Vloggers and Mukbang: Why are they so popular?

Hey guys!

I've been on this YouTube kick lately and I've started to watch a lot of vloggers. For those who might not know a vlogger is someone who vlogs, or video blogs. Rather than writing their musings or their daily lives on a "brick-and-mortar" blog like this, they record themselves and their thoughts or their day with a camera. There are TONS of vloggers out there. Some of my favorites include the Shaytards, Colleen Ballinger, Joshua DTV, Chris Ballinger, Miss Fenderr, Zoella, Joey Graceffa, Tyler Oakley . . . The list could literally go on. For many of the people I listed, vlogging and creating content for YouTube is their full-time job. Recording their lives and sharing it with others is how they pay the bills.

I was just watching one of these vlogs and couldn't help but wonder, why are vloggers so popular?

I have a theory: Our society has become more and more dependent on the internet to fulfill social needs, which explains why vloggers are so popular. I would guess that for most people, a lot of their relationships have some sort of tie to the virtual world. We connect more with people through a digital medium (FaceBook, Twitter, YouTube, texting, Tumblr, etc) than we do face-to-face. We spend so much time in the virtual world, that it's kind of cool and refreshing to see other people living their lives and to feel like we have a connection to them. We can feel like we've made a new best friend who does really awesome stuff (like going to Disneyland , or visiting Hawaii, or goes on the Ellen Degeneres show, or tell really awesome stories). These are real people with real lives and families just being themselves, and it's easy to feel a connection to them.

And then there's mukbang. Mukbang is a phenomenon happening in South Korea. Basically, men and women film themselves eating meals live and thousands (yes, I said THOUSANDS) of people watch. Through these websites viewers can send in "balloons" which then translate into money. For those who are more successful, mukbang becomes their full-time job. They are paid to eat food on camera. (Here's a news report on mukbang and also a reaction video if you want to learn more.)

I think mukbang works off the same sort of principal as vlogging--it helps people feel connected to someone else. In South Korea especially, many people live alone. They have long work days and come home to an empty apartment. Watching the mukbang, I imagine, helps the apartment come to life and seem less lonely.

My opinion is that these kind of relationships can be good to a certain extent. Real relationships can be formed online or through social media. Real friends and real memories can be made. Sometimes these virtual connections can help build in-person relationships. For example, Allison and I watch a lot of the same vloggers on YouTube, which gives us things to talk about when we're together. But, I think it's important not to let digital connections be the only type of relationships we have with people. It's important to spend time with those who are physically around us--not just those who we can only see or connect with through a screen. Because when we turn the computer off, or when the power goes out, or when our car runs out of gas on the highway, we're going to have to depend on the relationships we've formed with those who are around us for help.

Anyway, these are just my musings on the subject. Just a little food for thought!

So . . . It's been a year . . .

Hey guys!

So . . . It's been a year . . . since I last blogged . . .

That's really stupid. I think I need to blog more. Write about what's happening in my life and take time out to write certain topics that are on my mind. Ya know?

It's not like I haven't thought about blogging. I even started a lot of posts, but never published them. Maybe they'll see the light of day this year.

This past year a lot has happened. I got a job at Deseret Book, which I love! I work with amazing people and get to sell products great products (garments and books. That's all people need, right?). I picked up where I left off at Weber State and now I have two semesters left before I graduate. My major is English with a Creative Writing emphasis, and my minor is Communications. A few highlights from last semester:

-I got one of my songs published in Weber State's undergraduate journal, Metaphor.

-I wrote a pretty sweet arrangement of Let Us All Press On/ Called to Serve that you can download here if you want to check it out.

-I won $100 in a video contest at work.

-I was one of only 3 people in my upper division British Lit. class to get an A on my final essay the first time around. My professor told me she thought I'd do well in graduate school if I chose to go that route. Gave me something to think about.

Those are pretty much the highlights. Overall I think it's been a good year and two months being home from my mission. There are still a lot of things I miss about the mission--mostly the people. And I want to do better at applying what I learned from my mission to my every day life. But overall things are good.

Here's a list of some things I'm obsessed with as of late:

-Writing: I've always been obsessed with this, but now that I'm closer to graduating I'm really buckling down and getting stuff done. I'm about 40,000 words into my WIP (work in progress), and I'm hoping to have that done and get into editing by October. Exciting!

-The Broadway version of Cinderella with Laura Osnes and Santino Fontana: I'm particularly infatuated with the song "Loneliness of Evening." It's basically my favorite.



-NCIS: NCIS is now on Netflix and it is the best thing ever.

-Printing off my missionary emails home: This is taking a long time, and a lot of pages, but it's SO much fun to re-read my letters home. This is helping me remember more about my mission that I'd forgotten, like different people I taught or different experiences I had. :)

So, yeah! Things are going really good. Next week my family and I are heading out to Indiana for the temple open house (and to see One Direction in concert. Shh!). I'm excited to be out in the Midwest again and see everybody. That will make for some good posts, right?

Anyway, thanks for reading! Have a great Sunday!