I have found YouTube’s algorithm to be surprisingly aligned with my interests lately, and prone to making me discover new channels and content, which had not happened for a considerable period of time. I am not sure if Google has made any major changes to their recommendation system recently; in any case, I think it is great creators with few subscribers are able to be highlighted that way.

More particularly, there is a kind of video that started appearing in my recommendations that sparked my interest: videos where the person records simple moments of their daily life. I guess one could call them “vlogs,” but to me they seem slightly different from the kind of vlogs which have become trendy over the last few years. I feel like this new type of vlog seeks to bring more spontaneous moments to the table; focuses on simplicity and minimalist aesthetics; and just aims at sharing fun or interesting moments with their audience without much talk, simply letting the footage speak for itself. I am inclined to believe that this is that last central point which truly divorces the two video concepts.

I think Sophia Dinucci’s last video is a great example of what I have just described:

I am particularly fond of the retro footage style, and I feel like this is why this kind of video gives so much of a 2000s-2010s YouTube vibe. People at the time were uploading to YouTube and other video platforms without worrying how many views or likes their video would get, or even if the footage was considered “good enough” to be online. Dinucci’s video perfectly reflects that, with somewhat shaking shooting, abrupt transitions, heavy zooming, all of these shaping an amateur, nostalgia-filled cinematic universe one forcefully wants to dive into — hoping to associate some of these images to some long-distant memory and, for a couple of minutes, just think about what life has given and taken from one through the course of one’s existence.

Chances are this is not a coincidence that I am writing this on the eve of my twenty-fourth birthday. While I generally feel comfortable in my life at the current time after many years during which I was not — even though there are still numerous things I want to improve on and many plans for the future I wish to carry out — there inevitably are times when one comes to question oneself about what could have been different in one’s life if one had or had not done such a thing; or if such or such path had been taken. Connections that have been lost — for the better or the worst. Regrets; things that could have been done differently. And surprisingly this kind of video helps me find soothing peace in such moments of questioning; knowing that other people are also living a life of their own, asking themselves the same questions and reflecting on their decisions as well, inevitably helps making one feels less alone in such a situation.

I believe it is important for anyone on the Internet to be able to post personal content in the form of writing, audio or video: I have learnt so much reading or listening to other people, and it is incredible how much a few words from someone you do not know can have an impact on your life. And similarly, writing yourself can be a great way of self-reflecting and opining upon different topics — which is also why one of my aims this year is to try to post content on this blog more often, regardless of the topic. Just share it.