Hit or Miss? Youtube Rewind 2019
Well...how did people feel about the 2019 YouTube Rewind?
According to YouTube right now, there are 6.7 million dislikes and 2.7 million likes in the 2019 YouTube Rewind.
To give some context, YouTube rewind is simply a video that YouTube releases around December each year (since 2010). This rewind is the flashback of the year, recapping trends, viral videos, memes, and the unity of You Tubers coming together to launch this video. Last year in the 2018 YouTube rewind, the video released by YouTube received the record of having the most dislikes in a video in all of YouTube, even beating Justin Bieber's "Baby". Ouch.
What is the reaction to this video this year? Well, the more of media seems to have hated it more than those who did like it, but it wasn't as bad as last year. When the video began, YouTube acknowledges that their video was a fail last year and the EXTREME cringe that it manifested, and then offers a solution when saying "give you what you like". However, even the INTRO, people already had a problem with this video due to its language that may have had double meaning to those who may or may not catch it. Many who really disliked the video noticed that in the intro when the white words pop up on the screen: "In 2018, we made something you didn't like... So in 2019, lets see what you DID like...Because you're better at this than we are". Some may quickly glanced at it nodding heads (much how I did) agreeing. But others interpreted this differently. The problem many had with this saying was that YouTube said, "we made something you didn't like" instead of probably saying "We made some bad content". The twist of words that some may read and imagine the tone as, could be sarcastic and passive aggressive, as if YouTube was really salty about the media from last year. Or when it put on all caps " lets see what you DID like", and if readers perceive this with that passive aggressive tone, many would already feel like they are being attacked and begin their view of the video in a bad start. And lastly, the final blow to those who imagined these words being said in that tone, with those choices of words, "Because you're better at this than we are" it almost sounds sarcastic with that tone, and offensive. Despite this, many others who didn't put too much thought into these words, just saw them as YouTube just saying how they messed up, and now they are taking that trying to improve. This shows the impact of even a few word choices, and the emotions people feel by seeing certain ones, that can alter one's perspective of the rest of the video.
While others may think this video was better than last years because they saw their favorite creators, or that the creators requested last year who didn't make it in the video, had a part this year, others also HATED this video, thinking that it was the worst rewind YouTube has ever made. Commentators would say that it was terrible since the rest of the video was simply statistics, and the format was a lot different than past years. To give more context, the past years had more actual You Tubers coming together and creating content to look back at all the of the year, whether sad or cringy or happy. Unlike past years, YouTube might have taken it too literal when giving the people of what they liked, since it showed top 10's of certain categories of creators who were most viewed or liked, and mashed these clips all together with some sick music that was trending this year. Many people who disliked this thought that because of this format it was very "boring, cheap, creative, and unoriginal, YouTube didn't even try, just a Mojo, no real production, etc...". Not only that, but because of YouTube's formatting, it didn't really allow it to also recap the tragedies and remembrance to those who died this year like how it used to in previous years, so others would say how rude and insensitive this was. Some might even argue the hackneyed emphasis in numbers equating to success (views and likes), and that You Tube shouldn't be about that, but about the YouTube community coming together to create amazing content and look back the the overwhelming year that happened.
Those who liked the video might even argue that at this point, the media would just nitpick and look for anything to hate on YouTube rewind probably because of its past history of extreme cringiness. Not only that, but this rewind incorporated not only famous faces that everyone may know, but the international YouTube community and the new You Tubers who just hit their breakout. Many say that YouTube "played it safe" this year which was good, but also bad.
Overall, there had been way more people disliking this video than liking, and whats observed by this reaction, is the importance for considering the audience themselves as people, instead of maybe giving vague messages that could have double meanings. It is important in sending a clear message, such as its intro, or that the video only focused on those who had higher numbers as success. Treating viewers as just statistical beings who want to see a rewind as just a bunch of stuff that they've already seen put into one video, may be the reason for this reaction, but the creation and coming together as one community to create original content is what I think people go to YouTube and join in to be a part of.
-Livian Hui
2019 YouTube Rewind
What is the reaction to this video this year? Well, the more of media seems to have hated it more than those who did like it, but it wasn't as bad as last year. When the video began, YouTube acknowledges that their video was a fail last year and the EXTREME cringe that it manifested, and then offers a solution when saying "give you what you like". However, even the INTRO, people already had a problem with this video due to its language that may have had double meaning to those who may or may not catch it. Many who really disliked the video noticed that in the intro when the white words pop up on the screen: "In 2018, we made something you didn't like... So in 2019, lets see what you DID like...Because you're better at this than we are". Some may quickly glanced at it nodding heads (much how I did) agreeing. But others interpreted this differently. The problem many had with this saying was that YouTube said, "we made something you didn't like" instead of probably saying "We made some bad content". The twist of words that some may read and imagine the tone as, could be sarcastic and passive aggressive, as if YouTube was really salty about the media from last year. Or when it put on all caps " lets see what you DID like", and if readers perceive this with that passive aggressive tone, many would already feel like they are being attacked and begin their view of the video in a bad start. And lastly, the final blow to those who imagined these words being said in that tone, with those choices of words, "Because you're better at this than we are" it almost sounds sarcastic with that tone, and offensive. Despite this, many others who didn't put too much thought into these words, just saw them as YouTube just saying how they messed up, and now they are taking that trying to improve. This shows the impact of even a few word choices, and the emotions people feel by seeing certain ones, that can alter one's perspective of the rest of the video.
While others may think this video was better than last years because they saw their favorite creators, or that the creators requested last year who didn't make it in the video, had a part this year, others also HATED this video, thinking that it was the worst rewind YouTube has ever made. Commentators would say that it was terrible since the rest of the video was simply statistics, and the format was a lot different than past years. To give more context, the past years had more actual You Tubers coming together and creating content to look back at all the of the year, whether sad or cringy or happy. Unlike past years, YouTube might have taken it too literal when giving the people of what they liked, since it showed top 10's of certain categories of creators who were most viewed or liked, and mashed these clips all together with some sick music that was trending this year. Many people who disliked this thought that because of this format it was very "boring, cheap, creative, and unoriginal, YouTube didn't even try, just a Mojo, no real production, etc...". Not only that, but because of YouTube's formatting, it didn't really allow it to also recap the tragedies and remembrance to those who died this year like how it used to in previous years, so others would say how rude and insensitive this was. Some might even argue the hackneyed emphasis in numbers equating to success (views and likes), and that You Tube shouldn't be about that, but about the YouTube community coming together to create amazing content and look back the the overwhelming year that happened.
Those who liked the video might even argue that at this point, the media would just nitpick and look for anything to hate on YouTube rewind probably because of its past history of extreme cringiness. Not only that, but this rewind incorporated not only famous faces that everyone may know, but the international YouTube community and the new You Tubers who just hit their breakout. Many say that YouTube "played it safe" this year which was good, but also bad.
Overall, there had been way more people disliking this video than liking, and whats observed by this reaction, is the importance for considering the audience themselves as people, instead of maybe giving vague messages that could have double meanings. It is important in sending a clear message, such as its intro, or that the video only focused on those who had higher numbers as success. Treating viewers as just statistical beings who want to see a rewind as just a bunch of stuff that they've already seen put into one video, may be the reason for this reaction, but the creation and coming together as one community to create original content is what I think people go to YouTube and join in to be a part of.
-Livian Hui
2019 YouTube Rewind
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