Youtube is a website that is widely used by on-liners because of its sometimes shocking, yet instantly gratifying contents. This website allows millions of viewers to see anything from music videos to full-length episodes of ‘Garfield and Friends’. The reason why I visit YouTube is usually for the music videos, but today I searched for video blogs – a.k.a. “vlogs”. After sitting through about two hours worth of these vlogs, I realized that I was never really going to find that “perfect” vlog : the one that grabbed my attention from the very start and kept me entertained and intrigued. Feeling guilty for wasting so much time on YouTube watching random people doing and/or saying random things, I had to finally put an end to my vlog-watching madness.
One vlogger, a girl whose membership title reads “CelesitalNM”, talked for five minutes and fifty-five seconds about the tragic case of Megan Meier. On October 17, 2006, Megan killed herself after being consistently harassed by a MySpace user named Josh Evans. Ironically, and CelestialNM gives a fast-paced, rather nervous scoop on this, Josh was not who he said he was. In reality, this Josh guy was a prank person created by some of Megan’s school friends. CelestialNM, even though she seems somewhat uncomfortable with her speech, does a good job of getting this issue to the public through the use of evidence, facts, and opinions. She has created this vlog to express her beliefs on how pathetic she believes Lori Drew is. Trust me, Celestial is very passionate about her feelings towards the entire ordeal. She describes Lori as the mother of one of the girls who costumed herself as Josh Evans. Lori knew that her daughter was participating in this horrible act, and Celestial wants people to know just how sad of a person Mrs. Drew is. She also mentions the danger of internet messages by describing a friend of hers who attempted the same act as Megan, for the same reasons.
Vlogs are a productive way to get messages out. They are captivating because most are obviously home-made, and people are drawn to real-life situations, especially if the situation is shocking, racy, or extremely tragic. I can see how vlogs can get people moving, and how they can cause them to become aware of the world they live in. Unfortunately, one has to sort through a wide variety of perversion and senselessness to get to videos containing matters of importance. What Celestial has done, and seems to still be doing (as seen by her ‘13 videos on YouTube’ status) shows me that individuals can be heard. Not everyone surfs through the YouTube vlog channels, but those who do can easily gain access to and comment on a large number of videos. In so doing, these people (including myself) open themselves up to new viewpoints, thoughts, ideas, and stories. Celestial touches on a sensitive issue, but judging by the majority of her comments, many people respect her for speaking out.
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