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Life is Hella Weird Sometimes…

I wrote that blog about vlogging (ew how hipster and awful does that sound) and then Timothy DeLa Ghetto likes it. Huge thanks to my boy Jacob Patterson for reblogging it, tagging on his own sentiments because without that Timothy wouldn’t have seen it. 

It’s odd how in one night you can write about something you’ve been feeling for literally MONTHS if not a year or more and suddenly it all comes together in words and one of the people who is in the circle of people you may or may not be talking about sees it and respects it. 

Those are the kinds of moments in life that I love. 

When I Stop Following a Vlogger

I love youtube, I really do and I love vlogs. The idea of vlogging, and while I did it for two years and I really enjoyed it I found that I was trying to move into something else that wasn’t vlogging and wasn’t want I wanted. 

I found that most vlogs are trying to do what they do on TV. They have a set, they have fancy graphics and they try to do really interesting sketches or skits. Why are they trying to be old media when what they started with was what made them interesting.

The perfect example of this is Phillip DeFranco. The guy was just a regular Joe on youtube, talking from his office, from his living room, and now he has a set, with a special couch (That he never sits on) and everything is manicured to say “This is the image I want to present to you” but none of it is really him. It’s all made up… and it’s vlogging because that’s his job not because he really wants to do it… it also changed.. it’s a show not a vlog.

Now Vloggers can’t be taken seriously on youtube. A vlog is something that you do on the side ontop of your regular youtube gig where you create music, or do skits, or make insane whacky videos because now youtube is a compeition. 

Youtube used to be “This is my life, take a look at it.” The first youtube video ever is proof of this as it is nothing but a day at the zoo… poorly shot… Now Youtube has Youtube Celebrities who go on tour and perform for people and hold conventions and I’m not saying that’s bad or that’s wrong, but it’s also not really want I want from my youtube.. but it’s harder and harder for my version of youtube, the stuff I love to be the stuff that people care about or want to pay attention to.

I think this can all be traced back to Lonely Girl who set up a lot of people, and then became a show and then she left or died… well the character did. Then suddenly the fake was the standard. If you’re not better than the fake vlogger then you’re not a good vlogger at all! and who cares. I don’t care if a vlogger is shooting using his old iPhone in portrait mode as long as they have something interesting to say on a topic that I actually care about! 

The company that made the Flip Camera did huge numbers because they made a camera that everyone could buy, shoot with easily, upload to youtube with and how long did that last? Not long. Almost as soon as everyone was shooting on a flip to get that quick and easy vlog with, everyone switched over to full HD cameras, Digital SLR cameras like the Canon 5D Mk2. 

So now in order to vlog and be considered worthy of following I can’t just use the camera built into my phone or my computer I have to spend thousands on a lighting set up and a set in my office and a camera. And that’s when I stopped vlogging.

I stopped because it wasn’t fun anymore. Podcasting is fun! Why? Because it takes 2 hours a week, I do it with a friend and we can talk about whatever we want. It also doesn’t hurt that the entry was 2 mics and free software that works on Mac or PC. Oh and Skype.

Youtube is now the home of insane cooking shows, digital explosions, clip shows and censored profanity. The viral video is dead.  Vlogging is dead.

The Internet is Creepy.

I remember this scene in one of my favorite B-Movies, Hackers where all these hackers from all over the world connect together and hack the gibson super computer at the end of the movie. I loved that idea of all these people from all over the world coming together for this one moment when they could stop an evil corporation. The idea of being connected with people all over the world with one mission in mind is great. Finding communities where people from all across the world can come together and it doesn’t matter what nationality/race you are as long as you have something in common. Then you get these creeps from across the world who now have insight into your life and it makes you rethink everything you’re doing.

I posted a video yesterday about the cinnamon challenge. I still stand by my convictions that it’s ridiculous and stupid for some one to do that awful “challenge” and that it’s only a matter of time before some one dies from it. I got a response from a youtuber who’s popped up a few times on videos I’ve made to comment and stuff his opinion into my face. Yesterday he went off on me calling me a hypocrite because I drink alcohol and therefore shouldn’t tell people what they should and shouldn’t do. Then it got weird…

Clearly this user wasn’t understanding the cinnamon challenge and how it works, how it puts kids in the hospital and has caused a lot of severe problems for people. Yes there are some people who can do the cinnamon challenge with no problem and good for them. Then there are those who cough, air ways swell shut and they nearly die. They get scared, have panic attacks and the people around them start laughing and hollering not realizing this person is in danger. Now kids are doing it and of course they get scared, make bad decisions, don’t call 911 when they should (that’s 999 for you people in the UK… oh wait I mean 0118 999 881 999 119 725…..3). 

But then it got even stranger. My friend Poppy Kwee Kwee came in to comment as well. She made valid points and this guy just blew past them. Then of course he got called a moron for being moronic. He should have left it alone. He lost the argument (though he didn’t know it) and then proceeded to go away for a whole day. When he comes back though he seeks out her page and starts to attack her mental health and says that she’ll be lower class her entire life if she doesn’t get that taken care of.

Here’s what I’ve gathered after looking at this guy a bit and I didn’t know any of this until after the debate because he doesn’t post under his real name. He’s Egyptian and I believe from his comments on other channels he could be Muslim which would explain why he’s attacking my drinking of alcohol. He’s followed me on Spill.com which is a site I used to post on and he has for YEARS. He’s kind of been a stalker I guess because he remembers moments that I barely remember like when I was on a podcast that Spill.com does called A Couple of Cold Ones. He also brought up food I purchased at Costco that I talked about on The72Pins.

This guy has a steel trap and it’s for USELESS SHIT. He knows entirely too much about me and now he’s attacking my friends on their channels and their mental health.

Here’s the thing. He’s so wrapped up in idea of a class system and being upper class and how you present yourself that he attacks people who act differently, artistically or speak their minds and now he thinks that my friend, Poppy, who is a little strange to be sure, is lower class because of how she presents herself. He couldn’t be more wrong or out of line. He told her she needs psychological help. This is coming from the guy who stalks people online and then proceeds to judge them hypocritically while trying to remain anonymous. AWESOME JOB DUDE.