Posted by It’s one of my favorite past-times and guilty pleasures.
After all of the work is done and the house is quiet, instead of sitting back and letting the television waft over me, I go and get lost on YouTube. I usually start with some cheesy hair metal bands from the eighties, but it quickly devolves into this amazing world of acoustic music discovery that traipses across genres and generations. It takes me back, it pushes me forward and it moves me into directions I could have never imagined possible back when I was much younger and much more interested in music.
Long live serendipity.
Many people feel that the Internet kills serendipity simply because we’re only consuming or connecting to content that we’re looking for. I think YouTube has done an amazing job of changing that with their related videos. It inspires more discovery and over the past couple of years, YouTube has been the number one reason that I have been purchasing music… and a lot of it. Better than that, it has helped me discover and support musicians I would have otherwise never been exposed to. People like Mike Masse who plays his acoustic guitar at the Pie Pizzeria in South Jordan, Utah…
I am not alone.
Mike’s videos have over five million combined views. He launched a Kickstarter project (Mike Massé will record his first original CD!) and raised over $10,000 for his music project. This isn’t a Blog post about YouTube or the viability of a career in music. This is a Blog post about just how much (and how dramatic) our world has changed in a few short years. It affects everything from culture and creativity to business and technology. It’s simply amazing to think about how much this interconnectivity and access to content is making our lives that much richer. I could go on and on about how much joy I get from discovering new things each and every day because of the Internet, but I’m a little busy right now getting lost on YouTube.
Do yourself a favor: go get lost on YouTube…
Never another podcast episode or article 
This really takes me back to when I used to “surf” the Internet, discovering cool stuff all the time and getting sucked into the rabbit hole with joy. I still “Stumble” sometimes, but mostly I’m “kayaking” the Internet, paddling forcefully and with purpose.
Thanks for the reminder! Heading off to surf YouTube with my coffee and fluffy slippers.
Make sure to come back and report what you discovered 😉
When I see my 14 year old nephew, we ‘share’ the internet by playing on YouTube and showing one another videos of our favorite music. It is quite fun because we have very different tastes.
I also get lost on YouTube a lot late in the evening – always with music. I start by looking for something that I want to hear and then follow links. Sometimes for hours. It is truly great.
I go looking at archival footage of Belfast Norther Ireland during the ‘troubles’ years. It helps me remember how things really where.
It keeps me connected to the place of my birth, heritage and social attitudes.
If you’ve never been to Belfast I can only state that if Social engagement is something you look for; then here would be a place to find a fountain of it. It is that good.
Ok, back from my explorations. That was fun! I found one really cool nugget…the famed Bowery in NYC has a channel where they highlight up-and-comers, including one of my faves, the So So Glos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsyQAYFUidU&list=PL6B5335404F0E6E08&index=10&feature=plcp). But the real coolness is on Feb 17 they are live streaming a show–no need to put on your skinny jeans. Which works out well for me since I’m 40-ahem-something and don’t own any skinny jeans.