Do you miss the golden era of YouTube? Those days when summer mornings meant grabbing breakfast, propping up your iPad, and diving into a YouTube video without a care in the world? For many, that routine hasn’t changed, but the platform itself has evolved drastically. Unlike the endless scrolling of TikTok, YouTube offers a more immersive and calming experience. Instead of short bursts of overstimulation, it allows for deeper engagement, something we’ve slowly lost in today’s fast-paced media consumption.

This perspective might vary depending on how you engage with social media. As a woman, the way we consume content is different from a male audience, but the nostalgia for classic YouTube spans across genders. Personally, I love a good vlog—those raw, unfiltered glimpses into someone’s life that feel like a virtual FaceTime call. It’s fascinating how some creators thrive on TikTok but seem like they were made for YouTube. If they committed to long-form content, they could excel beyond their short-form success.

Take the beauty community, for example. The YouTube beauty era of 2012-2016 was an era, but looking back, it’s shocking how curated and unrealistic it all was. Many creators have since opened up about the pressure to maintain a picture-perfect image, shaping an unattainable standard for young viewers. Thankfully, today’s media landscape has shifted. While some argue that social media is still full of facades, we now have a choice—we can seek out creators who prioritize authenticity over perfection.

However, there’s a fine line between authenticity and para-social relationships. It’s easy to feel like you “know” your favourite YouTuber, but at the end of the day, they don’t know you. They engage with comments; they are entertainers sharing pieces of their lives. Finding common ground with an influencer is great, but maintaining realistic boundaries is just as important.

YouTube still has the power to create meaningful content. Creators like Love Island’s Leah Kateb shine in long-form videos, making YouTube a better fit for them than TikTok. Spencer Barbosa is another example, her content feels like stepping into a different world, providing an escape from the rapid-fire nature of short-form media.

Looking ahead, I hope YouTube’s culture continues to evolve in a way that embraces realism rather than toxic perfection. Long-form content not only fosters deeper connections but also helps rebuild our dwindling attention spans. If we can reclaim that slower, more immersive way of consuming media, it might just change the way we interact with the world around us.