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Break the Mold

2020-08-28 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:53 · watch on YouTube

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

Admitting he is addicted to TikTok amid the platform's turmoil, Hank says TikTokers want to be YouTubers just as early YouTubers wanted TV, but idols created their paths rather than following them; in a tumultuous 2020 the clear paths are full, so the valuable ones may be those not yet blazed.

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's TikTok habit: addiction, professional interest, and how little he uses Facebook

  • ★★ Hank says he has been spending a lot of time on TikTok because he is addicted to it. (playful) — 00:00:00 · TikTok
  • ★★ Hank says it is also true that following trends is part of his work: it feeds some of the best parts of his novels, and Complexly, SciShow and Crash Course need to understand how people get information. — 00:00:14 · Complexly, SciShow, Crash Course
  • ★ Hank says Facebook is also a big media player, yet he spends about 15 minutes a month there; his posts there are just reposted tweets. — 00:00:29 · Facebook, Twitter
  • ★★ Hank grants TikTok has problems but questions whether it is more of a security concern than Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. — 00:00:46 · TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram

00:00:58 — TikTok's troubles: security worries compared with Twitter's hack, the CEO quitting, the Microsoft and Walmart bid, a possible ban

  • ★★ Hank says about a month earlier Twitter had a hack that exposed all of its users' direct messages to hackers, which he calls about as bad as it gets. — 00:00:58 · Twitter
    • check: all of the direct messages of all of its users — doubtful
  • ★★ Hank says TikTok is in turmoil: its CEO just quit, and Microsoft and Walmart are teaming up to buy its US operations because otherwise the president might ban it. — 00:01:06 · TikTok, Donald Trump

00:01:27 — Creators: TikTokers want to be YouTubers as YouTubers wanted TV; idols made their paths; advice to young TikTokers

  • ★★ Hank says running TikTok is above his pay grade, but being a creator is not: it is what he knows most about. — 00:01:27 · TikTok
  • ★★★ Hank says almost all TikTokers would like to be YouTubers or Instagrammers, which does not surprise him; there are good reasons to want that. — 00:01:35 · TikTok, YouTube, Instagram
  • ★★ Hank recalls that when the brothers started on YouTube, all YouTubers wanted to be in TV or movies, and even very successful ones auditioned for bit parts and commercials. — 00:01:45 · YouTube

  • ★★★ Hank's lesson about dreams: we can only dream what we've seen, so we want to walk our idols' paths, forgetting that they didn't follow paths but created them. — 00:01:56

    “We can really only dream the things we've seen before.”

  • ★★ To talented, hard-working young TikTokers Hank says, first, they have no idea what they are in for and can't know, and wouldn't listen to his warning, which would probably be wrong anyway. — 00:02:10

  • ★★★ Second, Hank tells them they are in the perfect place: TikTok's tumult and fragility are the reason it exists now and can be so weird, vibrant, inspiring and surprising. — 00:02:26 · TikTok
  • ★★★ Hank advises young creators to think about other paths besides TikTok, but probably not the well-trodden ones full of people who already have lots of power. (hedged) — 00:02:41 · TikTok

00:02:55 — Beyond TikTok: unblazed paths in 2020, and Hank's own well-trod and pathless directions; sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank says that with things tumultuous and the clear paths full, there may be many useful, valuable paths not yet blazed, and that this applies to 2020, not just TikTok. (hedged) — 00:02:55 · TikTok
  • ★★ Hank says most days he walks fairly well-trod paths, likes the comfort of a known direction and is grateful for that stability at this point in his life. — 00:03:08
  • ★★★ Hank says he also needs sometimes to go where there is no clear path; he has gotten better at it, learns most there and often feels he adds most value, especially when he looks back and sees a path there now that many people find nice to walk. — 00:03:24

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says clear paths exist for good reasons and should be used, but we lose something if we never look aside for another way, especially when paths get clogged or blocked. — video description
  • ★ In a comment Hank says YouTube used to be a lot more like TikTok. — creator comment · YouTube, TikTok

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: TikTok

Also: People: Donald Trump

Projects: Complexly · Crash Course · SciShow

Organizations: Facebook · Instagram · Microsoft · Twitter · Walmart · YouTube

Concepts: role model · Uncertainty

Events: 2020 Twitter account hijacking

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