YouTube Rewind: The Shape of 2017 – Being Humble in a World of Drama, Demonetization and Fidget Spinners
You can watch the rewind here
2017 is coming to an end, so it’s the perfect time to experience it once again. Perhaps it would have been more convenient if I had chosen to talk about Google’s “Year in Search” video. Even The New Yorker’s collection of reviews would have provided a better discussion about culture and the stories that shaped 2017. So out of all the available possibilities, why have I chosen to write about this year’s YouTube Rewind? “Defend” is a strong word. I somehow wanted to voice my opinion and convince others (even myself) that the video does have a good intention.
If you ask me, YouTube has always been a great escape from reality, the perfect place to listen to book discussions, watch epic travel montages, have a laugh at ingenious skits… and express your outrage at 2017’s rewind. The video has received plenty of dislikes in order to make me pay more attention to the content itself. It’s highly questionable whether the rewind makes you feel nostalgic for 2017 or the other past few years. However, I’ve come to the conclusion that the only thing I actually hate about the video is its comment section.
“Everything I hate in just one video… fantastic.”
“This isn’t YouTube Rewind… it’s Trash Rewind 2017!”
“Ah YouTube Rewind, somehow you get worse every year and have less and less people I recognize.”
“The cringe is real.”
“I thought the 2016 rewind was bad… guess I was wrong!”
Just to quote some of the uninspired comments I came across. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t agree with everything featured in the rewind. There are some elements that could be changed for the better, but overall the video is definitely not a bad recreation of 2017’s top trends and viral events.
Instead of describing the entire video from my point of view, I decided to just go through some of the most common questions I found on websites and other YouTube channels (ironically, everything starts with “why”).
1) Why isn’t PewDiePie featured in the rewind?
Although he’s the king of YouTube (with currently over 58 million subscribers), PewDiePie (aka Felix) didn’t get invited to be part of this year’s recap. Do I feel sad? No, I don’t. I know for a fact that Felix still enjoys making videos and will always do his job properly. Do I think it’s unfair for not acknowledging his work? Yes, I do. A lot of YouTubers are in the same situation. But it’s kind of obvious why. Hard work and constant dedication are no longer fully appreciated. In order to keep your audience entertained, you need to be a daily vlogger who does crazy stunts (and also uses a little bit of clickbait). This leads me to the next question.
2) Why do the Paul brothers get more cameo time than other YouTubers?
Again, the answer is obvious. If you (still) haven’t heard of them, Logan and Jake Paul are the new sensations who have clearly taken over YouTube in 2017. They’re famous for their daily (fun-packed?) vlogs and their so-called “hottest merch in the game”. They are also known for creating unnecessary drama on YouTube, all because of their constant sibling rivalry (and sometimes even sheer ignorance). Their fake fights throughout the year are carefully depicted in the rewind: they give each other menacing looks,
but in the following moment they end up dancing together and having fun.
Despite the controversy they create, people still watch them and help them find their way to the top. It’s no wonder why they get featured more than the British duo Dan Howell and Phil Lester (who also have slime thrown at them – the phandom clearly doesn’t take this well).
I should also mention that the rewind surprisingly captures the Pauls’ personalities quite well, based on their entrance. While Jake is full of
3) Why are there many unknown YouTubers in the video?
Interestingly enough, the latest rewind did feature a lot of less popular YouTube creators. Who knows, maybe other viewers recognized more people than I did. Perhaps it’s alright to show some smaller channels as well, in order to bring them a larger audience. However, I do have to say that most of these YouTubers have been pretty much crammed in the video rather than acknowledged. Most of the transitions are happening quickly and it’s hard to keep up with every single person. This would be one of the features that could have been improved.
4) Why did YouTube include 2017’s tragedies in the rewind?
Inexplicably, yes, YouTube decided to incorporate some of the tragedies that happened throughout the course of the year (Hurricane Harvey, the bombing at Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester). During a solar eclipse scene, footage is shown and short snippets of news reports can be heard.
The gloomy statements soon turn into uplifting speeches, while the Moon slowly makes way for light,
and smiling YouTubers join hands in an unmistakable gesture of support and peace. A great attention to details, I must admit.
While some praise this unexpected feature, others argue that it’s not properly made. I actually agree with the second perspective to some extent. It’s a great idea to shed some light even on the dark side of 2017, no doubt about it. However, in order to create a strong impact upon the viewers, you can’t just place an emotional scene in the middle of the video and then quickly proceed to a rooftop party. It would have been much better if the tragedies were acknowledged towards the end of the rewind. Not only would they have provided a more successful ending, but they would have also helped people forget about the exaggerated presence of fidget spinners, slime and dead memes in the video.
You might ask yourself why I still don’t hate the rewind to bits. The reason is quite simple. Despite its occasional poor elements, it still portrays the reality, whether you like it or not. I should bring up my own set of “why” questions. If the viewers didn’t want any dead memes to come back to life, why did they keep posting them the entire year (pop quiz: has any meme ever made you wonder what the memeing of life is?)? If they thought fidget spinners and DIY slime were pointless, why did they encourage their use on the internet? If they hated Jake Paul so much, why did they still subscribe to him and fall for his clickbaits? If they didn’t want “Despacito” to be one of 2017’s biggest hits, why does the music video have more than 4.5 billion views? The questions could go on and on, but I would only point out the audience’s general stupidity all over again.
Some people have expressed their anger towards the rewind by addressing YouTube’s demonetization issue. Indeed 2017 has been a harsh year for vloggers who had their videos demonetized out of nowhere because of complicated automatic systems. This is how most irrelevant people have built their way to the top and pushed the hard-working ones aside. We could say that the adpocalypse has taken a toll on both creators and viewers. However, I couldn’t help but notice that the audience was somehow more deeply affected by this problem. It’s true, there are also some YouTubers who expressed their sincere thoughts about video demonetization. But until this moment, I haven’t seen one creator who has given up. Everybody just keeps doing their job and they all seem to be content… with their content. After all, that’s what matters the most. Everyone should learn to be humble in this world of unwanted drama (*inserts Kendrick Lamar’s “HUMBLE” as background music*).
At the end of the day, YouTube Rewind is nothing but a simple recreation of some of the most successful creators, most viewed videos and most popular trends and memes. It always puts the audience’s preferences under the spotlight… and it hasn’t failed to do so this year. No reason to hate it (or even put the entire blame on demonetization). Initially I kept asking myself, “What’s with all the fuss?” But now I’m just looking forward to the next recap. I’ll patiently wait for the new avalanche of hilarious comments because spoiler alert, everyone will love 2017’s rewind in 2018.
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