I like to think of YouTube history by splitting its lifetime into three distinct eras. For the duration between the creation of the video streaming site in 2005 until 2010, I refer to the period as the incumbent age. There were few consistent internet personalities, people uploaded whatever they wanted, and occasionally there was a viral internet video posted that circulated like wildfire. I deem the era from 2010 to 2015 as the golden age or “renaissance period” of YouTube.
Although the service was acquired by Google.inc in 2006, it was within this time length that notable creators began popping up due to better instituted AdSense and partnerships the individuals received from uploading. Careers could be created under any theme imaginable. Technology reviews, let’s plays, makeup tutorials, news, and my favorite genre at the time, absurdist and dark humor, thrived on the site as content creators and influencers gained followings for their own personality and effort of video production. Currently, we are in the “dark ages” or YouTube.
After immense pressure was placed on the company by select advertisers to avoid attaching their brands to controversial videos that were uploaded to the streaming service, YouTube has become further disconnected with its creators than ever before. With entire sects of content creation such as sketch comedy, animation, criticism, and anything not politically correct being disenfranchised from viewers.
I always reference the history and evolution of YouTube in my other posts, but today I just felt like providing a concise summary.
To pander and please advertisers, my favorite genre has been eradicated like the what the black plague did to Europe and Asia in the mid 1300’s. And the only creator that continues to prevail in this time of existential dread is Elon Musk. That is, if Elon Musk was a three-foot-tall Filipino man, and dumb.
Michael Reeves is a software engineer turned comedic programmer who makes exceedingly entertaining videos on YouTube. Some inventions of his include scream powered microwave, gas-powered fishing pole, an air soft rifle that automatically fires at him when he dies in a video game, a shaker cup that tazes you if you cannot chug the drink in a few seconds, and a “big metal piston spike” attached to an old 3-D printer that uses visual recognition code to pick tomatoes out of his salads. He is truly a prodigious visionary of the 21st century.
Not only did these videos get me interested in considering the prospects of becoming a software engineer, but the comedy projected by Michael is also reflective of the “renaissance period” of YouTube some four or five years prior. If you are easily offended and cannot bear the thought of someone saying that deviates from the status quo, I do not think his channel is an adequate recommendation. However, if you want to witness a glimpse to the era of MaxmoeFoe, Idubbbz, and Filthy Frank, you will probably enjoy Michael’s content as well.
Through further lies and deception, Michael was able to infiltrate the premises of OfflineTV, a conglomerate channel of YouTubers and Twitch streamers. By doing so, he has garnered a large sample size of test subjects to try out his ridiculous inventions, and we viewers also benefit by seeing him featured on his friend’s VODs from time to time as he struggles to adhere to his goal of producing one video a month.
But after reviewing all the videos on Michael’s channel, his numerous collaborations, his stable sponsorships and Patreon funds, and future prospects in general, I can give the chaotic man a thumbs up while I dutifully await his next upload.
Watch these videos:
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