This is not a review of that video.
This is me, as usual, marveling at the human animal’s infinite distractibility by anything that makes them go ‘Ooh! Shiny!’
A sponsor for the aforementioned video, Stardust, is an app which enables the user to record their initial reaction to new media; namely movies, TV shows, and trailers for same.
My initial reaction upon discovering that this was even ‘a thing’ was incredulity. “Really? This is something we need? A platform dedicated strictly to videos of people going berserk over the season finale of [insert popular show here yourself, I don’t know what’s cool these days]? How many people a) actually want to do that, and b) feel they need a special tool to do it?!”
After a preliminary fit of spleen (with a smattering of abject, foul-mouthed disdain, because this is me we’re talking about), I took a deep breath and tried to turn my mind back and trace just how we’ve gotten to this stage as a species. That, however, just royally pissed me off because what immediately came to mind was the meteoric rise of photos of avocado toast, and I abandoned the whole line of reasoning for about a month in a fit of pique.
Now, having gotten over my tantrum, I am prepared to explore this phenomenon for what it is: yet another brick in the ‘You are here’ wall. I remember the beginnings of social media (oh, here she goes with the ‘back in my day’ spiel) when sites like MySpace were a tool to engage with your friends without actually having to leave the house. (Let’s not even discuss Geocities websites. Then? Cool. Now? The thing we don’t admit we had because it’s just too embarrassing.) Unless I’m much mistaken, it took brands and celebrities a while to work out how to effectively use those kinds of sites to successfully market their wares, so in the beginning it was mostly just people doing people things.
What those ‘people things’ entail has changed drastically in the last fifteen years. We’re all connected to everything these days, up to and including photos of each other’s cats, breakfast casserole recipes, and workout suggestions. We take and share photos, we spout our opinions, we share funny things, sad things, fundraising things, and mundane things, so it stands to reason that methods for sharing niche interests would begin to crop up like toadstools after an all-night deluge, and that, friends, is how we ended up with Stardust.
The Stardust website states: “Stardust aims to foster a community for Movie & TV fanatics to connect and share their opinions about the entertainment they love.” Well, that’s not too offensive, is it? On the surface, it’s just another techie tool to connect people who like the same things. I’m not opposed to that. But here, in my humble opinion, is where Stardust starts to get a bit too big for its britches: “As one of the fastest growing platforms for video-content creators, Stardust is here to help you rise atop the global movie & TV community.”
Rise atop the global movie & TV community? That might be a little far-fetched. Engage with fellow movie and TV buffs? Yes. Create new and interesting content about your favorite new films and shows? Yeah, maybe. But skyrocket to fame as the result of a thirty second video of you squeeing over the newest Pixar film?
I think not.
Obviously there are people who have taken advantage of a particular platform or platforms and created a following for themselves, but it wasn’t immediate. It took work, and that work didn’t stop when they achieved a certain level of success. Realistically, even if you were to generate enough interest to develop a covey of devotees through the Stardust platform, the likelihood of you being more than a flash in the pan is pretty slim. In this day and age of instant everything, everyone can do exactly what you’re doing. You’d have to be pretty damned persistent to keep everyone’s attention, and tirelessly creative, to boot.
Moral: For my young impressionables, sit down and have a ‘Come to Jesus’ with yourself before you embark upon any kind of internet or app-based crusade in search of recognition. For the rest of you, it’s okay, you know how to deal with your own shit and you don’t need me telling you anything. Go, you!
If you haven’t noticed, when there’s a parade around I generally rain on it.
“Wait, wait, wait — what exactly are you doing, Miss I-Have-A-Blog?”
I began this endeavor with no delusions of… well, much of anything, really. I just needed to write, and I figured if I was going to do that I might as well let people read what I was turning out, and now here we are. I’ve done the math. As of last week, I was averaging 39.6 hits per post. I’m honestly amazed I made it into double digits. Would I like to reach more people? Sure! But that’s not really the point. The point is that I’m very busy happily doing my thing, and apparently there are people who want to come along for the ride. If they make suggestions or requests, I’ll do my best to accommodate, because if they’re kind enough to take the time to read, they deserve my attention.
I’ll leave you with this thought:
“If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.” -Katharine Hepburn
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