If you’ve ever scrolled through Facebook or YouTube, you’ve likely stumbled upon 5-Minute Crafts. With over 61 Million Facebook likes and 63 Million YouTube subscribers, the page cranks out pure bullshit disguised as useful "hacks" at a breakneck pace.
I watched one of their videos at random, titled “20 EVERYDAY HACKS THAT MAKE LIFE EASIER.” Sounds exciting, right? Until, 17 seconds into the video, the first “everyday hack” turns out to be putting a pair of underwear in a plastic easter egg then hanging it on a Christmas tree…
Astonishingly, it doesn’t get any better from there. Some of that video’s highlights included using a screwdriver to draw a circle, putting dyed-red pancake mix into a ketchup bottle, and using a zip-tie dipped in soap to blow bubbles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdZpDrdIEU0&t=8s
The internet, despite its treasure trove of useful information, has conversely paved the way for mass dissemination of lies and bullshit such as 5-Minute Crafts. According to Harry Frankfurt, “the essence of bullshit… is just this lack of connection to a concern with truth — this indifference to how things are.” His paper On Truth, Lies, and Bullshit philosophically discusses the differences between lies and bullshit and their consequences. While bullshit is generally not outright false, it portrays a lack of interest with the truth-values of statements. A lack of concern is precisely what makes 5-Minute Crafts videos so inept. I classify their content as bullshit primarily because of their deceptive video titles and thumbnails, and their inability to produce new content; many of their videos are simply a recycled conglomeration of “hacks” from past videos twisted to fit a new title. Furthermore, the “hacks” displayed on their video thumbnails sometimes never even appear in the video. This misrepresentation of content is what makes 5-Minute Crafts bullshit; its creators are unconcerned with the truth or falsehood of their advertised titles and content.
Eli Saslow discusses a similar situation in “‘Nothing on this page is real’: How lies become truth in online America.” Although 5-Minute Crafts is not disseminating pure lies like America’s Last Line of Defense, its bullshit is similarly detrimental to users’ trust and perception of reality. Both lies and bullshit congest social media and inhibit a productive online environment. As these issues become more salient, social media consumers will have to be increasingly conscientious of what they choose to believe.
This is a really good example of bullshit based on Frankfort's definition. I am interested to know what you think are the consequences of this bullshit. You mention in the last paragraph that they are "detrimental to users' trust and perception of reality," how do you think they do this? This is somethingyou could expand upon if you were to revise this blog!
ReplyDeleteI, myself, have fallen victim to these videos multiple times. So I ask myself, as I ask you, if I know that these videos are outright bullshit, why do I (and millions of others) continue to watch them? If we know they’re disappointing, and the thumbnails misrepresent the actual content, why can’t we stop ourselves from clicking? I like how you categorized these videos as bullshit, under the Frankfurt definition, and I definitely think this applies to many more YouTube channels that aim to lure in every possible view (especially Youtube channels targeted towards kids). Great article!
ReplyDeleteUsing 5-minute crafts as an example of bullshit was very interesting and intriguing. I appreciate the insight I received from this about bullshit and its relation to something that I wouldn't have thought of. You did a great job in describing the bullshit and the videos and connecting it to the definition mentioned in the Frankfort reading. Even though I really enjoyed the article, if I were to suggest something, it would be that maybe you could centralize the argument of the post even more towards the concepts mentioned in the reading. Maybe mention the definitions of bullshit earlier in the post and build on it with how bullshit is present in these 5-minute craft videos.
ReplyDeleteOverall I really enjoyed reading your blog on "Five Minute Craft" videos. You did a good job relating your post to Frankfurt's discussions of bullshit, particularly when discussing the ineptitude of these videos. However, I would argue though that you should cut out your discussion of Eli Saslow's article and instead focus solely on Frankfurt's text. It feels to me like your writing on Saslow was shoehorned in at the end and not given proper attention. I therefore think instead taking more time to discuss Frankfurt would be beneficial.
ReplyDelete