are launched I’m sure that the pirate community will surge even more. It’s about time to get out the old terabyte hard drives and start storing my treasures again.

How many subscriptions are you currently using? How many of those are you actually paying for? Do you torrent or nah? I am seriously thinking about going back to the bay, because I’m finding more and more apps out there, and they are filled with mostly trash content. What do you guys think?

Are Streaming Services Still Worth it?

Before streaming services came along, people didn’t have too many options for television. People picked a service, paid high prices for channels (many of which were unwanted), and were forced to watch advertisements throughout a program. Shows aired at very specific times and people had to be there to watch it or record it on the D.V.R. to watch it later. This can be inconvenient if somebody forgets to record a program, the D.V.R. gets full, or if the recording is accidentally deleted. It was very easy to miss shows that wanted to be watched, and the only thing one could do is wait for a repeat. I speak about this type of television watching in the past tense because to me, it seems old and slightly outdated compared to the way we watch T.V. today.

                We have been introduced to streaming services. These streaming services allow users to watch T.V. shows and movies in real time without having to download the content to their devices. One of the first most notable streaming services, to me anyways, is Netflix. Netflix has become the paradigm of video streaming services most likely due to the fact they are one of the first successful streaming services ever. Though they initially started out ad DVD rentals, Netflix soon became a streaming service most likely by popular demand.  Netflix brought users a bunch of shows and movies to watch instantly with the click of a button. For a small monthly cost people could have access to all of this media whenever they wished.

                Netflix however, only had a limited option of content. Not every show or movie is on Netflix, not even close for that matter. Nevertheless people still craved other shows to watch, bringing other streaming services to light. Other services such as Hulu, Amazon, and more recently, Disney Plus have been brought to attention. All of these streaming services offer a different array of content and are all complete separate entities from one another. All of these streaming services also cost varying monthly payments. Users are forced to pick which streaming service they would rather have or pay the price and have multiple streaming services. This can become costly depending on how many services one desires.

With new features that cable companies offer, such as on demand, which allows users to broadcast a program without a specific broadcasting schedule, are these streaming services as convenient as the used to be?

Consumer Report's Guide to Streaming Video Services

Dating in Today's Society

In today's generation, meeting your spouse online is a very common occurence. Apps like Tinder and Bumble are popular dating apps that are supposed to connect you to your "perfect match". Both of these sites give you options to decide if you are interested in that person or not. When you download the app, you are given the option to fill out a personal profile that highlights your strengths and interests.  "Swiping right" is a common feature on both Tinder and Bumble that sends an indication that you are interested in someone, left if you aren't. Dating in our society has changed drastically and these dating apps are to blame.   These apps also promote the "hook-up culture" society we are living in, in which most younger people avoid commitment and only want the physical aspect rather than emotional. “Dating apps are the free-market economy come to sex,” Sales wrote. “The innovation of Tinder was the swipe — the flick of a finger on a picture, no more elaborate profiles necessary, and no more fear of rejection; users only know whether they’ve been approved, never when they’ve been discarded.” She talks about in a article I found about how dating apps are really known for only hook ups and niether of these apps get a good reputation. Anyone can get an app and find sex online. These apps make it easy for people to find the "next" one. https://psychcentral.com/blog/hookup-culture-dating-apps-dont-change-who-you-are/


Bumble has its own little twists of things, where women are required to initiate the first move. The woman has to message first to start the conversation, rather than Tinder where anyone can message first, its nicknamed, "the femenist Tinder." Bumble stands out a little more than Tinder, where if the girl doesnt message you first then the match will expire.  You are given up to 24 hours in order to decide whether you want to send a message or not. Dating apps have heavily contributed to the "hook-up culture" this generation has adapted to, and for the worst.  It's sad how much it has affected our society, and how often I see it being a college student. You never hear anymore about how you met the love of your life at a coffee shop, but you'll hear about how people have met there significant others off of dating apps that maintain the reputation of being an easy short-cut to having sex with someone you share no emotional connection with. It's not shocking to hear from someone that they fell in love off a dating app.

Nature Deficit Disorder: Are we truly living?

Nature Deficit Disorder: Are we truly living?

Recently, for another class, I read some passages from a book called The Last Child in the Woods. In it, the author, Richard Louv, promotes the idea of people entering nature, and children playing together outside, rather than everyone being cooped up inside using technology. He invents the term nature deficit disorder; the idea that children are spending less time outdoors, resulting in misbehavior and potential health risks. This is not a medically-recognized disorder; however, it interests me to think that children are more likely to misbehave if they don't spend enough time in the outdoors.

My favorite quotation from the selected reading was, “A kid today can likely tell you about the Amazon rainforest- but not about the last time he or she explored the woods in solitude, or lay in a field listening to the wind and watching the clouds move,”  (Louv, from selected passages of Last Child in the Woods).

This passage still makes me chuckle because it almost seems like Louv argues that keeping up with ones education and going on a walk alone in the woods are of the same importance. This book was written well before the burning of the Amazon rainforest in 2019; here, Louv is stating that children are mindful of the far-away rainforest and they are not mindful of the nature locally available to them.

What about kids who live in apartment complexes in busy cities? Industrialization complicates Louv's argument. Not everyone has big backyards and forests that are clean, safe, and readily available to explore. Parents of children in cities do not, or at least should not, allow their children to go outside and wander alone. In many areas, it's not safe to do so anymore.

Furthermore, do kids today really need to go cloud-watching? I imagine that kids today would get bored lying there staring at the sky doing nothing else; I know I would. I've only ever cloud-watched while doing other things: like when I'm laying down at the beach, looking up at the sky through a pair of thick sunglasses, or when I'm laying down in a field waiting for the sky to get dark enough for the fireworks to start. During these moments I am with friends and family, and it's warm outside. I don't see myself ever going into a cloud-watching scenario alone, because frankly, why would I?



Sometimes I go on walks alone, but honestly, I usually stop and get something to drink, or else I feel like I'm wasting my time. I need to do something to make my time away from my studies or work feel "worth it." Does anyone else feel this way? When I go on walks or cloud-watch, my mind is preoccupied with thinking about getting an iced vanilla chai or anxiously awaiting the first crack of a firework. Does anyone reading this go out in to nature just to experience nature? If so, how do you turn your mind off? Teach me your secrets.

Louv would be displeased with my casual interactions with nature because I do not spend as much time in nature as I do using technology and that is his ideal vision for children and adults as well. In 2019, is it possible to spend just as much of your time outside than inside? If your job takes place outside, then I suppose, but how about otherwise?

In my research on nature deficit disorder outside of this book, I've found that those who study nature deficit disorder don't focus on what is lost from staying indoors, but rather what is gained from being exposed to nature, especially the nature surrounding ones home. Going outside reduces stress levels, induces relaxation, and makes children and adults feel better physically and mentally.

When we are outside in nature, without our phones/technology, we are free to experience all of the senses. When we're using technology, we are focused on that one device, therefore tuning out everything around us. In her article for Greater Good Magazine called "How to Protect Kids from Nature-Deficit Disorder," Jill Suttie writes, "Today, children and adults who work and learn in a dominantly digital environment expend enormous energy blocking out many of the human senses in order to focus narrowly on the screen in front of the eyes. That’s the very definition of being less alive, and what parent wants his or her child to be less alive?" Although her article references Louv's The Last Child in the Woods, I don't think he was trying to tell us that kids today are less alive. His book advocates for adult time outdoors and childhoods spent outdoors, which sounds doable, but just isn't practical in today's world.

I played outside as a child, but I was not allowed to go far away from home. The farthest I was allowed to go was to walk down to Cumbies (Cumberland Farms, to you New Hampshire people) to meet my friends to get slurpees. After that, I was expected to walk home with at least one of my friends; there was no walking home alone, even when I was a kid.

I received my first phone and my first video game around when everyone else did in middle school; and since then, I don't believe that I have been "living less." Technology has given me so many wonderful things. I still appreciate the outdoors, however it's hard for me not to think about anything else or do anything else while being in nature. Is my skewed attention span a result of nature deficit disorder? Do I have it? Do you?

Is Instagram a Lie?

We listen to and believe almost everything we see and hear on Instagram. But, can Instagram be living a lie? The answer is, yes. Instagram is made up of the art of photo editing, cropping, and filtering. Users post pictures that others will enjoy and like, but do we tend to take it too far sometimes? We post pictures that will please others and not ourselves. 

I found a video on Youtube called Are You Living an Insta Lie? Social Media Vs. Reality, by DitchtheLabel. Ditch the Label is an anti-bullying organization. They help and support anti-bullying in different ways all around the world. In this case, Ditch the Label made a video is show us that not everything we see on Instagram is real. 

In the beginning of this video we see a young lady named Sophie, wake up in the morning and Instagram’s a photo. She captions it, “Gooood Morning!! #iwokeuplikethis”. Before this moment, we watch the young lady as she brushes her hair and teeth, puts on makeup, and attempts to look better than she did when she first woke up. Right off the bat we can put together that clearly, she did not just wake up like this. 

Next we see a man named Chris drive to a mountain and put his biking helmet on. He gets out of the car and goes to take a photo on the mountain with his helmet to caption it, “30km bike ride done! #Fitspo #HillClimb #Cyclinglife”. We know that Chris did not go on a 30km bike ride, but do his followers?

For the next two Instagram users, we see them take photos for their page and once again lie about what they are doing just to make themselves look better online. We also are exposed to a young man named Michael who happens to try on ten different outfits and take about 30 selfies. He also goes to caption his picture with “#effortlessselfie” and #oneshotwonder”. 

All of the people in this video are posting things that they know others will like. They are not enjoying life or even socializing with one another. They are simply faking photos just for the attention. Knowing this, why do we constantly get jealous of one anothers Instagram post. I am not saying everyone's posts and photos are a lie, but I'm sure a good amount of them are. So, be careful what you see because not everything is exactly what it seems. 

We have seen a lot of this within the course this semester, with people lying on social media.  Authenticity is something social media will always struggle with because behind closed doors you don't know what is legitimate and what is not. Do you think you are always real on Instagram, or have you lied once or twice just for the likes? 

Social Media and Fake Happiness

               Social Media is a platform that gives people the ability to share events throughout their day with people across the internet. Profiles are created on social media sited that are all about the user and how they wish to express themselves. Whatever they wish to post, share, like, comment on or what be it, all contributes to their online personality. Online, people have the ability to express how they feel, what they do, and can express themselves in almost any way.  It is not often however, we see people posting things that show that they are unhappy, even if they truly are. That is because social media acts as a sort of mask that users use to cover up parts of themselves that they wish not to share.

                With Cues filtered out it is easy to give people the wrong impressions on social media. Weather that wrong impression is imposed on purpose or on accident is up to the user. With this type of hyper personal communication there is plenty of room to imagine other users across platforms. People tend to share content that implies they are living their best life. They are choosing to show their most attractive self which can lead to misleading thoughts and impressions of characters and events. People quickly flash falsely generated smiles to snap a quick shot to post online and then continue on with their day, leading other users to see a picture of them smiling and seemingly having a great time when in reality they just quickly posed for a picture.

                This Twitter thread shows multiple examples of fake happiness on social media.

https://twitter.com/brokeymcpoverty/status/1017098515347066880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1017098515347066880&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2F1326806%2Fthe-ultimate-proof-that-looking-happy-on-social-media-often-masks-real-pain%2F

                The original post encouraged people to post pictures of themselves when they were going through a hard time but appeared to be fine in a photograph they had previously posted. This thread is interesting to say the least, it is extremely eye opening and what I consider to be a true social media experience. People disclosing how they really felt at that time and other people sharing their similar experiences generates a safe place to share sensitive content and potentially receive support from other users. To me, that is the wonder of social media.