Imagining Complexly

Today I want to talk about imagining others complexly, mainly YouTubers. 

I like many others am a HUGE fan of YouTubers. I've seen every video from Vlogbrothers, Danisnotonfire, AmazingPhil, Caspar Lee, Tyler Oakley, Troye Sivan, the list could go on.

I idolize them in a strange way.
But I don't know them. I know there videos.

I like many others have a hard time seeing the barrier between YouTuber and actual person.

When I think of Danisnotonfire I think of a video of his I really like, not of Dan Howell doing mundane day to day tasks.

Why is this?

I'll be the first to admit for shipping YouTubers together from Troyler and Zalfie, but this has a flaw as well because I don't know them. I don't see them when they interact with each other outside YouTube, I see interact with the video acting all chummy, laughing, and having a good time. 

It has taken being a fan of YouTube for about 2 years to realize, I don't ship Alfie and Zoe, I ship pointlessblog and zoella. 

I don't "idolize" Dan Howell, I idolize Danisnotonfire. 

I don't know them, I know their internet personalities. 

It's kind of like the YouTuber Miranda Sings. Miranda is a character, not real one bit. However Colleen (the person who plays Miranda Sings) is a real person. 

All these people I idolize are characters. And for some reason it makes me sad for myself. 

I know so little about these people. I respect and love their work but I don't know them. 

I don't know what they had for breakfast unless they tweet about it.

I don't know about where they got their shirt unless they Instagram a photo of it

I don't know who they are hanging out with unless I see a YouTube collab 

I don't know their favorite band unless they reblog it on Tumblr.

I think (I might be completely wrong) that we look up to YouTubers in such high form and idolize them because we see a part of ourselves in them. When I see a movie with Shailene Woodley in it I understand that that is Hazel currently talking, not Shai. When we see YouTubers talking in a video we don't see Dan Howell talking we are seeing danisnotonfire talking. 

It's very hard to make the distinction. They talk about relatable stuff in their videos. So we in turn think we know them and start to romanticize what they might act like based on their videos. I do the same thing. I myself have sent Facebook, Tumblr, and email messages telling YouTubers just how much they have meant to me. But now I feel ashamed. 

That person did jack squat for me. It could have been a completely person saying exactly what that YouTuber said in that video and I would have said the same thing to them. 

I WANT to imagine them complexly which ends up just making me romanticize them more in their day to day tasks because I don't know them. I will never know them. 

How do we fix this?

We obviously can't imagine them complexly because we don't know them to do so, so what do we do?

Make the distinction

Realize your are not watching Dan Howell, you are watching danisnotonfire

This doesn't mean you can't be proud of Dan Howell for making the danisnotonfire video, this just means you understand what is what.

I hope this all made sense and I didn't offend anybody. 

QUESTION OF THE DAY! Who is your favorite YouTube personality? Do you struggle with seeing the defining barrier between YouTuber and person? TELL ME IN THE COMMENTS.

Best Wishes, Kelsey Ann

DFTBA

FIRST

So this is my first blog post (terrifying right?)

So first things first introductions

Name: Kelsey Ann

Age: 16 

Birthday: June 5th 1998

Location: Michigan

So the topic today if you haven't guessed it is first. First anything! 

SO, to further introduce myself I do the "My First Time" tag

1. FIRST Youtuber Video You Ever Watched: Oh man, so there was this short little YouTube series back in 2010 called IBuddies. I thought it was pretty funny and watched all 30 of them (this doesn't sound like much until you find out the videos were 20 minutes long)

2. FIRST person you subscribed to on YouTube: It was Shane Dawson. I really loved his Degrassi parody he did. 

3. FIRST celebrity crush: I really loved Tom Felton (aka the guy who played Draco in Harry Potter). I have no idea why but I just thought he was a charmer. NO REGRETS

4. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? It was Mrs. Fox I believe. She was really awesome! I actually visited her last summer and she is still awesome.

5. Where was your FIRST sleepover: It was with my bfffffffff Mary Frances. When I was younger I used to have to sleep with a fan on in my room and I remember there wasn't a fan in the room and I made them get me one...at 2:30am. Let's just say I didn't sleepover there for a while.

6. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning: I ate mini wheats and drank decaf coffee!

7. FIRST movie you remember seeing? ELMOPALOOZA! No seriously I was obsessed with this movie when I was little. My parents had all the songs memorized.

8. FIRST sport you were involved in: Soccer. I think it's mandatory for all kids to play soccer at one point.

9. FIRST tweet: It wasn't really a tweet, it was an @ reply to would you guess it, Tom Felton saying "That's the good way." I don't even know. 

10. FIRST Facebook profile pic: It was this sexy photo. In my defense I was 13. 

Right guys well that was special. Put in the comments below your FIRST times! 

Best Wishes,

Kelsey Ann
DFTBA