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Anonymous YouTube Girl Edition
Today, MΓRNINGβs Creative Strategist and Editor of Pilot Magazine Dagny Tepper is taking us on a whistle-stop tour of her Youtube favourites. Buckle up.Β
Ever since the early days on the family desktop, Iβve loved YouTube. From idolizing makeup gurus when I was 13, to being introduced to totally new worlds like camping and comedy, YouTube to me always felt expansive, without ever being intrusive. I struggle with platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where my noggin becomes oversaturated with catchy sound bites or arty echo chambers, and I lose myself in perspectives that donβt feel like my own. It becomes too hard to decipher what tastes are actually mine. On YouTube, I feel like Iβm protected from the cultural crossfire of things that I βshouldβ know about, or opinions that I βshouldβ have. In fact, for me, thereβs no βIβ at all β no personal profile to compulsively try to substantiate my identity with. I take the form of an anonymous tumbleweed drifting around in the pursuit of unbridled discovery. Join me for a bit of a slower, more scattered digital deep dive. And if youβre wondering how I do my job, donβt worry whether Iβm with it enough β have you ever tried obtaining the verification badgeβ¦ within?
A VIDEO I WISH I COULD GET TATTOOED:
Iβve watched this video so many times - as a person I love heavy rain, and I love alt-rock, and everything about the performance gives me goosebumps. I love when he guides the camera towards the crowd, I love the live sound which scratches an itch in my brain, I love how it was apparently the fourth of July in their hometown, I love the mass audience singing βI just want you to know who I amβ. Pure joy! I think I would offer the universe a full toenail for me to be able to time travel and experience this, but YouTube works well in the meantime.
MY VERY FAVOURITE CREATOR:
Something about content from Go4x4 makes me feel inspired and comforted at the same time. Is that not the perfect feeling cocktail? One day I wanna try doing what heβs doing, but until then Iβm pretty happy watching from afar. Thatβs something about YouTube that I love β on other social media, thereβs definitely a culture of βIβm doing this, you need to be doing thisβ. But maybe I just wanna be a lil fly on the wall sometimes.
BEST CONSOLATION COMMENT SECTION </3:
One time I wrote a think-piece about soft YouTube comment sections. Thereβs something so pure to me about so many people resorting to a Ted Talk, of all things, out of desperation about heartbreak or other shared human experiences. I also actively remember comment sections making me feel better about my own big feelings. Collective-anonymous-yearning is sort of extremely beautiful and cool.
CONTENT THAT MAKES ME GRATEFUL FOR THE INTERNET:
SBSK is a program where people from all over the world are interviewed by a former teacher, Chris. A lot of the messaging is about gratitude, bravery, and perseverance from people who live with medical disadvantages. Since, with any stranger, it can be difficult to spark deep conversation, I treasure this lil portal into peoplesβ perspectives and experiences. Chris has also kept the channel going for so long now that you encounter the same interviewees over time which is special to see.
I THINK ABOUT THIS A LOT:
My childhood was watching this woman, of TLCβs What Not To Wear, grill people for playing with fashion and expressing their individuality. Of course no one bat an eye to that stuff in 2008, so I donβt blame her, but when this video randomly came up I felt so moved. Sheβs addressing, before anyone else really, how messed up the show was and that sheβs coming around to view expression in a brand new way. Itβs trippy to consider the mental gymnastics that would come with a decade of your life being dependent on a mindset you no longer have. But I guess as long as we give ourselves grace, things fall into place.
I WISH I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS MORE:
I love coming across this β it makes me reflect on the importance of a) focusing on things in my control b) not working against myself. Obviously those arenβt new concepts, but he has this awesome deadpan delivery that really resonates with me. I also find that YouTube shows me the widest range of people + professions outside my own, and I love learning from people of different disciplines. As much of a sucker I am for this brand of corny motivational content, sometimes it blurs in my memory. Itβs nice to house in my Favorites playlist anyway as, on any platform, you might stumble upon something just when you need it the most.
Thatβs all for today, readers. Hereβs to leaning into the slower side of the scroll for onceβ¦