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From the Main Stage of VidCon!

2015-07-24 · letter vlog · Hank, John · 3:22 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Nerdfighteria) · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: on location, guest or collab, self promotion, timely hook

On the VidCon 2015 main stage, Hank and John mark eight years of vlogging, recall the first VidCon in 2010 and the creators who were there, and say online video has moved power from giant corporations to the people who watch and make content.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Crowd greeting on the VidCon main stage; Hank teases John about his dirty lens

00:00:15 — Eight years of vlogbrothers: most of YouTube's history; eight-year-olds in the crowd

  • ★★ Hank says they are on the main stage of VidCon 2015. — 00:00:15 · VidCon
  • ★★ Hank is surprised the brothers have only been doing this for eight years. — 00:00:18 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★ John says eight years is a lot of time by some measures, most of YouTube's ten-year history, but also short, only two presidential terms. — 00:00:21 · YouTube
  • ★★ John notes there are people at VidCon younger than the first vlogbrothers video, which makes him aware of how old he is. — 00:00:48 · VidCon, Vlogbrothers

00:00:58 — Cultural institutions from online video: Gangnam Style, Justin Bieber, the double rainbow guy, the Ice Bucket Challenge with Bill Gates

  • ★★ John lists important cultural institutions that came out of online video in eight years: Gangnam Style, Justin Bieber, the double rainbow guy and the Ice Bucket Challenge featuring Bill Gates. (playful) — 00:00:58
  • ★ John guesses Bill Gates is in Tanzania doing something about poverty; they love him and wish he were there. (playful, hedged) — 00:01:13

00:01:26 — The first VidCon in 2010 and its creators since; Smosh, Kian and Paper Towns movies; John's anxiety

  • ★★★ Hank says they started VidCon in 2010 in the basement of a hotel in Century City, Los Angeles, and it is somewhat bigger now. — 00:01:26 · VidCon, Los Angeles
  • ★★ John: Showing the first VidCon, John names Tyler Oakley, Rhett and Link, Dave Days, Shay Carl and iJustine; many are still at VidCon, their lives changed, and Smosh went on to make movies. — 00:01:38 · VidCon
  • ★★ Hank says Smosh and Kian each have a movie out this week (week of 20 July 2015). — 00:01:49
  • ★★ John: Asked about his own movie coming out this week (week of 20 July 2015), John confirms it and tells the audience to go see Paper Towns. — 00:01:56 · Paper Towns (film)
  • ★★ John is incredibly anxious and feels maybe VidCon and the movie shouldn't have been scheduled on the same day. (hedged) — 00:01:58 · VidCon, Paper Towns (film)

00:02:08 — Online video took power from giant corporations; Hank's pride in VidCon and the cultural shift

  • ★★ John says that when they started VidCon in 2010 they knew YouTube was a big deal but had no idea how big it would become. — 00:02:08 · YouTube, VidCon
  • ★★★ Hank says they did not know they were taking power away from the giant corporations that made content, and neither did the corporations, who have now realized it and come to VidCon. — 00:02:15 · VidCon
  • ★★ John thanks the giant corporations for making everything fancy and asks them to stay on YouTube but be cool about it. (playful) — 00:02:27 · YouTube
  • ★★★ Hank is proud of VidCon but mostly proud to be part of the cultural explosion that put power in the hands of the people who watch and make content. — 00:02:42 · VidCon

00:03:00 — John thanks viewers and fumbles the sign-off in Hank's video

  • ★★ John thanks viewers 'inside of the camera' for paying attention and for being part of these communities. — 00:03:00

Humor (significant)

  • Hank tells John it is possible to clean his lens — 00:00:11

    “that's just not part of my aesthetic”

  • Hank says a baby in eight years only becomes an eight-year-old — 00:00:35

    “And an eight year old is basically just like a big baby.”

  • John interrupts the Bill Gates tribute to answer Hank's lens jab — 00:01:21

    “your glasses are so dirty that you have no right to make fun of my lens”

  • In Hank's video John takes over the sign-off, then says Hank's own line back to himself — 00:03:13

    “And John, I will see you on Friday.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: VidCon

Also: People: Bill Gates · Dave Days · iJustine · Justin Bieber · Kian Lawley · Paul Vasquez · Shay Carl · Tyler Oakley

Works: Gangnam Style · Paper Towns (film)

Organizations: YouTube

Groups: Rhett and Link · Smosh

Concepts: participatory culture

Places: Century City · Los Angeles · Tanzania

Events: Ice Bucket Challenge

← Previous: PAPER TOWNS IS HERE AND JOHN IS A BALL OF ANXIETY · Next → Paper Towns, Agloe, and Touring: Thoughts from (Many) Places