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Fun is Important. Being Serious Isn't

2010-04-14 · letter vlog · Hank · 2:26 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Personal life) · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook

On a hike, Hank argues that YouTube and new media are important but that important does not mean serious: fun is among the most important things, and he hopes the community keeps 'important fun' rather than becoming serious business.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Good morning John: out for a hike with Katherine and Lemon; hike vs walk; two points to make

  • ★ Hank is out on an uphill hike with Katherine and Lemon, hunting wildflowers and a geocache; he can't find the cache at first, but they find its logbook at the end. — 00:00:01 · Katherine Green

00:00:16 — Hunting wildflowers and a geocache; geocaching explained and likened to YouTube; he can't find the cache

  • ★★ Hank says geocaching reminds him of YouTube: lots of cool people coming together to do fun things, sometimes spoiled by a troll. — 00:00:21 · YouTube
  • ★ Hank explains geocaching: people hide things and leave the GPS coordinates; others find the cache, swap items and sign the logbook. — 00:00:31

00:00:44 — YouTube is important, but lots of things are; important doesn't equal serious; fun is important; lucky to be in new media; 'important fun'

  • ★★★ Hank says YouTube is important, interesting and fascinating on many levels, but lots of things are important, so calling what you do important is not unusual. — 00:00:44 · YouTube
  • ★★★ Hank's second point: important does not equal serious. — 00:01:04
  • ★★ Hank thinks fun is about the most important thing there is, after trying to make the world better, and gets angry when people make things about being serious. (hedged) — 00:01:09
  • ★ Hank playfully declares that fun, Stephenie Meyer, Austin Powers and Weird Al Yankovic are important, and he doesn't care who hears him say it. (playful) — 00:01:20
  • ★★★ Hank tells John and Nerdfighters they are lucky to be in new media, where things needn't be taken so seriously; he least wants it to become serious business and lose the fun. (hedged) — 00:01:28 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ Hank says he feels lucky that he can go outside on a beautiful day and share his thoughts with so many interesting and thoughtful people. — 00:01:47 · Nerdfighteria

  • ★★★ Hank hopes they can distinguish important from serious: serious has never been on the agenda for him; what is on the agenda is 'important fun'. (hedged) — 00:01:54

    “What's on the agenda is important fun.”

00:02:05 — Sign-off; they find the geocache logbook

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says the video partly responds to the 'debacle' of the Streamy Awards, whose organizers Hank thinks assumed important online video had to be serious, prompting a rightful rebellion. (hedged) — video description

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: YouTube

Also: Austin Powers · geocaching · Katherine Green · Lemon · Stephenie Meyer · Weird Al Yankovic

Only in the description or credits: Streamy Awards

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