Rec
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finding old youtube videos and looking at the comments section like a historian
I adore finding a random video from like 2005 and reading through the comments the way a historian would examine an old manuscript from the 1700s. Are these people still active YouTube users? Or are they forgotten accounts? What did @jjlwis mean by "awww im gonna miss rob too!!!" ? Who even is Rob?? Anthropology in the digital age... so many questions... it's fascinating.
The important thing for me is not to add new comments. I feel like I'm disturbing an old archeological dig site and my sticky modern commentary will make the video crumble away into oblivion. More importantly, I don't want the algorithm to suggest the video to a bunch of people who will spam the comments section– major yuck 🤢
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@verygoodvalentina
Jan 25, 2024
66
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@robert
I commented on a neutral milk hotel video when I was in high school saying I hope they do a tour someday and it got replies like 8 years later after they did
Feb 16, 2024
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@philleif
mine goes back 17 YEARS 😭
Feb 10, 2024
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@laurahday
verygoodvalentina thank you!!! Glad you liked it. Yes luckily a lot of people are taking it into their own hands to archive stuff but I defo think places like the internet archive should pay more attention to YouTube comments!!!!
Jan 30, 2024
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@verygoodvalentina
laurahdaywow... what a fabulous read!! genuinely appreciate the depth of the article– especially the arguments toward the preservation & archiving of digital content when many of these YouTube vids are at risk of being taken down due to copyright claims. tysm for sharing, I adore this kind of stuff! 🫶
Jan 26, 2024
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@laurahday
verygoodvalentina it's here! https://www.thedailybeast.com/youtubes-comments-are-an-internet-treasure-we-must-protect Love a good internet rabbit hole
Jan 26, 2024
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@verygoodvalentina
laurahday PLEASE share the article/piece you wrote about this!! Would be super interested in reading it! And I adore rock band & guitar hero playthrough videos– such a wonderful amalgamation of people commenting about music they love and a shared passion for these a video game.
Jan 25, 2024
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@laurahday
I love this shit and got to write about it, which was cool. My fave is ‘Reptilia Strokes Rock Band’ where the same guy came back to the video over the course of like 10 years just to say how much he liked the song.
Jan 25, 2024
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@verygoodvalentina
mitchmarsico !! Those comments tug at my heartstrings every time because of how honest and vulnerable they are. Always hoping the best for all those commenters 🫶
Jan 25, 2024
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@mitchmarsico
Or when you casually look at the comments of a song on youtube and an old man comments the most heartbreaking story about how he and his wife danced to that song on their wedding day and now he watches the youtube video whenever he misses her :’(
Jan 25, 2024
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watching un-ai-able youtube videos
I guess we should never say never (like maybe generative AI will be able to make all sorts of videos in a couple years but let's not think too much about that :P), but I'm glad to reduce my intake of easily generated content like street interviews, gaming streams (which I was never into anyway), or like "20 locations you're NEVER allowed to go" listicle videos, and to increase my intake of stuff like "watch me renovate this dilapidated house over 40 weeks", "I traveled from San Francisco to Seattle using only public transit: Day 1", "here's the life story of this person whose grave I found in a forgotten cemetery in the middle of the woods in rhode island", etc. I love a really longform video where I'm like "there's no way to get AI to make this for you" (video examples are from Tia Weston, AdamDoesNotExist, and Dime Store Adventures, respectively!)
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@random-gay-nerd
May 23, 2025
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Miniminuteman
This is what YouTube was built for: people with a particular interest in a niche topic with something Interesting to say about that topic!!! I like to think that Indiana Jones would also have a YouTube channel debunking alt-right archealogical myths if he were alive today <3
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Dr lori
not really into youtube qua youtubers, but I miss when people like this were the face of doing vintage / thrift deep dives.
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@a5m0d3u5
Mar 24, 2024
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the neutrogena face splash
an idealistic, yet highly inefficient form of face washing from a bygone era.
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@verygoodvalentina
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Prioritize in-person experiences
with social media being this pervasive entity that has weeded its way into our daily routines for the past 20ish years (plus a global pandemic that really solidified those habits), many young adults today have spent a large amount of their lives living online. it has become the new norm and i’m not gonna pretend i’m above any of this because it’s so easy to fall into it (i am literally writing this rec on my phone whilst it’s a perfectly sunny day that i should probably go out to enjoy).
with that being said, in the larger scheme of life, being in your 20s is still in a weird way the beginning stages of your life. it’s a period to try new things, make mistakes, learn from them and develop an identity that’s independent from the environment and people who raised you. though you can learn to do some of those things online, they don’t hold a candle to actually experiencing those things for yourself in real life.
all in all, the best way to not sleep thru your 20s is to prioritize in-person experiences that allow you to get a better understanding of yourself and your values. whether that be getting your first tattoo, moving to a new city or country, exploring your personal style or taking up hobbies you couldn’t or would‘ve never done as a kid, this is an important formative time to venture out and get a sense of who you truly are.
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@verygoodvalentina
Sep 30, 2024
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old pickup trucks
early 80s to early 2000s truck models are the perfect sizes imo. current trucks are transformer-sized behemoths that could easily crush normal vehicles into smithereens upon impact and i legit don’t know how those things are even street-legal. also, idk if it’s their design, reliability or the nostalgia factor per-se, but there’s a certain sazón those older trucks have that newer ones don’t.
2024 Ford F-150? 🤮🤢 1980 Ford F-150? 🫦🫦
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@verygoodvalentina
Feb 9, 2025
53