A Youtube Education

It's easy to admit you're a book nerd.
Particularly at HCHS where reading books is encouraged through an annual reading marathon, (which I am bombing this year thanks to my mom not taking me to the public library and quitting too early on my books) I don't mind admitting that I read with far more appetite than many of my peers.
But admitting I love Youtube is another thing entirely. When people hear the word Youtube, they think of Gangam style and Rebecca Black and maybe a famous Youtuber or two. When I think of Youtube, I think of the vlogbrothers and danisnotonfire and Crashcourse and Booksandquills and Shane Dawson and so many other names and channels that nobody's heard of. And there are quite a few channels that I love that the general public would either think are a. really weird/creepy (Shane, I'm looking at you) b. boring or c. just plain uninteresting. Here's my argument:
I'm going to start where I started with when I first started on Youtube: The Vlogbrothers. This may sound a little presumptuous, but John and Hank Green have taught me quite alot about life and selflessness and being a good person than most of the people in my life (this doesn't include family, obviously). Even though I've never met them, I owe them much more than I owe my acquaintances or even a few of my worse teachers. I love them (not creepily, but I mean in general) not because they're funny (they are) but because they each have their own insight and opinions about the world that they share through videos, some of which that range from the Syrian Revolution and the metaphorical resonance of roadtrips to jokes about goat sex. And in a way, they're also responsible my getting me into other Youtubers because then I had to get a Youtube account to keep up with all these cool people they kept referencing, and then I got addicted to those Youtubers and then I found more on my own and etc etc.
Youtube is weird in that it's more than you often do more than just sit and watch content. It's a place that fosters communities that build pond filters in Bangladesh and write fanfiction about two flatmates in London and fangirl about a vlog-style adaption of Pride and Prejudice and all sorts of crazy things. In that sense, it's a weird place compared to most of the world.
And lately, it's a place for education instead of time-wasting. There are literally videos on Youtube that cover an entire course of AP Bio in the span of fifty videos that still are funny and clever despite their heavy content. There are videos about particle physics and why shades of pink are all actually the color red. There's a whole world out there on Youtube, and alot of people are missing out. Hell, there's even a yearly convention for Youtube video making. (One day I'll go, once I can actually get to California)
So maybe Youtube is an easy way to escape the monotony of day-to-day life and laugh away at the bloopers of 30 House Rock or Ouran High School Host Club. I'm not going to deny that, I use Youtube for that all the time too. And yet, it's also a way to engage more deeply into things that are actually important or whatever, to actually participate more in reality than you would have sitting on Facebook or tweeting about how boring your winter vacation is.
So I dunno, maybe I sound like a total lazy butt when I say that watching Youtube videos is a pastime of mine. But I don't regret it.

***If you're just getting started and looking for channels to look at, here are some great ones:
http://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers (There's no debating the greatness of this channel. They introduced me to Youtube for bugger's sake)
http://www.youtube.com/user/danisnotonfire (Just one awesome, hilarious guy who is just yeah, great. Love him)
http://www.youtube.com/user/crashcourse (Really great educational videos about World History, AP Bio. They're covering Literature and Ecology right now, though I've heard that Chemistry is up for grabs in the next few months. Definitely worth the time investment if you're into learning)
http://www.youtube.com/user/booksandquills (If you love books, you'll love her. She reviews books and talks about books and is just generally amazing. I wish I had that much time to read)
http://www.youtube.com/user/lizziebennet (A modern vlog-style adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Really. Check it out. Videos twice a week)
http://www.youtube.com/user/vsauce (If you're into interesting sciency videos, vsauce is for you. I also recommend Scishow)
http://www.youtube.com/user/xperpetualmotion (If you love graphic design, you'll love Karen)
http://www.youtube.com/user/charlieissocoollike (Charlieissocoollike is cool. There is no debate about this.)