The rise of family vlogging.
Family vlogging is basically a type of video content that features the family’s daily routine and activities. Consequently, this genre of content has gained immense popularity in recent years in Pakistan. The family vloggers in Pakistan have been extremely popular, despite being consumed mainly by school-going children, on a daily basis, alongside adults. Moreover, family vlogging is slowly changing the cultural and social norms in Pakistan. Its growing influence on the minds of youth may not be directly apparent now, but it will become visible and observable soon, as its impact becomes more pronounced.
While family vlogging has turned into a sensation in Pakistan, it raises important questions about content quality, privacy, and the psychological impact on consumers. Notably, during the era of the 80s and 90s, when Pakistan had a limited approach to media platforms, media activists emphasized the freedom of media and its centralization. Furthermore, when the internet became a necessity, people were surrounded by positivist thoughts, believing that everything was just a click away and that people would educate themselves, leading to intellectual growth.
However, modern society has become terribly sick due to the injection of entertainment-driven culture and society. Indecent programs like family vlogging prevail, and their rise has been nothing short of phenomenal.
Impact on Cultural & Social Norms.
In addition, there are numerous channels like Ducky Bhai, Rajab Butt, and Sisterology, with zero knowledge content and millions of subscribers. They primarily share entertainment and expose their family’s privacy to the viewers. With the easy accessibility of social media platforms, families can now share their daily lives with millions of viewers.
Nevertheless, beyond its harmless appearance, this phenomenon has a more intricate side.
The Dark Side of Family Vlogging.
Family vloggers prioritize entertainment value over responsible content creation. Their only goal is to make money & improve their lifestyle. There is no substance, no message, and no debates over challenging social norms, yet people consume it desperately without any purpose. Consequently, people are consuming it like it’s the most important ritual. Is this really such an important thing? Is this our modern, upgraded society and our developed goals of the 21st century?The question is not about the vulgar content creation but about the consumers’ mentality behind consuming this type of content.
The Psychology of Consumption.
More than 20 million people are watching the vlogger shaving his head, as if it’s the most important thing to watch. Moreover, the consumers who are desperately consuming this type of content are not from another planet; they are among us. Specifically, people with an escape mentality are always seeking consistent psychological stimulation.
These individuals crave an endless rush of excitement, thrill, and joy to escape from their dark side, problems, and responsibilities in life.
Consequences of a Vulgar Culture.
To escape the challenges of life and existence, people with weak minds often try to find alternatives to escape their dark reality. They can’t face those challenges & therefore do the easiest thing to cheer up. Primarily, people watch this content to utilize their free time without thinking about its bad consequences. A lot of activities and hobbies are available, but what do people choose to satisfy their curiosity
This is a fact: people who can’t do anything meaningful can’t accept boredom. We are confined to experiencing the easiest things, anything available without putting in effort. There is no fun in walking, jogging, hiking, or getting hurt during play, but growth is linked to these activities.
A Reflection of Societal Values.
Most consumers of family vloggers are teenagers and women, who are severely impacted by this vlogging culture.
Vloggers promote consumer culture to its peak, showcasing buying new cars and assets, which leads to depression and dissatisfaction among young minds. People, especially children, see it as interesting and start idealizing them. As a result, their brains become confined, and they promote more vlogging culture, forgetting real activities and habits. These children are unaware of how scripted videos will affect their lives and meaningful purposes.
Family vloggers never show their dark sides; instead, they sell worthless products, consuming viewers’ time. Children have young, growing minds, and when meaningless videos get stuck in their minds, they start living in an ideal dream life, promoting vulgarity as the most crucial thing. This ultimately results in a dysfunctional society, lacking learning and substance. They became empowered, and you became the victim of desperation by wasting your time.
The Culture of Amusement
Ultimately, the phenomenon of family vlogging serves as a reflection of our society’s values and priorities. As Ernest Becker notes in his book The Denial of Death,
“What is one’s true talent, his secret gift, his authentic vocation? In what ways is he truly unique? And how can he express his uniqueness, give it form, and share it with the world in a way that transcends himself”
Some people call family vlogging entertainment, but actually, it’s not. Entertainment should not only be fun but also come with a purpose.
In modern society, truth is often determined by what the majority validates. Hence, family vloggers are becoming cultural heroes, which is the worst truth of our present society. In the search for content, we forget about pain and pleasure. Dopamine drain can lead to diminished homeostasis, and we’re not thinking about it. Once upon a time, jokers & entertainers were attention seekers, but now they are called family vloggers. They seek attention & become successful. Wasn’t it the job of those people who used to perform in the king’s court to entertain and please him? That’s the reason, basically. We seek to idealize the intellectual class, but where is it now? This lifestyle of perfection is basically a complete disaster. Even in the friends gathering, we avoid meaningful conversations about politics, history, sociology, etc., & seek to gossip about the lives of these stupid family vloggers & have fun. This is because the ability to sustain a serious scholarly argument is retandon corn; it’s out of the window; it’s not attractive anymore. This is not the fault of vloggers but yours. We’ve fallen prey to the culture of amusement. Happiness is meaningless without experiencing pain.