In this week's episode, I explore the rise and (inevitable) fall of the commentary genre. I cover the origins of this content, the rise of this genre on YouTube, and why I believe we're about to see its downfall. I look at how the rise of anti-intellectualism, a decline in media literacy, and the death of the monoculture— all amplified by the introduction of TikTok— will likely be the main reasons for the downfall of commentary content.

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Timestamps:

5:31 Commentary content + its origins

10:50 The rise of commentary on TikTok

14:55 Why is internet culture commentary so popular?

20:08 Anti-intellecutalism + the decline in media literacy 

25:50 Quality of content has declined

30:19 Death of the monoculture

34:10 Lack of authority

Resources:

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23021836/tiktok-analysis-commentary-creators 

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-psychology-of-why-we-love-and-need-to-gossip 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/05/the-tiktok-generation-of-my-kids-is-not-only-better-informed-but-more-politicised 

https://studybreaks.com/thoughts/interests-teenage-girls-invalidated/ 

https://www.insider.com/teenage-girls-influence-popular-culture-2019-11 

https://www.insidehook.com/internet/video-essay-youtube 

https://time.com/5680457/why-do-people-gossip/ 

https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/12/17/21024439/monoculture-algorithm-netflix-spotify 

https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/56571/1/pop-culture-is-dead-dime-square-microtrends-tiktok-web3 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/03/09/viral-view-counts-inflation/ 

https://twitter.com/milkkarten/status/1727037132383138255?s=20 

https://measureprotocol.com/insights/mobilelife-report-fall-2022 

https://www.fastcompany.com/91046651/youtube-influencers-want-to-neg-you-into-taking-their-lifestyle-advice 

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hate-watch 

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hate%20follow 

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93akvp/why-hate-watching-tv-movie-social-media-explained-psychology