As demonstrated by user backlash over Tumblr’s new policy concerning NSFW art, media platform sites may make business decisions to the detriment of the community, and YouTube has done this with Rewind 2018. These roles are often difficult to balance and compete with one another. It is important to remember that YouTube is both an online community and a business. Why YouTube Rewind 2018 was so disliked by its own community was that it focused more on its advertisers than its community. In Rewind 2015, YouTube celebrated gay marriage in the U.S, but the focus still remained on the community and its tapped-in creators. In the unfairly maligned Rewind 2017, YouTube masterfully balanced events that occur within the community with events that affect as all by having the creators hold hands and showing some of the news coverage about traumatic events that year. It was bad because there was never any overt linking of these issues to movements in the YouTube community and user experience. The campfire scene in the middle of the video wasn’t bad because it mentioned important and divisive issues like diversity, mental health, and representation. Lack of connection with the community even affected the video’s more political messages. These more relevant YouTube allusions were replaced with overdone Fortnight references. While Walmart Yodeling Kid thankfully made it into the video, similar internet phenomenon like T-Series and Johnny Johnny Yes Papa was not even mentioned. In exchange, the Rewind failed to highlight creators that defined the year like Shane Dawson, who’s documentary videos on the lives of YouTubers changed how people viewed the platform.īy having a small cast of creators that were not all well attuned to the YouTube community in 2018, the year’s Rewind couldn’t speak to trends and events that had shaped the year for that site. Despite her continued popularity and talent, it’s difficult to make the case for why a creator like Koshy should be featured in a video reviewing 2018 when her last content video was in late February of that year. Featured creators like Lily Singh, Casey Neistat, and Lisa Koshy, have all attempted to move towards more mainstream acting projects. There were many celebrities who did not start in the YouTube community, such as actor Will Smith, late night show hosts John Oliver and Trevor Noah, and Twitch streamer Ninja.Įven some of the content creators in the Rewind that started in YouTube are no longer as attached to its community. Additionally, very few of the people who are featured in the Rewind have a strong presence within the YouTube community. While the decision may have been a stylistic choice to help with Rewind 2018’s more storyline structure, the loss of so many creators was felt during the video. Despite the continued growth and diversity of the platform, this year’s Rewind included around 100 creators, less than half the size of last year’s over 250 strong creative cast. Youtube should have included the characters from Frozen, but all in all I give it 4.5/5 Greyhounds.Far more worrying was the culling of YouTube content creators featured in total. The video concludes with the “Youtube Rewind” walking away into the distance. “Frozen” then appears with its own 35 second segment. This is followed by people in the game Flappy Bird and the “American Ninja Warrior” star Kacy Catanzaro jumps a pipe to become the winner. Of course, Kid President makes a cameo appearance, as does Big Bird. Then begins multiple segments of people running with the “Youtube Rewind” flag. Then a mashup of Iggy Azalea and Nicki Minaj songs begin, with small doses of “Happy” in the middle. Soon a segment of many people doing the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge done numerous “Youtubers.” Then people are dancing in the alluding to Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” however, “Anaconda” is never played. Then begins the combination of Pharrell’s “Happy” and Megan Trainor’s “All About that Bass”. Soon the popular line “But first let me take a selfie!” pops in. As soon as “Fancy” begins Ariana Grande, Iggy Azalea, and Nicki Minaj’s “Bang” starts. We then fall into Iggy Azalea’s song “Fancy” and we begin the music video mashup. The “Awesome Mix” we see put into the walkman at the beginning of the rewind sets the tone showing that this will be a mix of songs much like Peter Griffin’s “Awesome Mix” was in Marvel’s hit movie “Guardians of the Galaxy”.
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