[INTRO MUSIC]
I am willing to bet a gazillion dollars that this video is going to get a ton of response videos.
Which is funny because i’m not going to respond to people responding to my video about
response videos with a response video.
But you can still respond!
[Title: Why I Don’t Respond To Response Videos]
I don’t talk about this a lot, but...
I’m an Atheist.
When you come to the conclusion that you’re an Atheist, you sometimes feel this intense
desire to find Atheist media that helps you understand that you aren't the only one.
When I was a baby Atheist, I loved the Atheist YouTube Community.
I’d spend all day long watching my favorite YouTube Atheist response videos to Creationist claims.
My absolute favorite creatorss were, hands down
The Amazing Atheist and Thunderf00t.
Both of them would construct such well thought out and logically sound arguments that were
often not only entertaining, but useful.
Infact, they inspired me to make my own response videos about atheism and other things.
MY channel used to almost exclusively be response videos.
[ I’d go back and forth and back and forth, and eventually it would get pretty nasty and
confrontational.
People were so eager to see me “destroy” another YouTuber and it wasn’t really about
having a productive debate about ideas, but rather the so-called “battle”.
There was this focus on winning the argument and ultimately being “right”.
Both sides would state “ you’re wrong, and I’m right --and
if you feel any other way, you’re just not very intelligent”
We could disagree all day long and never really go anywhere.
These were never videos about sharing a mutual understanding or even reaching a conclusion
or even a solution.
They were ultimately about the dramatics of it all.
Two Youtubers with two fan bases battling it out to see who’s the most correct.
It’s a format that really doesn’t translate outside of Youtube.
As I grew on this website, I realized what I wanted to do wasn’t confined to the Youtube Community.
I wanted to create tools of education and conversation.
But being a woman of several marginalized identities, I’m aware that there are quite
a few people who will disagree with me.
There’s a popular belief that I don’t like to engage with people who have different
opinions than mine.
I’ve always found that to be pretty funny because I dedicate so much of my time to interacting
with people who disagree with me.
One of the things that I realized from observing the Youtubers that I used to admire was that
when they didn’t fully understand the position that they were trying to argue against, they
couldn’t break it down in a meaningful way.
A lot of their counter arguments relied on their incorrect interpretation of the positions
they were criticizing.
Of course, it’s easier to deconstruct an argument when you can frame it in a way that
suits your rebuttals.
Matt Dillahunty is probably my favorite Atheist voice.
At one time, he was studying to be a Priest.
As a man who studied the Bible, when he argues against Christian claims, he does so with
an understanding OF the Bible that is generally better than the average Christian.
So his rebuttals are often more logically sound because he’s researched the opposition
and is responding directly to their claims rather than his assumption of their claims.
When I sit down and make a video, the first thing I do is make a mental note of all of
the areas where people will likely disagree with me.
Many of my ideas are inspired by the extensive conversations that I have with people who
disagree with me.
I research dissent first and often engage it directly.
Sometimes when I research the other side I come out with a different perspective and
often times a more well rounded view.
As a vocal feminist, I’m often having to defend positions that I don’t hold because
the people responding to me have observed other people’s arguments against feminism
and they want to regurgitate the same points back to me.
So instead of engaging with the positions that I actually express, they assume what
my positions are simply because I call myself a feminist.
The problem is, feminists often disagree with each other and there are plenty of feminist
circles that I’d never be welcome into.
I’d argue that it’s pretty unreasonable to expect for any person to be held accountable for an argument that they
didn’t make.
So many response videos rely heavily on editing snippets of full arguments into a video to
decontextualize them and semantically break down the overall argument piece by piece.
[When you’re manipulating someone’s argument, it’s very easy to deconstruct that argument
and convince your audience that you’re making a sound claim.
In truth, your argument relies not only the manipulation of the original position, but
also of the audience, who most likely won’t investigate the content being responded to.
The YouTubers I used to admire have found a new niche in anti-feminism.
Thunderf00t hasn’t ever really expressed an interest in video games until Gamergate started trending.
Now he tries his hardest to infuse Anita Sarkeesian into almost every video he can- even the ones
that have nothing to do with video games.
And I know why he does it.
He does it because there’s a built-in fanbase of people who will watch anything constructed
to attack her.
There’s a market on this website for videos expressing hatred towards her.
The more disgusting they are, the more popular they get.
For the longest time, I only knew about Anita because of these video responses and I remember
the first time I saw one of her videos and I was shocked by how....feminism 101 it was.
Her videos are completely harmless.
While I don’t really agree with a lot of what she says, I also know that she isn’t
the fun hating harpy the these numerous response videos to her would have you believe.
When I was on a panel with her at Vid Con, I was shocked that she was actually a really cool person.
We even partied together and had a really great time and you wouldn't expect that from
the vast majority of videos made about her.
I’m not always correct, heck sometimes I'm just plain wrong
When I am, I appreciate being corrected, but all too often response videos aren’t about
my ideas.
They’re about me-
well they’re about a version of me that they’ve created in their minds.
Look, ultimately, I’m a person who expresses opinions online
and people will disagree with me and make response videos.
Frankly me not only am I okay with that but...
I hope that they do!
This platform would be nothing without diversity of opinions.
The great thing about this website is that we can all pick up our cameras, voice our perspectives and be heard.
No matter how much I dislike or disagree with an argument.
I don’t support these arguments being silenced, censored or taken down.
I believe that everyone has the right to make videos expressing even the most disgusting of ideas,
but I don’t believe that I personally have to take the time to listen to them
I don’t watch response videos because they aren’t really for me,they’re for the audience of the responder.
And I don’t make response videos to response videos
because I don’t think that there’s really a point.
My channel is all about productive material.
I don’t care about how popular my content is.
To me, there’s nothing that makes me happier than to hear that my videos are being used
in schools to help kids and even adults understand certain concepts.
I’d lose myself responding to every response video.
I’m not afraid of interacting with someone who disagrees with me.
I ultimately live in a society that in general does.
These are arguments that I hear every day.
They aren’t unique or unfamiliar to me.
But I’m happy that my work is relevant enough to be responded to and I hope that more people do.
And on that note, I want you to always remember and never forget that you are beautiful and
you are loved!