Lack of Serious or Kind Comments
Because of the old five star rating system, sometimes people would rather just focus on commenting their opinions than rating videos at all. The ideal of comments sufficing and being more detailed than a rating makes sense, but it is not actually as logical as one might believe. A comment can leave ambiguity, especially with the vicious cycle of laziness and/or lack of combination with a specific answer-the 5 stars or a like or dislike. A person can explain as much as they want, but without a hook, thesis, or summarized main idea, literally or not, the body of writing is useless.
Sarcasm can manifest as something that is unkind and non-serious simultaneously. Laziness and too much irony can be seen as the culprits in a lot of cases. Trolling, as was mentioned before, is also something that can go too far, and it can go from being silly to abusive in a short time. However, most people do not mean to be as mean as they come across, but without face to face emotional connections or social skills the internet is a very scary playground. Irony is very educational when it is used in moderation, but some say that irony has become the base of everything humans take a part in. We are often trying to make a point and trying to shock one another. There may be a boy who cried wolf analogy with over using humor. Humor can show how silly an argument is that someone is trying to oppose, but if it is used all of the time, then people may not know what to believe or trust anymore.
Irony can be used in a double sense as well. People often comment sarcastically on a video to not only prove how silly their supposed idea could be and how silly they believe the video to be, but sarcasm is often used to show how silly it is to show how silly their supposed idea is. Irony sometimes makes fun of itself. Humor is very useful, but especially when a YouTuber has to look at many comments on their video, too many sarcastic comments could be easily ignored or even seen as indiscriminate garbage. Even YouTube videos themselves can overuse irony, sarcasm, or the same exact techniques that many other YouTube video creators are using.
People have to lighten up and realize that not all comments will be nice or something they agree with, but for people that put their energy into their videos, negative comments that are so black and white are not useful. It is relatively rare when the comments are useful. Though some people do not want any criticism, it is better to have well thought out criticism than negative and barely composed comments. A video poster will never be able to improve if no one gives them actual advice. He or she may be perceptible to a stereotype threat and depression, and the content could be even worse if he or she was just told how terrible the content is. It is best to critique something in a manner that is honest, but open to specific changes, and that advises how a video could be better.
As we have discussed in class, a lot of work loses its value or aura when we reproduce it, and even in the comments section of YouTube people often use overdone jokes or type words that are so ridiculous they are often ignored as just another unoriginal, unkind trope. We can make the internet great again if we just practice valid literary skills and critical thinking. Maybe we should even have people pursue commentary as a hobby or side job much like how YouTube video stars have worked their way into a career.
