Youtube Rabbit-Holes: ASMR, Mukbangs and Freaky Shit

What is the strangest thing you’ve ever watched on Youtube? A short film? A video essay? A breaking bones compilation? 

The internet has always been a bit of a Wonderland so take a trip (pardon the pun) down the rabbit hole with me as I explore some of the disturbing, informative, and bizarre sides of the internet’s videos a la Bo Burnam’s Welcome to the Internet.

Reaction Videos

These are the bread and butter of YouTube; covering every topic, trend and music video imaginable. Mostly these videos are dominated by staged “people react to music” videos (I literally saw one reaction to Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’, as if it hasn’t been out since 1977). People also react to kpop, ASMR (and ASMRist’s react to ASMR), and I even saw one where they reacted to the Top 5 Squid Game memes (Um?).

Of course, this realm of the internet, at least until recently, was dominated by FBE Brothers, truly fantastic content. The Disney Try Not to Eat challenges made me so jealous.

Video Essays

Another staple of your YouTube diet in the 2010s, there are literally so many of them.

Ever wanted to learn what makes a jumpscare so good? (No, I hate horror movies, but I watched it anyway!) Why Mulan (the live-action) failed? How Cats are trained for movies? Apparently, I wanted to learn at some point! Insider and Glamour are particularly good at recommending videos (I have definitely spent hours going through them. My favourite has to be this this Studio Ghibli analysis)

I’m also putting TED talks under this umbrella (This one on vulnerability is great!), because we all got forced to watch one for class that we secretly ended up enjoying.

Language Help Videos (that you bookmark and never use)

Be honest with yourself. 

Is that folder named “I’m Definitely Studying Mandarin/Japanese/Spanish/Italian/French Eventually” actually going to be put to use? Probably not. But that’s okay! Here’s to the graveyards of Duolingo languages we thought we would learn (particularly over lockdown).

Plus, for the BTS army: the Korean tomato song (with lyrics!) they sing one time in that Run episode.

ASMR

One of the weirder rabbit holes; I can admit to watching these (they relax me before bed!) but the range of these go from calming (ASMR rain/umbrella sounds!), kinda odd (ASMR mukbangs) to just plain strange (Ever wanted to roleplay being inducted into a Victorian warehouse? Or being “reprogrammed” by Grimes while Elon Musk scratches at the door? Now you can!).

Speaking of strange, finally…

The Freaky

This is the deep sea side of YouTube (think angler fish and nightmare fuel). Ever watched Don’t Hug Me, I’m Scared? Don’t! Ever wanted even freakier ASMR? Here you go! How about this poorly animated Spongebob episode complete with cracking neck sounds? We’ve got it all! Speaking of Spongebob, if you haven’t seen the anime version you’re missing out (on the trauma!).

Horror short films count too; here’s one terrifying one named Bedfellows, and a very odd interpretative art film here. There’s always Shane Dawson videos too, if you wanted some real scary stuff, or (shudder) YouTube shorts.

And that’s all I got! Stay safe browsing on YouTube and keep away from those deep rabbit holes that lead you straight to freaky.

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Writer's Bio: Alexa Stevens is currently studying a double degree of Commerce and Arts. Self-proclaimed book nerd, she’ll read (and watch!) pretty much anything; the more gore, the better. When she's not listening to BTS or memorising random trivia, she’s writing poetry.