Hexbear is the last fun place on the internet
this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2023
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chapotraphouse
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I think some niche youtube channels are fun, but it certainly is becoming a bore. If I had to guess, it probably is from everything being localized to a handful of websites and those are in turn optimized by an algorithm for profit instead of something enjoyable. The internet has been turned into what is addictive instead of fun.
My personal theory is that we are so detached from joy that many find "reaction videos" a source of amusement because we can't feel excitement ourselves anymore, so people vicariously enjoy something "new" by watching someone else be very excited and happy about it.
I only really partake in interacting with people I don't know on Hexbear, and anything else I leave exclusive to people I know in real life.
Its a fantastic reservoir of knowledge at your fingertips, but a terrible and inhuman way to interact with other humans. Much nuance and body language is not seen, and people essentially develop the same kind of anonymous rage they feel when driving a car except it is in front of a computer screen.
I was watching some South Asian villagers react to the star wars prequels just before reading this comment because I find them so wholesome, I guess, even though who can say how genuine their reactions are. I don’t usually watch reaction videos but, at the time, there was nothing else I would rather be doing.
Reaction videos are an occasional guilty pleasure of mine. But I avoid channels that are explicitly about "reactions" because as UlyssesT said, they end up all being the same
reaction to different things.
I do genuinely enjoy seeing people be excited and happy. But so much of that "industry" is fake. People either go over the top or provide nothing in addition.