Content is king.
For as long as people have been communicating with each other, they’ve been creating content. I’d guess you could say that the cave painters were the first content creators.
We’ve come a long way since then. For example, when you wanted to learn about somewhere else without visiting that place, you used to have to read a book on the subject. From books to magazines to radio and then television, information was getting more accessible and current.
With the invention of the internet, you could look up anything you wanted at any time. Want to know about diving at the Great Barrier Reef, seeing the Northern Lights or view the Disney fireworks? You can see a video of any of them with a simple search.
Now that we have fast Wi-Fi and cellular connections worldwide, content creators no longer have to upload content and wait for people to see it. You’re able to stream your content to whoever is watching anywhere in the world and have them comment back in real-time.
Something is amazing about the process and it’s a great thing for people watching the content. However, the content creators are in the real world with other people around them. People who have traveled to the same location to see the same thing, IN PERSON. It’s not difficult to see why this may be a problem.
Here are two instances that recently happened to us.
Towards the end of our trip to Iceland, we visited the Seltúnshverir geothermal area.
It’s an area of bubbling mud pits that stinks of sulfur. You can walk around the area on a well-maintained elevated path. As we read about the area on the signs posted on the path, we heard a man with an American accent coming up from behind. He was talking loudly about how the area reminded him of where he grew up in the US.
But he just kept talking and as he walked past us, we could see he was by himself and was looking back to talk at a phone camera pointed at the area. I don’t if he was live streaming or just recording, but he provided a non-stop commentary as he walked. It took away any possibility just to stand there and wonder at how this place was made.
We had another experience when we visited the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. We wanted to make one last trip to see the Happily Ever After fireworks. 
We picked out a spot on the far end of Main Street, so as not to get stuck in the mass of people gathered close to the castle when the show ended and the park closed.
As the show approached, a woman nearby proceeded to sit down smack in the middle of the street. She then pulled out her mini-pod holder, phone with a full-size microphone attached, headphones and a second tablet which she put on the side to read streaming comments. Once all set, she started her broadcast.
Talking with people online, replying to chats, scanning around to show the crowd levels. Don’t get me wrong; I’ve become accustomed to people walking around Disney while on FaceTime or Facebook calls but not running your own live stream event from the middle of the street.
As I consider what bothered me so much about both of these instances, one thing stands out—the total lack of consideration for everyone else. No one else mattered to either of these people and the only thing they were worried about was getting content out to the public to maximize views, likes and maybe some subs to their Patreon.
Don’t take this to mean that I think everyone who has a YouTube channel or streams content is a horrible person. They’re not and I watch more content than I probably should. Like most things, it’s the ones who do it wrong that give everyone else a bad name.
This is why having anyone being able to create content at all times might not be a good thing. The majority of people are out there living life in the world. Sure, we’ve got our heads buried in our phones most of the time but that’s not the point. Part of being a member of society is being social. That means having a certain amount of respect and consideration for those around you and not treating them like unpaid extras in your content.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Cover Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels
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