The internet has only been around for almost 25 years and within that time the internet has single handedly changed the way this generation is moving. It’s provided us with ways to communicate, to learn, everything from how to tie a tie to how to fix a car is on the internet, specifically YouTube, etc. A very significant transition that the internet has provided is the way that people watch content. Three people from San Mateo, California by the names of Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim founded the soon to be video-sharing juggernaut called YouTube (2005). A year and a half later Google purchased the website for a mind-blowing $1.65 billion. Ever since then it has transitioned from just a video sharing website to arguably the platform to watch any kind of content one could want.
According to Mashable.com over 85% of people from the ages of 13-24 said that YouTube is their number one platform for watching videos. “People still feel very connected to the creators,” said Andy Tu, Defy Media’s executive vice president of marketing. According to the website, most young people today don’t feel that the content today on TV is relevant”.
From a small sample of Riverside Secondary’s population, the decline of TV seems accurate. “TV has a lot of commercials and YouTube feels like you have an actual connection between yourself and the creator,” said grade 12 student Kale Storry. “You can search whatever you want and when you want. It gives you freedom to search anything.”
Many people also mentioned how much of the platform they watch. It seems as if more people spend most of their time after school watching YouTube. “90% of my time after school is literally spent watching YouTube,” said Jareck Blackmon, another grade 10 student. Even the people outside of the youth demographic somewhat agreed with the decline of television. “I don’t watch more YouTube than TV, but I do watch much more Netflix than anything else,” said teacher-librarian Ms. Susan Henderson.
Content creators have gained so many viewers that there are award shows setup for strictly content creators on the internet. Award shows such as the Shortys and the Streamy’s award content creators in certain categories that people produce content in. Awards such as ‘Entertainer of the Year’, ‘Show of the Year’, ‘Gaming Channel of the Year’ reveal that more people are being made aware of and credited for creating content. Some people commented on the award shows. “[These awards] prove how big YouTube has become, I remember when YouTube wasn’t a thing and here are people actually considering this an actual job and career path,” said Ryan Triggs.
There have been many careers built because of the opportunity the platform that YouTube provided; such as, Mo Hussain, PewDiePie, KSI, Lilly Singh, Casey Neistat, and many others. These names are just a few of many individuals to breakout of just being content creators to making a name for themselves in the entertainment industry. Mo Hussain, KSI, and Lilly Singh have all starred in movies, TV shows, and special films. PewDiePie has also had the opportunity to make two very successful #1 (most downloaded) games.
This goes to show that as the internet evolves television is on the decline.
Vote here for your primary source of content:
Loading ...
