"Have you seen this old guy on YouTube?" my son asked me today.
"You mean the guy from Great Britain?"
"Yeah."
"I haven't yet. But AOL even mentioned him on their log-in page the other day."
What is it about the commentary of Geriatric 1927 that has YouTube viewers, AOL, my son, and others so intrigued?
Well, first of all, there's the sheer uniqueness of it. Cyberspace is often thought to be the exclusive purview of the young. The average blogger, for example, is a fourteen year old girl. (That's according to Hugh Hewitt.) And many of the videos presented on YouTube are made by or appeal to a younger audience.
But there's probably another reason that Geriatic 1927 is getting such attention from the younger demographic who log onto YouTube: In our mobile Western society, young people don't, as a rule, spend a lot of time with septuagenarians. Members of families whose parents have moved far away from their families of origin, grandparents are people that their kids see at Thanksgiving and Christmas, maybe. Because of this, it's been my experience that young people are highly interested in talking with and hearing about the experiences and opinions of the elderly. Geriatric 1927 scratches that itch, with his reminiscences about his life.
Interestingly, Geriatic expresses appreciation for youth culture, as he's seen it on YouTube. This sort of respectful treatment of their cultural expressions may not be something young people have been given by their Baby Boomer parents, teachers, or bosses. That too, must explain some of this elderly vlogger's appeal.
As to the substance of Geriatric's on-screen comments, I've only viewed four of his vlogs and so can't draw generalizations. But his stated initial purpose was to complain about news items he finds annoying. In that, he has a lot in common with the legions of bloggers and vloggers who are taking advantage of today's cyber-technology.
See here to look at some of Geriatric 1927's vlog posts. Here's his first video (there are now 12 of them):
2 comments:
I'm one of his fans, although I am in my sixties. (He's the kind of guy I want to be when I grow up.) In yesterday's video, Part Eight, he addressed that very question.
Two videos ago he told how in his fifties he had decided to study art and did so by going to the local school. He approached the art teacher expecting to be referred to some more appropriate venue for an older person, but instead was put right into a class of youngsters. Apparently he studied art that way, auditing classes with kids, for five years!
Yesterday he reflected on whether that might have had some positive effect on the youngsters -- having an adult in their midst doing the same thing they were doing. He compared his current YouTube participation to that experience and wondered aloud if he might in some way be repeating the same experience. He is very enthusiastic about You Tube and the younger people who seem to be taking over the internet. He has nothing but excitement being able to participate.
I'm hooked. Like someone watching the afternoon soaps, I can't wait to see what will happen next.
Hoots:
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts. Please feel free to return.
Blessings in Christ,
Mark
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