You Tube : Hero or villain in online discussion boards?

Hi...

Although I am a new member of ATS, I have lurked in cyberspace for a while coming in and out of these discussion boards.

Firstly thank you ATS members, I am astonished at the spectrum of members here and their knowledge in certain fields. I am humbled by the time and dedication shown by members following real current events, such as over in Japan. The members logging up to the minute news items, backed up with quotes and research to validate their information.

But... and it is a Huge one. I find it very disturbing at the apparent negative content here on some of the discussion boards. Those of a weaker constitution could read the various harbingers of doom and go out and take a very nasty pill. People seem to be losing their sense of reality being dragged into believing this wonderful earth and our very existence on it is going to come to some nasty end. For example: clouds being passed as deadly con/chemtrails, aliens taking over the world on an hourly basis, doomsday scenarios giving us the end is nigh in the next 24 hours - whether it be global melt down, imminent geological catastrophes such as pole shift, earthquake, nuclear meltdown. We are told Gods, demons and aliens are all around us spreading the word of imminent doom. All backed up by innocuous you tube clips as if they vindicate the theory.

This leads me to my topic.... where do we draw the line in modern online media, fed by the likes of You Tube? Is it entertainment, education or just dangerous to those of us that seem unable to filter fiction from reality?

This very media is soaked into the psyche of the online population and used as tools of validation of their opinions. The truth, real life truth can have absolutely no resemblance of this and therefore be conveniently branded as cover-up and conspiracy. This very media is drastically altering our veiw of our life and world around us. From seeing the magic in every day we replace it with suspicion and fear. Does the wonderful ability to upload data and videos that reveal real life hidden issues to the world have to come at a price?

So may I ask the question. Do you feel You Tube is a hero or a villain ?

Originally posted by cabinda
So may I ask the question. Do you feel You Tube is a hero or a villain ?

Neither.
In my opinion its like the proverbial hammer - being a tool that can be used for any number of purposes.
There are great education youtube videos and there are ones that are complete nonsense.

What is perhaps more important in ATS is...
* Many members seem to be totally gullible. The number of times I've seen someone start a thread with "OMG check out this youtube video!1!!!" when the information has been shown to be garbage a thousand times over already. Shows that they so completely believe it at face value that they didnt think to even do a google search about its content.

reply to post by alfa1




I know.... I have been really shocked by the content here. In not going into detail therefore not offending any members. i read their posts and wonder if they should be allowed near a keyboard!!

Youtube is just a tool for sharing your videos online.. nothing more

its for everybody, therefor you will be able to find a diverse selection of videos.. Lets just be glad to have a place to share information,

its up to one self to sort the BS from the Truth, just like in RL