"For people my age a sprightly 28 and younger, YouTube is less of an app or website than our answer to radio: the ever-present background hum of modern life. While my mum might leave Radio 4 wittering or BBC News flickering in the corner as she potters about the house, I've got a video essay about Japan's unique approach to urban planning playing on my phone."
"When Google paid $1.65bn for the platform in 2006, (just 18 months after it launched) the price seemed astronomical. Critics questioned whether that valuation could be justified for any video platform. The logic was simple unless YouTube could replace television, it would never be worth it. Nearly two decades on, that framing undersells what actually happened. YouTube didn't just replace television it invented entirely new forms of content: vodcasts, vlogs, video essays, reaction videos, ASMR and its heinous cousin mukbang."
"I started paying for YouTube Premium during Covid, when I had an abundance of time, and spare cash without the need to commute or the potential of buying pints. Now, it's the only subscription that I don't worry about the value of, but rather wonder if I use it so much that it's changed me as a person. Alas, my gym membership does"
Streaming sites increasingly overtake terrestrial TV, with YouTube alone reaching more than 2.5 billion monthly viewers. For many younger users, YouTube functions as a constant background medium rather than a traditional television replacement. The platform created and popularized formats such as vodcasts, vlogs, video essays, reaction videos, ASMR and mukbang, rapidly absorbing new trends and building an online mainstream. Google bought YouTube for $1.65bn in 2006 amid skepticism over its value, but the platform's innovation justified the investment. Paid subscriptions like YouTube Premium became valuable during Covid, and heavy use prompts reflection about how habitual viewing reshapes daily life.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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