Why do You......Tube?

Just today, my family had a graduation party for my brother Tom, who just yesterday graduated from High School. At the party, there was family, friends, and some of my brother's friends parents. It came to be that they all had something in common. They ALL had seen my youtube videos. Most of them said that they thought they were funny, and would point out one that they liked. I mean, I can't really tell if they actually liked them or if they were just trying to be nice, but that's besides the point. Anyways, one of the things that everyone asks me when they bring up my youtube videos is, "Why do you make them?" That question always makes me think.....why do iTube (get it?)? After months of thinking, here's what I've finally thought up.


Just a few years, youtube came into the public eye. Since that time, and even before, I had been on youtube, mostly checking out music videos and funny videos, but not even thinking about posting any (mostly because I was scared that my parents would find out and KILL me). Then, I came across people like Brookers and Lonelygirl15 (before she was exposed). These were the people who I saw as "regular" people who make videos for fun and just post them on youtube. So, after seeing them, I decided that maybe I should try. I posted my first lip syncing video. Hours after posting, one of my friends had found it and showed many people online. A few of the people I knew saw it, but all anyone said was "hahahahaha" about it. So, I decided that I should continue to make these "Youtube" videos. After a while, I began to find people all over the site that I thought were funny, or made cool videos, or had a lot of things to say. That only made me wanted to post videos even more, so I could be just like them. Everything was fine in my own "youtube land", until a few months later, when the criticism started.....

I had walked into school, when one of "those" kids (you know, the ones with the tilted baseball hat, shorts that are so far down they look like long pants, and gold chains) came up to me and mockingly said, "Youtube kid, youtube kid, gimme your autograph!" Doing the only thing that I though I could do, I just pretended like I didn't hear anything and just kept walking. He continued to follow me down the hallway making a scence, and it was really awakward. After a while though, he stopped, and I just went on with my day. That was the first time that I had been mocked for making my youtube videos (aside from those random anonymous haters who leave comments). Then after that, I began getting mixed reviews all the time. Kids started showing their parents, and soon parents were coming up to me telling me how funny I was on "the youtube" (whether they were saying that truthfully, I'll never know), classmates were either laughing at me for making them, or reciting a line they they remembered from them. I mean, don't get me wrong, there were a few people who supported me in making them, but they never seemed to outway the negative. Anyways, a few weeks ago, it finally hit me. My best friend, Ian, told me that making youtube videos was dumb, and that there is no reason why I should even make them. That made me wonder if I even should....but through thinking, I thought of something important.....

By making these youtube videos, I'm able to show the little creativity that I have to the world. I'm able to jump around doing different things, or make a video with crazy editing, or show the world something that had happened to me. It's my way of communicating to the the world. The reason why I youtube, is because it's my way of reaching out to the world. Other's play sports, some do the school play, but I see this new form of media as my way to express myself. I know many people don't like my videos, and they have every right to hate them, but...I don't care...it's what I love to do. I don't make fun of football players for grooping eachother on the field or watching each other change in the locker room, so they have no reason to judge me on making youtube videos.

I've come to see that it's hard for some people to relize that there's a new form of communication and media. Like some people in the 1970's believed that they computer would go nowhere, there are people who feel that places like youtube are never going to last, and are "dumb".

That's why, when people ask me why I youtube, I'm going to tell them that it's a form of communicating with people, much like through television, radio, and movies, and that even though it is hard to grasp, that you should be open to it, and give it a try.




Now, I wanna know, if your on youtube, why do you tube? Tell me what happens when someone you know see's a youtube video of yours, and how you deal with the pressures from those people who either like or hate your videos, in the comments!


~Chris

THE END?

On my last post, I talked about new beginnings......but what about endings? Today, I went to my brother's high school graduation. An end of schooling for some, the beginning of a higher education for others, but an ending of a large group of friends and people who grew up together.

But, it made me wonder.....how does someone accept that something is coming to an end?


Just about exactly one year ago, an online series called "Kate Modern" was born. Much like it's predecessor (Lonelygirl15), this show was meant to be "video blogs" by "average" people, and seeing how their lives were affected by an evil organization called "The Order". Now, I know that I'm using a lot for air quotes, but stick with me. When it first came out, many people in the States (since it takes place in London) were not a big fan, including myself. Then, within the last 6 or 7 months, I had gotten really into it. I had fallen in love with the characters, who all seemed as if they were "real" people, as if I could run into one of them in the street and see them video blogging. Then, just today, they had their series finale.



For the past month, I've known that this was coming. I made it through the first 11 out of the 12 videos today without thinking twice. Then, as the last video was put up, it hit me. This was THE END. I would no longer have Kate Modern Episodes to look forward to after school. I would no longer have 2 amazing video series to look at. And, it felt really weird.

You know the feeling that you get when your favorite TV show has a season finale, and you know that your going to have to wait 4 months for answers? That's EXACTLY how I felt. But, there would be no return, this was THE END.

Concluding everything that I have said, how does one deal with THE END? Does the end bring together a new beginning, like in the case of a high school graduation? Or does the end really have nothing more in store for you, like with Kate Modern? In both cases, everyone knew what was going to happen. The students knew that they would soon graduate, and Kate Modern was never meant to last over a single year. So how does one actually prepare?

I have no idea. Who knows, maybe I'm thinking to far into this. I mean, in reality, it's only a graduation and the end of one single tiny web series.....

~Chris




P.S- If anyone knows any insiders from Lonelygirl15, can you tell them to BRING BACK KATE MODERN!!!

New Beginnings........?

So it's been almost a year since the last time I blogged on here....I know, I really wanted to keep posting, but one thing led to another, and then I forgot all about it all together. I then came upon Caitlin's (Thehill88's) blog cleverly called "My Digital Life" (http://www.thatgirlonline.blogspot.com/) and it made me wonder. What have I been doing to contribute to my Internet "fans" who watch my videos, follow me on twitter, or just want to know more about me? Certainly not as much as I should. Recently, I got my new phone, an LG Chocolate, with unlimited texting, and it made me see how easy it is to edit things from the Internet, even if I'm not home. Here's my new phone:

Ever since I got it, I can't stop doing things such as sending youtube video's via texting, updating my twitter, and adding facebook pictures. If it is this easy to do things from my phone, then why shouldn't I do things like this while I spend hours on the Internet? That made me come to the conclusion that I need to do more "things" online. I want to do things such as update my twitter and let people know about this great service, actually trying to make better videos using less copyrighted music, and get a webcam and do live shows on BlogTV. I even got e-mails that are dedicated to just stretchandmayonaise mail. Through this, I have decided to name the beginning of this new stage of Stretchandmayonaise, Stretchandmayonaise 2.0. But, what about Stretchandmayonaise 1.0? Do I keep it up to show the world the reason why they subscribed to me in the first place, or do I private/delete them and start new, and make a Stretchandmayonaise 2.0 that old fans and new fans can enjoy?

I have no idea, but it's time for me to tell everyone that this is a new beginning of Stretchandmayonaise. Expect to see things from me such as new, better, original, videos, and a better online presence from me.

Who knows how long this will last? A week? A month? I have no idea. I really hope to get all this to work out. For once, I'm actually happy with my "url" life, and even happier with my "irl". All of this was just food for thought. I'm going to stop rambling.



If you had NO idea what I was talking about before, then check me out.

YouTube------www.youtube.com/stretchandmayonaise
Twitter------www.twitter.com/stretchandmayo


~Chris