We are now living in the era of YouTube. Founded in 2005 and acquired by Google in 2006, YouTube has approximately 3 billion active users who collectively watch more than 1 billion hours of video daily. More than 20 billion videos have been uploaded to the platform. While most creators are individuals, news agencies and media groups, the entertainment industry also heavily utilizes YouTube to reach a wider and larger audience.
YouTube has become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Every day, we watch countless videos for entertainment, news or information. The platform features music videos, film clips and breaking news, while providing all kinds of practical information and intriguing human-interest stories. Thanks to YouTube, for example, people no longer need to read paper manuals when assembling furniture or fixing broken items. They simply watch video tutorials, which act as lifesavers that deliver them from the severe headaches of deciphering incomprehensible, small-print instructions.
Moreover, YouTube has recently begun to replace traditional newspapers and television news. Individuals who no longer trust conventional press — often because they feel it fails to report on politically sensitive issues like anti-government demonstrations — lean heavily on YouTube for alternative news and television dramas that are easily accessible
Therefore, it is only natural that YouTube has become the second most visited website on the internet, right behind Google. As a result, YouTube’s annual revenue from advertising and subscriptions has surpassed $60 billion. Individual YouTubers can also generate substantial income if they secure a large following; some reportedly make astronomical amounts of money, becoming wealthy influencers and celebrities simply by regularly uploading engaging content.
Nowadays, this diverse pool of creators includes politicians, professors, lawyers, medical doctors, pastors spreading the gospel and flight attendants offering travel tips. YouTube has evolved from a mere informationand children meet and communicate, exerting an unprecedented social and cultural impact
These days, YouTube videos have become a highly useful educational tool for children, as many of them enjoy watching and learning from them daily. Although there are some inappropriate videos for kids, there is a plethora of content that is beneficial and helpful for children and adolescents. Moreover, YouTube is especially useful and convenient for the younger generation, who are thoroughly accustomed to audiovisual media.
In South Korea, YouTube has helped create global cultural icons such as Psy, Girls’ Generation, Blackpink and BTS. In fact, without YouTube, internationally acclaimed children’s content of Korean origin, such as “Baby Shark,” “Pororo,” or “Pinkfong,” could not have achieved such monumental global success.
At the same time, however, some YouTube videos have created serious issues despite these outstanding merits. Most notably, the platform has become a powerful tool for spreading fake news, misinformation and conspiracy theories. Some political activists use their channels to circulate fabricated content for propaganda and political gain. Others intentionally disseminate disinformation to mislead viewers and subscribers, manipulating their audience by brainwashing them with dogmatic ideologies.
Another problem with YouTube is that some creators tend to use unnecessarily provocative “clickbait” titles to lure viewers and maximize profit. In the culinary and health niche, titles like “Fruits That Will Kill You,” “Never Eat Your Favorite Food with This” or “You Will Die If You Consume This Vegetable” are common examples. These titles exploit fear, enticing or even forcing health-conscious individuals to click on the video. Although the actual content may be accurate and helpful, the titles are often highly exaggerated and do not accurately correspond to the video’s substance; they are designed purely to grab attention.
Furthermore, viewers are often forced to watch these videos to the very end to find out what the titles refer to. While it should only take a few minutes to identify the harmful fruit or vegetable, the video is often stretched to 15 minutes or half an hour before delivering the answer.
Some describe YouTube as a necessary evil. Indeed, while it is undeniably convenient and useful, it can be deeply harmful if misused or abused. Ultimately, we should make the best of YouTube by utilizing it as a constructive online platform for sharing information and enjoying entertainment, rather than simply dismissing it for its negative side effects.
For this to happen, however, YouTube content must strive to remain reliable and trustworthy. Those who upload videos to YouTube should be responsible and conscientious, rather than inflammatory and sensational. We expect YouTube to be a resourceful platform for free learning, useful information and audio-visual entertainment, not an epicenter of fake news or political propaganda. We also hope that YouTube can be a versatile platform for ideology-free education. Only then can YouTube truly be a blessing to humanity.
Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. — Ed
