Curse of the youtube generation

Not sure quite where to post this, but it's a subject that I think is very important for, amongst other things, the very credibilty of ATS.

There are an increasing number of threads being created by people based solely on a youtube video. Anyone can post videos to youtube and often they have little if any credibility. But it seems to me there is an increasing tendency for some people to assume that if it's on youtube it must be true ...... (and, as occurred in one recent thread here, if it's not on youtube it can't be true !)

What ever happened to research? To seeking out verifiable data? reading research papers (which, thanks to the internet are often available to most of us these days, even if the likes of Nature still keep their publications subscription only)

youtube is dumbing down society and encouraging ignorance. How do we stop it before empirical research goes the way of the dodo?

Should we be insisting youtube videos are only offered as supporting evidence?

How many youtube videos, that come without any other collaborative evidence, have been shown - despite initial scepticism - to show genuine events? How many times do we see fake UFO videos posted? Or documentaries on how Hitler and the Reptilians are using HAARP to create hurricanes in order to cause bird flu and prevent planet x from causing the earth to expand and lead to the creation of zero point energy? With no other supportive evidence other than the assertions of the people in the video?

In the interest of defying ignorance, should youtube be banned from ATS?

Is youtube itself part of a conspiracy to condition people into believeing absolutely anything?

Or am I just bitter because I don't know who to produce a video presenting my 100% genuine and proven theory that the fluffy pink bunnies from the moon shot Shergar in retaliation for Elvis Presley murdering the Pope?

I think for most people its easier than reading or doing some work on their own


we live in a lazy world, or atleast its getting lazier

im always happy when i get on the bus and see people reading

there are some who have headphones or little portable video games

reading is just a great way to excercise the use of your mind in so many ways compared to just sitting and watching something

Yes But. The knee-jerk reaction is to assume that everything on youtube is useless by definition.
Truth is youtube is the same as the people you meet every day. Just use the same filters.

Yes, and there is some good stuff on youtube.

But on the other hand I get the impression a lot of (younger?) members seem to take the attitude that if it's on youtube it must be true. Which is a very dangerous attitude to have.

reply to post by schrodingers dog


Perhaps YouTube is flooded with useless junk for the purpose of discrediting any revelatory videos that may end up on the site.

This would be a way for a government to maintain some measure of control over an unpredictable source of information.

Originally posted by clay2 baraka
reply to post by schrodingers dog

 

Perhaps YouTube is flooded with useless junk for the purpose of discrediting any revelatory videos that may end up on the site.

This would be a way for a government to maintain some measure of control over an unpredictable source of information.

Let's not go nuts. I don't think the government is posting vids of bulldogs skateboarding.

reply to post by schrodingers dog


That is a very open-minded opinion for someone posting on a conspiracy site.

Besides the fact that the skateboarding dog is a misleading analogy, you are missing the point that a government agency who is tasked to control the flow of information (which they are), would have no qualms paying a person $15 an hour (probably with good benefits), to post ridiculous saucer videos all day.

In the contingency that a genuine UFO video were posted by some random observer, the government would have a large amount of bogus videos to compare it with; a very effective means to discredit and control unexpected security risks.

reply to post by clay2 baraka


I guess my mind is too open for this site, this is probably why I thought this site is about having an open mind.
What I am trying to say is that youtube is no different than google or ATS or the rest of the world. If the gov wants to infiltrate they'll do it. So what? As long as you do the work to look things up, keep the same filters, common sense, and yes, an open mind there is nothing they can do! That is, other than to make you paranoid.
And by the way, thanks to some of the incredible work that some members put into this site, it might seem safer for you to trust. True enough, but it is still your responsibility to find things out for yourself. Blaming youtube is like blaming the earth for having humans.

[edit on 10-6-2008 by schrodingers dog]

And please, everybody enough with the youtube bashing. As if we're owed something by that site, holding it responsible to do our filtering for us. It is a tool, period!

[edit on 10-6-2008 by schrodingers dog]

Originally posted by schrodingers dog
And please, everybody enough with the youtube bashing. As if we're owed something by that site, holding it responsible to do our filtering for us. It is a tool, period!

[edit on 10-6-2008 by schrodingers dog]

pretty much my two cents worth as well!! i mean, come on!! there are books out there that are pieces of crap too. just because it is written down doesn't make it fact. no matter what it is you are watching or reading, it should ALWAYS be done through a filter of common sense. (this is coming from someone that does LOVE to read)

You want to know what's worse than Youtube?

People refusing to even CONSIDER things that are outside their paradigm. A naive person can eventually be educated. The former cannot.

Also, I think that you are missing something here. The younger generation (rightly so, in my opinion) have discovered that you cannot trust the mainstream media to tell the truth, or to uncover hidden things.

So, yeah. They may be a bit gullible, but that's something age and wisdom will naturally cure. But there isn't hope for most of us old farts. Most of us believe the mainstream media tells the truth.

I wouldn't trust YouTube exactly, I would rather view it as another means of speaking one's opinion. This can have both positive and negative effects. Instead of reading "the story" (can be government conspiracies, UFOs, monsters etc), the story is being fed into the person watching. But on the other hand, a lot of information can be compiled into one movie.

Alright, let's try this again.
Youtube has nothing to do with trust.
All you can do is to choose to trust or not trust the uploaders.

This is a great thread. I myself do not like a thread that is started with ONLY youtube videos as "evidence". I do not necessarily dismiss the thread, but using youtube only is a weak thing to do. I like to have several different sources, and a fleshed out and hopefully, original synopsis by the thread starter that ties all of the presented evidence together into a theory.

I would like to see youtube videos accompanied by at least one other source.

I can see using only youtube if it is a personal video made by the thread starter, like ghosts, or ufo, etc. But if it is a complete stranger off the web's youtube video, that is much weaker.

I take YT vids posted here with a grain of salt just like I take "accounts" of this or that. I guess being a skeptic, I cautiously approach any information given, no matter what the subject is or how it is presented.

I will NEVER just take someone's word or someone's YT video as a sole piece of any evidence. Because 1. I know people lie for a many different reasons and 2. I see so much phony bologna that im left with being more skeptical then believing.

But YT is great for one thing IMO: music

I agree with shrodinger's dog, sir_chancealot and justamomma here. And I also think some people here on ATS have a problem with things that are popular.

I think YouTube is a bit like Wikipedia - lots of useful information, but you still have to take it with a few grains of salt.

But you're right, all of the threads that read "zOMG Planet X on youTube, proof!!!!" or "UFO VIDEO!!!!" I skip right past. Maybe that's an indication that I don't take YouTube all that seriously for such topics.

For general things such as news clips I think it's very useful, and if people want to put together mini documentaries on subjects where the information can be checked against other sources, I think it's excellent.

reply to post by Essan


.Let me respectfully disagree with you.

I`m certainly one of the posters that you are talking about, most of my threads start with a Youtube video, and most of them have been read starred and flagged many times, I`m grateful to all the members that taken the time to watch what I posted. 145 flags for 34 threads.

Why do I post Youtube videos?.

I have read for more than 15 years on the subject of UFO`s, the Internet was not around when I started, and books were all that there was for someone interested in the subject. I know most classic cases and try to stay current on every major new case. But I found throughout the years that an image is better than a thousand words, when someone who is skeptic or new on the subject posts on one of my threads that they cannot believe what they are seeing it gives more satisfaction that when I post a well researched case that only people really interested in the subject read and appreciate. I try to post only what in my humble opinion is good footage, but then again when I have posted rubbish (not intentionally) no one replies and the threads are forgotten in a few minutes.

Youtube is a great tool, specially for someone who is not interested in preaching to the choir like me.

Why?

I don`t care about skeptics and respect people that are researchers (In my daily life I have to research a lot), but when someone sees a video and they become believers or at least start to consider the reality of UFOs I consider my job done

I completely agree with you Essan...

I have only posted one youtube video, and that was against my better judgment, but it stuck out amid the 1,000s of hoaxed CGI, the obvious mylar ballons, etc...and it was narrated and the person went and got a TRIPOD shockingly enough, and it was a LONG video...and I contacted the poster etc...

To make a long story short, I will never EVER post another youtube UFO as long as I post on ATS, unless it's to illustrate a hoax. If then.

Thanks for the thread!

"Argument by YouTube" is the curse of the modern Internet.

I don't see every thread started here....but I see enough to get the idea that there are far too many threads started with an embedded video, some generic comments, ("WOW, look at this!!!! OMG!!!") and very little else. It reduces thread authorship to little more than understanding the BBCode needed to show the video. And reduces the need to formulate some reasoning that can withstand scrutiny.

It's my humble opinion that the ability to embed any popular video source in a thread was a terrible decision by the ownership and management of this forum. I hope they reconsider the strategy.