#anyway I don't feel like this is very well articulated I haven't had my coffee yet. so no more rbs

[baravaggio]

I have talked about this before but I think what a lot of people are struggling to understand about video-essay-deep-dive-analysis content is that its ubiquity has to do with it being one of the easiest ways to deliver the perception of value to an audience...people who like this stuff want to be entertained, they want to be talked to about things they like or are interested in, they want to be made to feel like they're gaining new insight, benefiting from someone else's wisdom, acquiring the tools to articulate their thoughts on a topic in a more sophisticated way. On Tiktok, consumers of this content want to be able to experience all this in the couple minutes it takes them to use the bathroom lmfao. From a creator POV, making analysis content is an efficient way to position yourself as an entertainer, an authority, a teacher, someone who is delivering clear value for the follow or subscription.

Unfortunately the hell of personal branding that we live in isn't conducive to deep analysis, which is why we get so many shallow "deep dives" where people skim the surface of a topic and avoid articulating a thesis or coming to a conclusion (or my favorite, people giving a thousand disclaimers before articulating the most middle of the road, milquetoast take in an effort to avoid criticism). Brands aren't typically praised for being dynamic and messy and tinkering with the product/service you know and like them for, they're praised for their consistency, convenience, and inoffensiveness. I think a lot of creators, even if they're just doing Tiktok more casually, implicitly pick up on this and avoid engaging with ideas in ways that are going to be less palatable or shake people's image of them too much.

Tbh my annoyance with seeing people express that Substack is their backup option has more to do with the fact that I think a lot of these people would benefit intellectually from exploring ways to engage with ideas and criticism that isn't a) bound by the constraints of what people want video essay/analysis/deep dive content to be and b) internet-facing and shackled to the concept of personal brand lol. I really don't like the criticism of "these people are too stupid to structure an essay" that gets bandied about because I really don't think most of these people are stupid, I think they've internalized the social media value proposition and are clumsily trying to assert their worth within that framework just like anyone else lol. But not everyone needs to be - or is best served - by doing analysis. Like, make some art, write a poem, go on a hike about it, even if no one but you is watching or gives a shit about what the output of that process is...in trying to optimize the value and marketability of everything you think, you're putting a lot of constraints on your own thought process, I just don't think it's a helpful thing to do in a personal growth/self esteem sense 😓

It's been kind of nuts seeing how many Tiktok ""cultural commentators"" are saying they plan on moving to Substack if Tiktok is banned...there are definitely some people on there who have genuinely interesting things to say and who I think have the versatility to make that jump, but I think a lot of these "creators" have not yet grasped that the reason they have a following is the medium, not the message

[zannolin]

Hey I'm not gonna be able to word all of this properly but I just finished parts 1 and 2 of boys in bars and... my god. I truly don't have the words to express how much it got to me. I'm just lying here in bed, staring at the ceiling with tears running down my face. The longing, the grief, that hungry empty feeling in the gut that I've known for so long, you capture all of it here so well. ESPECIALLY with Mike's POV. I usually lean more towards identifying with Will most of the time, but GOD I relate to Mike in this. The part about realising you're only ever writing the same story, but you can't stop bc you want to write the good parts of it again? Holy shit.

I have no idea if any of this is gonna make sense but like, this was one of those rare pieces of art that give voice to something you can never describe directly, never explain exactly what it is, but still capture it so perfectly. Like anything I try to articulate about how it makes me feel is gonna break the spell and it won't BE what it is. Sorry I know that sounds weird. But stories like this are why I love stories so much. Thank you for sharing it, you're an incredibly skilled writer, I can't wait to read part 3. I hope it kills me.

it doesn't sound weird at all! this is so sweet oh my god you're going to make me cry and i haven't even had my coffee yet. i'm really glad it's resonating with people because the entire reason i ended up here and like this dynamic so much is i've lived through more than one incredibly dear friend moving away and then the loss of contact that follows, and it's rough, and every time i see those memories reflected in stranger things it's like a kick to the chest. i guess you could say boys in bars is me writing my own story over and over but giving it a different ending, lol.

and i can't even tell you how happy it makes me to know people like my mike pov because he's been a favorite character of mine since i was a teen. i've been a mike fan since the very very start and i've always kind of thought about writing fic about him but never did and to know i've finally done it and people liked it? massive. very dear to my heart.

anyway. thank you for this ask and thank you for reading !! i'm really looking forward to getting part three done because people like you who are so kind and excited about it <3