It's literally entertainment; you're being entertained by it. That doesn't mean it isn't teaching you or otherwise improving the world, but it's broadly in the class of entertainment.
I suppose I'd still classify it as entertainment even if you paid for YouTube premium.
Re:The coming tsunami of fakery
by selfhoster11 on Thursday August 25, 2022 @08:24PM
(#32601817)
If we declare anything enjoyable to be “entertainment”, then wouldn’t household chores that happen to relax you or bring you joy also be classified as entertainment? Cooking does often feel pleasant, but I don’t think most people would call it entertainment.
If we call all content that we enjoy watching “entertainment”, then IMO the word loses the meaning a little.
Those are often referred to as pastimes or hobbies — and I think the “entertainmentification” of all (lacking a word let’s say content) has been a major issue in the recent decades.
It’s becoming hard to even find a youtube video that doesn’t have “like and subscribe” somewhere in it, even if it’s not otherwise sponsored.
Re:The coming tsunami of fakery
by selfhoster11 on Saturday August 27, 2022 @06:38PM
(#32623964)
Asking to like and subscribe is a standard YouTuber behaviour because they presumably get a cut from the ads that YouTube runs on their channel. Or even if the channel is run entirely not for profit, liking and subscribing increases the chance that new users will see the content in their suggested videos thanks to an algorithmic boost.
At least 95% of what I watch on Youtube is educational or technical. It's self-teaching material, math, science, that sort of thing. Most people would find it dry but I enjoy it.
Still, I wouldn't call it entertainment.
I assure you it has just as many ads: pre-roll ads, clickable ads below the fold, interstitial ads, and "a word from our sponsor" ads as everything else on YouTube.