14 February 2017:
Thoughts about the local YouTube scene.
For someone with ‘no life’, I have been watching YouTube for at least 7 years now. I started off with channels like Ryan Higa, KevJumba, Shane Dawson etc. As for British channels, I also watched Jack Harrer, Caspar Lee, etc.Back then, the local (i.e. Singaporean) YouTube scene was pretty dormant. Compared to the American and British ones, we really didn’t have many channels created by Singaporeans, for Singaporeans.
Then, I’m not sure exactly when, a few channels started to pop out. I remember those like Noah Yap, Dee Kosh. I also watched (and quite liked) Terence Tan, under the channel ‘Terencetch’.
Slight digression: I went back to check but it seems like Terence removed all his videos, though the channel is still there. Not sure why but oh well. Maybe he decided to lead a ‘private’ life.
Slowly but surely, throughout the years, many more channels popped up. Currently, there are so many channels out there. They mostly do humorous short clips, sponsored by various brands.
But recently, it seems like a war has broken out between two ‘factions’ of the local YouTube scene. I don’t really know what happened / what caused it, except that there’s a lot of conflict going on.
What I know is that Night Owl Cinematics, Dee Kosh and Jianhao Tan collaborated to do a trio of videos (one per channel) that they termed #ShadySunday. I’ve watched two (I think?) of these videos so far.
In it, they mention various local YouTubers and criticise them (‘throw shade’), whether it’s their hair or their ethics. The video, of course, gained its fair share of praise and criticism. All three have developed a sizable fan base by now.
Again, I don’t exactly know what transpired, but it seems like the grudge’s pretty strong. I really wonder what happened, for them to do this so publicly. Usually, people tend to give subtle hints, but this is full-blown animosity.
I will say that I have watched NOC videos from time to time, and generally liked it. Some were in fact very well-produced, in my opinion. No doubt, of course, that they are seen as the industry 老大 by many.
But then, I’m not sure if they have crossed the line with what they’ve done. I guess strictly speaking, there’s nothing wrong about it. Yet, I think their latest move is a bit mean-spirited, especially coming from a 老大.
This reminds me of campaigning in local elections, funnily enough. I always remember how in every election I’ve seen thus far, I always face-palmed at PAP’s strategy, or lack of.
Basically, along the way, someone would take a jibe at the opposing party. Not about their policies or ideas, but at a personal level. There will always be backlash, but of differing consequences.
Which, as I have wondered time and again, if they’re really that good, why can’t they just promote themselves? Why must they try to tarnish the opposition? Surely, voters are clever enough to discern.
If PAP formulates and articulates a sensible policy, while the opposition scrambles with a flimsy piece of work, will the (majority of) voters really irrationally go for the opposition? (This is excluding hard core opposition voters, of course.)
And even if yes, voters are that irrational (hence emotional), will tarnishing the opposition really help? Since they are emotional, wouldn’t this negative ‘emotion’ do harm to PAP?
I really don’t know; after all I don’t study psychology nor am I a campaign strategist. This is just what I feel, election after election. I think so far the only high-profile PAP politician that hasn’t followed suit is Tharman, yay to him.
I have no intention of making this post about politics. But then I felt that the above description and explanation was relevant to use as an analogy.
Back to YouTubers, in the same vein, why must NOC, DK and JH tarnish their ‘opponents’? I personally don’t think it’s a clever move, honestly. Again, they will have hard core supporters who will support them.
But, is this really what’s best? By publicly criticising other YouTubers, they can (and will) come across as big bullies, especially NOC. They have lost their moral high ground, even if indeed the rest have done them wrong.
And, those being criticised can now do well to play the victim card (not a guaranteed success, of course). They can go on to make indirect videos and 一哭二鬧三上吊, and jolly well win those who were put off by NOC et al.
I don’t deny that NOC is superior to most other channels; they have taken in and groomed their talents, be it crew or casts. I would think that with the income they received, they can afford equipment upgrades.
So, again, why resort to this? If they wanted to prove their dominance, they could’ve done video after video, showing what their worth. And I have no doubt that they will indeed convince people of their standards.
Or, even if they want to do it more crudely, they can just blatantly promote themselves. At best, they are deemed arrogant (but it’s self-promotion), better than being called a bully.
‘Throwing shade’ at other YouTubers, especially on trivial things like their hair (?!), just makes it sound very low-class. Again, there’s nothing illegal or unethical, but I find it’s really rude.
And, of course, there’s always the easy refrain of ‘it’s just a joke!’ It’s certainly easy to say so after that, and anyone that gets upset is labelled as unfunny and unable to take a joke. But where do the boundaries lie?
There’s a colloquial saying, ‘don’t play mother’, meaning not to involve (insult) one’s parents during an argument. Doing so would be crossing the line and evokes a whole new response.
Really wanna find the article about someone who did just that and got beat up very badly but nah, lazy.
What the trio did was nowhere near ‘playing mother’. But really, if all you do is to pick out other YouTubers’ names and talk bad about them, how classy is that? And are people wrong to get upset?
At least if the criticism was constructive, I think it would be much more justified. But no, most of it is just what they 看不順眼 about the other party. And I believe there’s a saying: ‘if you have nothing nice to say, don’t say it’.
I wonder what will happen from now on. It seems to me, at least from an outsider POV, that the local YouTube scene is very fragmented into different factions. This is certainly not like before, where it was just one local scene.
I would think that this would be daunting to anyone trying to start a YouTube career at this present time, unless they take sides (wow, just like the Cold War eh). But of course, all this fighting to me is just very regrettable.
I mean, sure, YouTubers don’t have to like all fellow YouTubers. I think it’s perfectly normal, even in an office setting that is the case. But when there is dislike, I really don’t think the subsequent show of dislike needs to be thus.
Another thing I want to mention: somewhere in one of the videos, it was mentioned that this was merely ‘being yourself’. That is, they were merely true to themselves in expressing all this criticism.
I don’t disagree with the fundamental point of being true to oneself, but then I would dispute that this is the best way to do so. Again, no one’s asking them to pretend to like the others.
If they dislike them, they can refuse to collaborate with them, or to be associated with them. But, I still feel, there is no need to publicly criticise them in this manner. Then again, what’s done is done, the war is raging on.
I wonder – back in 2010 (or even 2012), did any of these YouTubers ever envision such a scenario today? How were they living their lives back then?
TTFN.
P.S. Deep down, I’m secretly wishing that this is all one big social experiment. And when it ends, all of them will come together in one big collaboration video to share what they have learnt through this. But I’m wishing.