So Much to See

2020-07-17 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:58 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Personal essay · tags: community lore

Drawing on his time on TikTok and McLuhan's 'the medium is the message', Hank argues that platforms and algorithms shape what content gets made and for whom; TikTok's lowered constraints bring us closer to a world of functionally infinite content, which fractures shared touchstones but opens access to people who never had it.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Hank as an understander of media: stories and ideas moving through people are what humanity is

★★ Hank fancies himself an understander of media, which matters because the stories and ideas that move through people are what humanity is. — 00:00:00

00:00:31 — Engaging with TikTok (but don't download it for him); functionally infinite content; the medium is the message, now the platform and the algorithm

★★ When there is a new way stories spread, Hank feels almost obliged to engage with it, and he has been doing so with TikTok. — 00:00:31 · TikTok
★★★ Hank tells viewers not to download TikTok just to follow him: it is addictive and gathers a huge amount of data, which could be misused or compromised in the future. — 00:00:31 · TikTok
★★★ Hank's theory: we now live in a world of functionally infinite content, though not all content that should be made is made, nor all audiences served. — 00:00:31
★★★ The platforms through which we consume content heavily affect what kind of content gets created. — 00:01:11
★★★ Hank cites Marshall McLuhan's 'the medium is the message': how content is distributed and discovered shapes it so profoundly that the medium is kind of the content. — 00:01:11

“the medium is the message”
★★ American television needed 22-minute pieces of content to fit eight minutes of ads every half hour, and the sitcom defined itself around that constraint. — 00:01:11
★★★ Today the medium is no longer television or radio but the platform, the algorithm, which deeply controls what content gets made and for whom. — 00:01:11 · recommender system

00:01:59 — Legacy-media gatekeepers and advertisers as constraints; TikTok lowers the constraints on creation and discovery; Quibi

★★ In legacy media a few humans decide what gets made; there is less of that now, but advertisers still pay more for some audiences than others. — 00:01:59
★★★ Hank concedes his touchstone idea of infinite content isn't really true: constraints remain, and they differ by medium, creator and audience. — 00:01:59
★★★ Yet on TikTok Hank has never felt closer to the infinite content world, because the constraints on creation and on discovery have been lowered. — 00:02:28 · TikTok
★★ Hank says the story of quarantine has been TikTok taking off (he shouts "KOWW!") while Quibi, billions of dollars trying to work with the most talented creators, went "blehh". — 00:02:28 · TikTok

00:02:57 — Renaissance Florence and Missoula: talent versus access; fracturing versus access; deep societal implications

★★★ When Machiavelli, Da Vinci and Michelangelo were all working, Renaissance Florence had about as many people as Missoula, Montana. — 00:02:57 · Missoula, Montana
★★★ One of Hank's anchors: it is not a lack of talent that holds us back, it is a lack of access. — 00:02:57

“It is not a lack of talent that holds us back. It is a lack of access.”
★★★ TikTok isn't the Renaissance, but its creativity is astounding; Hank feels he could never find all the good stuff, as with television and books. — 00:02:57 · TikTok
★★★ Abundance fractures society, leaving fewer shared touchstones, but gives people who had no access to such careers or to any influence some access. — 00:03:27
★★★ The offhand observation that one can't consume all the good content anymore has deep societal implications worth examining. — 00:03:27

Threads in this video

variation · Vlogbrothers videos titled with Smash Mouth's All Star lyrics (2020) — The title So Much to See continues the All Star lyric titles.
restate · Is the internet, including social media, good for people? — Abundance fractures society, leaving fewer shared touchstones, but gives people who had no access to such careers or to any influence some access. (00:03:27)
restate · Is online video a new kind of medium, or old entertainment delivered a new way? — Today the medium is no longer television or radio but the platform, the algorithm, which deeply controls what content gets made and for whom. (00:01:11)
restate · Is ad-supported media good for audiences and society? — In legacy media a few humans decide what gets made; there is less of that now, but advertisers still pay more for some audiences than others. (00:01:59)
came true · Hank: people won't follow celebrities to Quibi (2020) — Hank says that during quarantine Quibi, despite billions of dollars spent on the most talented creators, flopped ("blehh") while TikTok took off. (00:02:28)
told · Hank joins TikTok and posts several TikToks a day (2020) — When there is a new way stories spread, Hank feels almost obliged to engage with it, and he has been doing so with TikTok. (00:00:31)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Hank: people won't follow celebrities to Quibi (2020) — came true
Hank joins TikTok and posts several TikToks a day (2020) — told 5×, last update 2026

Mentioned

Central: The medium is the message · TikTok

Also: People: Leonardo da Vinci · Michelangelo · Niccolò Machiavelli

Organizations: Quibi

Concepts: advertising · data breach · internet addiction disorder · legacy media · recommender system · sitcom · television

Places: Florence · Missoula, Montana

Events: Renaissance

Only in the description or credits: All Star · Marshall McLuhan

← Previous: The ice we skate is getting pretty thin. · Next → Somebody Once Asked . . .