YouTube offers humor but lacks important substance

We all have our own favorite YouTube video, whether it be "Charlie Bit Me" or "the Evolution of Dance." There is always one video that makes us laugh or smile. Many of the videos we search for on YouTube are recommended by our friends and usually include some comedic component that is supposed to make us laugh. However, YouTube has the potential to be more than a place to get a good laugh or watch music videos.

YouTube is a phenomenon that has wide-reaching power and a wide-reaching audience. A protestor in Egypt can instantly upload images of the recent demonstrations for anyone with access to the Internet to see. While a video like this would seem to be interesting given the current state of affairs in Egypt, it is not a video that we are "favoriting" or recommending to friends. Rather, we recommend "Ninja Cat" or "King Curtis" to our friends so we can share a laugh or reference it in the future, even though there are more influential and thought-provoking videos available that we tend to ignore. Why do we do this?

There are millions of videos on YouTube that are uploaded daily by users. While some videos provide interesting facts or arguments about some topic, there are a substantial number of videos uploaded that try to be humorous. Videos deemed as "comedic" tend to have more views and spread faster around the web than more serious videos. YouTube users are left with a plethora of videos that contain multiple attempts at mindless humor. Seriously, are there not enough "cute baby doing verb" or musical parody videos that already exist on YouTube? Why do more and more people keep uploading these videos?

Comedic videos shouldn't cease to exist on the website, but YouTube should be used as a platform to highlight and recognize other videos as well. There are categories that deal with news, politics, science and technology that offer a horde of videos pertaining to those topics. The Egyptian protest videos, for example, are documentations of history that should be given more attention and consideration. We should not continue to ignore the videos that can give us a deeper insight into the world that exists around us.

Videos are incredibly effective teaching tools. Most people would agree that they learn better visually than through any other means. There are a large number of videos that serve educational purposes, which can be selected with an easy point and click of a mouse. It is time to use the ability and technology that has been given to us to help broaden our perspectives about the world we would otherwise not be able to access if YouTube did not exist.

Next time you're on YouTube, try to search for a video or topic apart from the normal comedic genre to which we have been accustomed. If you think one of your friends would find it interesting, share it on Facebook or recommend it next time you interact. This could lead to an interesting discussion about the video and refine your outlook on the topic. It is time to recognize the other functions of YouTube and its possibilities of altering the way we learn about and interpret our surroundings.

Bryce Osman is a junior political science major from Jefferson City, Mo.