Now, there are several reasons I am excited. The first, and by far most important, is that almost all of my YouTube friends will be in one place at one time. I get to meet them all in real life, to hug them, to laugh with them, and to just have an all-around good time with people who have become some of my very closest friends. Many of our plans center around this occasion; heck, I've even gotten myself into a dance-off, for which I have to make my entry in the first round tomorrow via video. I can not wait to just experience the love that we'll all be throwing back and forth at each other. I would honestly be unsurprised if someone were able to harness this energy and create the armies of puppy-sized elephants mentioned in my PSA.
However, I would be remiss not to mention that my versions of celebrities will be in my presence, and I will be fangirling over them to an extent. The wonderful thing about many of these people, however, is that the reason I fangirl is because I want so badly to be their friends, purely for the sake of friendship. Sure, I'd love to be popular on YouTube, but the way I'd measure that anyway is the love that I feel from my friends and viewers, not from the numbers of people who subscribe or watch, or what famous YouTubers are subscribed to me. Sure, it would make my life a lot easier to have an income from a YouTube partnership, but to make that a goal of mine would be compromising my values; I would not be opposed to getting money for YouTube, but I am quite opposed to doing YouTube for the money.
The reason I enjoy YouTube in the first place is the human, interactive aspect of it; celebrity worship gets under my skin more than many things on this earth. I don't love YouTubers because of their lavish lifestyles; I don't love YouTubers because of their ability to help me escape the world as it is. That is why people love "old media" celebrities. I love YouTubers because they see the world as it is and are members of it as it is--and, most of all, seek to make it all better in real life. I love them because they are real, they are complex, they are deeper than a small set of ideals. And that is why I am so looking forward to VidCon. It is not a magic fantasy world where gods walk the earth, but rather the most beautiful of realities. The love we have for each other is tangible and deep. And though it will only last three days in reality, I'm sure VidCon will only serve to deepen our friendships for life.
Sleep: X
Clarinet: X
German: /
Exercise: OBLF
Reading: X
Blogging: X
Steve, this post is fantastic. I'm so excited right now I really can't say much else besides expressions of my excitement. Here's to making VidCon one of the most amazing experiences of our lives. ^_^
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard of VidCon I did not really have youtube friends. Now I do and sincerely hope that this is not a one time event, but an annual one.
ReplyDeleteAlso from the looks of it, you need to skype with me soon.
After reading this,i will admit i am now sad i am not going.
ReplyDeleteWhen i first heard about vidcon i wasn't interested in the idea at all, as far as i was aware it was just big famous youtubers going. So it wasn't really a big deal.
Even if i had wanted to go, i would never have been able to persuade my mum to let me or have enough money to fund it, so in that respect i probably wouldn't have been able to come anyway.
But now i know tons of awesome youtubers are going, and people i want to meet are going, i feel kinda sad and left out.
I really do hope they have another one ( I actually cant tell if they will or not, at the moment they are hinting they are not, but if it is awesome they kinda will have to. :P ) as it would be a pretty awesome experience. Having now met two youtube friends IRL and hopefully going to SITC i do know how cool it is to 'see someone without the box around their face'. And its a shame i will miss that with friends 'over the pond'.
SO MR. STEVE. you have to represent for me out there! i require at least one mention of name in one of the many videos ;) and if your really really really awesome, which you are, you will get a cardboard cut out and whack my face on it and take it with you!
Anyways, have a frickin' awesome time!
Once again you have hit the nail right on the head, Steve. I'm far more excited to be meet my YouTube friends offline more then I am to meet famous YouTubers. I'm not going so I can try and get another couple hundred subscribers(though that would be nice)I really just want to be able to hang out with my friends.
ReplyDeleteI do however plan to fangirl John Green a little bit.
YES. We have similar YouTube outlooks; go figure. Thank you for saying that, and I can't wait to MEET YOU.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, I'm so excited on your behalf. My experience of gatherings is that meeting the people you already know is fantastic, fangirling doesn't last much more than 30 seconds and you either get along or move away. Meeting the people who are enthusiastic/fun/nerdy is the best bit. Enjoy yourself! xxx
ReplyDeleteThese are great points, Steve. This stuff is what I love about YouTube, too: that the people I watch are interesting, wonderful, intelligent, quirky, REAL PEOPLE; people who I would never know about without the internet and without YouTube. They're people who influence me and open me up to new ideas and who give me a much wider perspective of what's going on in the world beyond my own small existence and surroundings.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so I used one of your YouTube videos on my blog today. No, I didn't ask first. I'm a rebel that way. Besides, I truly believe that it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. Besides, you're busy getting your geek on over at VidCon which totally gives me more time to hide. Uh, I mean ask for forgiveness. Whatever.
ReplyDelete