Mostly I’ve done without social media. Facebook, which I joined
for twenty minutes, proved to be spawn of the devil, Twitter for those who wanted
to be a writer but without doing any writing, while Instagram sounded so
old-fashioned I felt I’d outgrown it. YouTube is different.
During my early singing lessons YouTube led me to pros
singing songs I’d just started on; extracts from US TV political comment during
the Trump years; clips of motorbike races I wish I’d seen; brilliant stand-up
by Bill Bailey, Eddie Izzard and Dylan Moran; history rendered in fuzzy
b&w. Plus graphic answers to a hundred questions which had flashed through
my mind over the years.
Meanwhile YouTube was getting to know me, understanding what
interested me, predicting what might
interest me. And – eerily - getting it right.
Take maths. It fascinates me but I only scratched the
surface thanks to eight months’ technical education in the RAF. Somehow I must
have unconsciously leaked this fascination and it ended up in YouTube’s
catchment net.
When you switch on YouTube you get a different set of
offerings each day. This morning they included Understanding Calculus in Ten Minutes. At no time have I raised
this subject with YouTube and yet it knew I would be ensnared.
I’d touched on calculus in the RAF relative to hysteresis
curves but without knowing what it was for. This guy told me its rationale and
within the allotted time. It’s true, it can be simplified.
Was I worried that an algorithm knew more about me than I
did? Not a bit. Otherwise I’d worry about my doctor. I’ve profited and it’s
difficult imagining it happening any other way. What’s more it was the truth.
The calculus website had attracted 4.5m visits. That pleases
me
Mostly I've done without social media as well. I do use Facebook to check in on a few friends, but I don't use Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok. I also enjoy visiting YouTube. I love finding music there, and yes they do come up with some good matches for my play list. I may have to check out that Calculus video. Maybe it will actually teach me something. Hah!
ReplyDeleterobin andrea: I'm a baritone, far less fashionable and/or glamorous than being a tenor. When V (my singing teacher) adds a new song to my repertoire YouTube might well offer me half-a-dozen versions of that song, all by baritones. My lessons consist of one hour a week, these days - by Skype - more like 90 minutes. The rest of the week I'm on my own, rehearsing and making mistakes uncorrected. YouTube has acted as my deputy teacher. And the wide choice means I am not stuck with one singer who might well be "taking liberties" with the score. Some of them do, you know.
DeleteAs to calculus, you're either interested or not. It's's not like, say, dabbling with an occasional episode of The Waltons or whatever. I did have some prior knowledge when I watched this video so my reaction was not entirely representative. It would be interesting to hear how you reacted but it might be cruel of me to insist on it.
That said, it would be something new and we're all on the lockoout for new things during Covid.
I'm torn between wanting to learn about calculus in ten minutes, and knowing I don't have the attention span for a 10 minutes video.
ReplyDeleteColette: Yet I bet you kept your eyes open all the way through Gone With The Wind, an instructional video about what DIDN'T happen during the Civil War. The answer's simple. You turn on the calculus and I watch you do this via Skype. Whenever I see your eyelids droop, your lips form a moue or you move to scratch yourself intimately, I whisper cruel corruptions of your first name: Collywobbles, Collyflower, Collystomy. Quickly you'll find out who's boss.
DeletePerfect answer! Thanks for the laugh.
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