(Siren)
(Sound of videos that are being reacted to)
Are you being serious right now?
This isn't real, this can't be real.
Offscreen voice: No uh, it is real.
IHE: What do you mean it's real?
Oh god.
I've been using YouTube for a long time now,
I've witnessed various trends come and go ad nauseam.
But over the past year or so I've started to notice
an uprising of a truly peculiar type of Youtube content.
And these videos in question
are reaction videos.
Now reaction videos are not a complicated concept
it literally is just someone who sits there
recording their 'reaction'
to whatever it is they're watching.
And on paper, that might not sound so terrible.
Randy: Really Mr I Hate Everything?
Why waste your time with such an inoffensive idea?
IHE: Well, here's the thing.
The best aspect of Youtube is that it caters
for every different type of creator.
You have your comedy, your movie reviews
your let's plays, your horrifically terrible animation
it's all there.
But what is the key difference between all of these
creators I just showed you and reaction videos?
Well, they're not exactly creating anything.
(Cricket chirping)
I know a lot of you might be thinking
'Well I Hate Everything doesn't technically
create anything himself either.
In fact, a lot of his topics piggyback
from other creator's creations.'
Yeah, here's where things get kind of tricky.
Us YouTubers throw around the term transformative
a lot when talking about YouTube content.
As in while a video game might be a copyrighted product
a let's play on said video game can be considered
transformative because in theory, the person recording
the game is adding something inherently unique to it
that can't be replicated anywhere else,
much in the same way that a song might use samples
to make something original out of it.
The argument of transformative YouTube content is
relatively solid for the most part.
I don't think that anyone could argue that for example,
my own series The Search For The Worst could be
considered a passive, purposeful abuse
of other people's content
because I carefully craft it into something else,
something new.
Whether you actually like it or not is irrelevant.
The effort, energy and time it takes to make a video
like this can easily be considered it's own art form.
It takes me a good 3-4 days to make a typical
Search For The Worst episode.
The script that spans over multiple pages,
the recording and editing of audio
and then the actual composing of the video
in editing software
I mean, it's not something to be scoffed at.
I don't want to assign an arbitrary
'you need to put this much time into a video
for us to take it seriously,'
but it's at least a factor to think about.
So going back to these reaction videos,
where should we draw the line
on what I just explained to you?
When does content seemingly hold so little value
on it's own that it should actually be criticised
for being completely barren and ultimately 100%
pointless?
What entertains you is subjective, obviously.
But in the same way that someone might find
watching gore porn entertaining,
watching reaction videos is on that same level to me.
I know I just compared reaction videos
to fucking gore porn, but the point is
no matter what the content is,
there is someone out there who is willing to watch it
and will enjoy it for whatever their reason.
That doesn't mean that content is of quality,
that's all I'm criticising here.
There are plenty of channels that have entire
discussions about new trailers,funny videos
they've seen and there are a bunch of
well thought out reaction channels even
but they all manage to do it without literally
sitting there and watching it all the way through
with their audience.
They manage to do something unique,
they manage to, you know,
make it funny or entertaining in some way
and add something to it.
Next time you go to a movie theatre,sit in the middle
of the room and halfway through the movie
turn around and look behind you to all the passive,
engaged people watching their product.
That's effectively what a reaction video is,
it's you watching someone else watching a video.
That's the fucking stupidest thing I've ever heard.
Now before any of you even say it, yes
my Trying To Watch series is effectively
a reaction video.
Aside from the fact that they make up about
5% of my channel, they are highly edited,
skip out the crap parts of me just sat there
saying nothing, and when it comes round to it
I actually have something meaningful to say about it.
(Crickets chirping)
The biggest problem I have with these reaction videos
is that they add nothing
to the experience.
Grey guy: Um, hey everyone,
let's watch this vid you've all been asking me
to react to. Ok, let's do this.
(Purple Guy sings up down whilst grey guy has mild reactions)
Grey guy: Ok so make sure you subscribe
and watch more of my videos.
IHE: I urge you all to stay clear of crap content like this,
it has no value.
There's no skill or involvement
that makes them worth watching.
It's a shame that the word react has such a negative
connotation for me now because as I said,
there is some really well made
reaction content out there.
Hell, I may not personally like it at all,
but even The Fine Brothers have more going on,
at least there's some kind of production value
and it's more than just people sat there
silently watching a popular video
that they didn't make.
Fucking talentless hack
You may try to counter everything I just said by saying
that if I don't like it 'then you just shouldn't watch it.'
Well, my name is I Hate Everything,
and if I didn't criticise trivial shit
that ultimately doesn't matter
in the grand scheme of things,
then I wouldnt be doing my job right, would I?
So those are my thoughts on reaction videos.
It's been bothering me for a long ass time
so I just needed to get this one out.
So what did you think?
Do you like or dislike reaction videos?
Did you like or dislike my video?
Whatever it is, tell me in the comments below.
Seriously though, if you want a really fucking funny
reaction channel, go to h3h3productions.
Is that right? H3h3productions.
Yeah, that's right.
He's great and funny so watch him
if you really wanna watch a reaction thing
because he's like good and stuff.
And as always, thanks for watching
all comments and ratings are very much appreciated.
Make sure you check out some of my other videos
and second channel JAR Media
for more weird ass content.
I'll see you next time.
Bye.