{"id":20935,"date":"2025-11-21T17:37:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/the-guide-218-for-gen-zers-like-me-youtube-isnt-an-app-or-a-website-its-the-backdrop-to-our-waking-lives\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T17:37:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T16:37:14","slug":"the-guide-218-for-gen-zers-like-me-youtube-isnt-an-app-or-a-website-its-the-backdrop-to-our-waking-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/21\/the-guide-218-for-gen-zers-like-me-youtube-isnt-an-app-or-a-website-its-the-backdrop-to-our-waking-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"The Guide #218: For gen Zers like me, YouTube isn\u2019t an app or a website \u2013 it\u2019s the backdrop to our waking lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this week\u2019s newsletter: When the video-sharing site launched in 2005, there were fears it would replace terrestrial television. It didn\u2019t just replace it \u2013 it invented entirely new forms of content. ASMR, anyone?<\/p>\n

\u2022 <\/strong>Don\u2019t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Barely a month goes by without more news<\/a> of streaming sites overtaking traditional, terrestrial TV. Predominant among those sits YouTube, with more than 2.5 billion monthly viewers<\/a>. For people my age \u2013 a sprightly 28 \u2013 and younger, YouTube is less of an app or website than our answer to radio: the ever-present background hum of modern life. While my mum might leave Radio 4 wittering or BBC News flickering in the corner as she potters about the house, I\u2019ve got a video essay about Japan\u2019s unique approach to urban planning playing on my phone. That\u2019s not to say I never watch more traditional TV (although 99% of the time I\u2019m accessing it through some other kind of subscription streaming app), but when I get home after a long day and the thought of ploughing through another hour of grim prestige fare feels too demanding, I\u2019m probably watching YouTube. Which means it\u2019s very unlikely that I\u2019m watching the same thing as you.<\/p>\n

When Google paid $1.65bn for the platform in 2006<\/a>, (just 18 months after it launched) the price seemed astronomical. Critics questioned whether that valuation could be justified for any video platform. The logic was simple \u2013 unless YouTube could replace television, it would never be worth it. Nearly two decades on, that framing undersells what actually happened. YouTube didn\u2019t just replace television \u2013 it invented entirely new forms of content: vodcasts, vlogs, video essays, reaction videos, ASMR and its heinous cousin mukbang<\/a>. The platform absorbed new trends and formats at lightning speed, building what became an alternative \u201conline mainstream\u201d. Before podcasters, TikTokers, Substackers and even influencers, there were YouTubers.<\/p>\n

Continue reading…<\/a>
\nIn this week\u2019s newsletter: When the video-sharing site launched in 2005, there were fears it would replace terrestrial television. It didn\u2019t just replace it \u2013 it invented entirely new forms of content. ASMR, anyone?
\n\u2022 Don\u2019t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here
\nBarely a month goes by without more news of streaming sites overtaking traditional, terrestrial TV. Predominant among those sits YouTube, with more than 2.5 billion monthly viewers. For people my age \u2013 a sprightly 28 \u2013 and younger, YouTube is less of an app or website than our answer to radio: the ever-present background hum of modern life. While my mum might leave Radio 4 wittering or BBC News flickering in the corner as she potters about the house, I\u2019ve got a video essay about Japan\u2019s unique approach to urban planning playing on my phone. That\u2019s not to say I never watch more traditional TV (although 99% of the time I\u2019m accessing it through some other kind of subscription streaming app), but when I get home after a long day and the thought of ploughing through another hour of grim prestige fare feels too demanding, I\u2019m probably watching YouTube. Which means it\u2019s very unlikely that I\u2019m watching the same thing as you.
\nWhen Google paid $1.65bn for the platform in 2006, (just 18 months after it launched) the price seemed astronomical. Critics questioned whether that valuation could be justified for any video platform. The logic was simple \u2013 unless YouTube could replace television, it would never be worth it. Nearly two decades on, that framing undersells what actually happened. YouTube didn\u2019t just replace television \u2013 it invented entirely new forms of content: vodcasts, vlogs, video essays, reaction videos, ASMR and its heinous cousin mukbang. The platform absorbed new trends and formats at lightning speed, building what became an alternative \u201conline mainstream\u201d. Before podcasters, TikTokers, Substackers and even influencers, there were YouTubers. Continue reading…Technology | The Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this week\u2019s newsletter: When the video-sharing site launched in 2005, there were fears it would replace terrestrial television. It didn\u2019t just replace it \u2013 it invented entirely new forms of content. ASMR, anyone? \u2022 Don\u2019t get The Guide delivered to your inbox? Sign up here Barely a month goes by without more news of …<\/p>\n

The Guide #218: For gen Zers like me, YouTube isn\u2019t an app or a website \u2013 it\u2019s the backdrop to our waking lives<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":20936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20935"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/costops.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}