Youtube

Day 48: Let's talk about internet communities. I know all of you on Tumblr are familiar with the Tumblr community but what about other types of communities found on the internet? The main one I can think of ,that I have experienced, is youtube. From the outside youtube looks simple. To most people it is a place to find music videos and to watch viral videos of animals being cute. To me it is so much more then that. I know this through having had a youtube channel for over a year. I've gotten a lot of support from perfect strangers and it amazes me. There are videos that I have watched that greatly effected my life.There is one video that stands out in my mind, that I believe, may have saved my life.

It's this video from Blade376 called "You are not alone": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n44hl9J7xoM I remember watching this video and I just started crying because I related so much to what he was saying. As silly as it sounds, this video gave me hope and courage to want to get help. I posted a comment on the video explaning my situation and a very kind person messaged me a very long message trying to help. She told me about her own problems and explained how she had dealt with them and she tried to help through mine.

Through this video, a random stranger showed extreme kindness to me and it inspired me to get help. I would suggest everyone watch this video because you or someone you know will be able to gain something from it. I want to start making youtube videos again but this time with a different spin. I was doing comedic videos before but I want to start doing videos about depression, suicide, and cutting. I'm not a professional but I feel like my own personal experiences could help others. Even if I could help just one person, it would be worth it.

I remember sometime last year one youtuber hadn't made a video in a couple of weeks. He made a video explaining where he had been...he had tried to kill himself. I was in disbelief that this guy who I was used to seeing make videos every week had tried to kill himself. It was amazing how the youtube community rallied around him though. Every comment was supportive and encouraging. It's crazy the power the internet has and how communities like these form. I'm such a nerd, I would find it interesting to study how exactly communities on the internet form.

I never thought I would see love on the internet. Not romantic love but pure compassion and love for fellow man. It changed my perspective on youtube and the power it had. It wasn't just a place for music videos anymore or beauty tutorials, it was a place for people to come together for common interests. I think you have to be a part of the youtube community to understand it but it really is an amazing thing when a random person on the internet supports you through a problem. This brings me back to my original point of remodeling my youtube channel. That is my goal for the month, to start making youtube videos again. I'll post the first video I make here once it's up.