/Big Mouth/ Up the YouTubes
12/12/2006 | Filed under Discover > Big Mouth
It may be tempting to leap head first into the world of Z-list stardom via YouTube, but what happens when the inevitable happens and your online past catches you up?
Here’s a question for the grown-ups: when you think back to what you were like as a teenager, are you a) appalled? b) embarrassed? c) glad you’ve had everyone who knew you back then killed? Or d), all of the above? In my case, the answer’s a definite ‘d’. It’s a small mercy that I can’t remember all the details of just how horrible I was in the days when pimples roamed free across my face, because the few things I can remember make me want to jump off a bridge. If I could travel back in time to meet my teenage self, I’d give me a serious slapping.
Being a pompous, pathetic pain in the arse is part and parcel of growing up, and it’s all over YouTube. You can watch self-obsessed girls break up with their self-obsessed boyfriends while the camera rolls, or you can tune into webcam wails on every teen’s favourite subject: themselves. There’s nothing particularly wrong with this, of course, though I do worry about the effect of viewing figures on people who need little encouragement to take themselves far too seriously. If your rants about how, ‘y’know, mum and dad like, totally don’t understand you and it’s, like, so unfair, y’know?’ attract an audience of thousands, then it’s bound to encourage even more wallowing in self-pity. But hey, you’ll grow out of it.
So what happens when the YouTube generation does grow out of it, and start to worry about things other than haircuts, Emo and why their parents won’t let them pierce their buttocks with an iron bar? This is the first generation whose life is a public performance, with every thought, deed and – in some cases – break-up not just remembered but recorded and shared online. As they may discover, putting stuff online is easy, but getting rid of it is much harder.
Of course, you can yank a YouTube account, mothball a MySpace page and blank a blog, but that only does so much. It won’t erase Google’s cache; it won’t get rid of content created by others; it won’t erase anything that people have added to their ‘potential blackmail’ collection.
If I had teenagers, I’d be subscribing to their site feeds and avidly viewing their video diaries, and as soon as I discovered something shocking – which, judging by the clips I’ve seen, would take about 10 seconds – I’d ground them until they were 30. But parents should be the least of teenagers’ worries.
The really scary thing is that, unless you’re careful, people you don’t know yet will find this stuff when you’re older: employers who dig for dirt on every applicant, savvy singles who Google their prospective partners, and worst of all, your own children. Before you upload that clip of your sexy dancing, think of this: every generation thinks its parents were sad, square, embarrassing and uncool, but the children of the YouTube generation will be able to prove it.
Comments
mark / 14/12/2006 / 22:16 / http://free-playstation-3.blogspot.com
What can I say... you gotta love YouTube! :D
Karl Hodge / 15/12/2006 / 11:14 / http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON7DfDR6VfU
Personally, I really like my sexy dancing...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ON7DfDR6VfU
Zarina Holmes / 01/01/2007 / 15:56 / http://www.sojournpussy.com
Good point, i wouldn't do a Paris Hilton post for my kids to find out. But saying that, this is the Information Age. I'd be delighted if i could see video clips of my dad on his stag night 40 years ago. And i wouldnt care if my employee did seven veil dance on YouTube as long it's not phedo stuffs. It's what you dont see that worries me...
Salina Christmas / 01/01/2007 / 16:09 / http://www.saucychilli.co.uk
I am one of those savvy singles who googled my partner. He googled me, too. The initial hints of our compatibilty were revealed online, through those Google caches. A web journalist and a director of photography make quite a good match, we discovered.
I agree old content previously published on YouTube and myspace may come back to haunt you - but then, why publish silly stuff that will harm you eventually? If there is anything we should criticise, it is the lack of restraint and spiritual strength to bare all, not YouTube. I wouldn't knock YouTube or myspace. They are platforms, places where you showcase your 'brands' which could be anything from your products to yourself. Some of the content may not be agreeable to some people, but is that really the fault of these media platforms? Isn't it the journalist's perennial gripe that he always gets shot at for his message when he is only the messenger? Why shoot the messenger?
Gary / 19/01/2007 / 10:27 / http://www.bigmouthstrikesagain.com
Salina, I agree with you - it's the "my entire life online" attitude that worries me, not the particular platforms.
But I do think we should knock myspace ;-)
Lyle / 24/03/2007 / 05:47 / http://www.grenadecity.com
Very good point
Remi Martin / 22/05/2007 / 16:55 / http://www.your-free-iphone.com
Gary Marshall - Your article was funny, yet so true. Youtube+MySpace = the new shocking reality.
Karl Hodge - still laughing :) Good job on that video
butlimous / 24/06/2007 / 01:10 / http://free-ipod-for-me.blogspot.com
Youtube rocks!! It is pulling HUGE traffic everyday. So, It became one of the top thirty visited websiteds on the net. Thanks for the nice entry!
Jim / 10/07/2007 / 23:04 / http://your-iphone-for-free.blogspot.com/
Well, youtube is insanely huge and I cannot see it going away anytime soon.
Wii / 27/08/2007 / 15:06 / http://www.freenintendowii.com
If you're going to be embarrassed by something later in life, either don't do it in the first place, or don't let anyone videotape it! But seriously, I think the good that YouTube does far outweighs the bad.
David / 24/02/2008 / 02:18 / http://www.iphone-shaq.com
This post reminds me alot of the "Star Wars Kid." Never know, what you did as a kid could have provided you fame and stardom and not embarrassment :P
