One of my favourite YouTube video genres is reaction videos. You’ve seen them. Someone will watch a video or listen to a song, normally for the first time, and record their reaction. It’s a pretty good way to get content and it’s fun seeing people discover something new. From watching a lot of them, I’ve managed to get a few sub-genres out of them.
The first subgenre is the average person’s reaction. These people will react to a little bit of everything and generally don’t have that strong of an opinion or do a deep analysis. This is the style that started it all when the Fine Bros. got various age groups to react to things viewers want. These groups usually don’t know what they’re looking at and their reactions and reactions vary.
The next one is the analytical type. This usually applies to music reactions and they’re my favourite to watch. The people reacting range from music enjoyers to people involved in the industry. The music enjoyers are sort of like the average person but they have a good eye for some details. The professionals are the most fun to watch. Rather than just saying what they like or don’t like, they give a good analysis of what they’re seeing. The best ones I’ve watched are from vocal coaches. The best part is they love every genre of music. And when I say every genre, I really mean every genre, unlike the people who say they listen to everything but don’t listen to stuff that will probably never be mainstream. They will react to mainstream pop, opera, and even deathcore. The deathcore ones are the most interesting since most of them aren’t deathcore vocalists themselves, yet will always be interested in learning more about the inhuman vocals they produce. Regardless of what they react to, they will always point out something that’s interesting.
Then there are the shock value ones. Normally they involve watching a video or listening to a song that has something in it that makes them freak out if they don’t know anything about it. The most popular ones I see come from this are the videos where they react to Pisces by Jinjer. Jinjer is a progressive metal band and their song Pisces is an interesting one. It starts off mellow and the average person doesn’t know what’s coming up next. When the first chorus comes around, all of a sudden Tatiana, the lead vocalist, brings out her death growls. Almost no one sees this coming, especially from a woman. They are always struck in awe and end up focusing on that detail. This video is super popular to the point where there always seems to be a new reaction video to this song every week. It does get annoying for a while as it makes the band look like one-hot wonders but at least they get to have a little bit of attention.
These videos usually work out in favour of the original creators of the content that’s being reacted to since viewers who may have not seen the original source yet might end up checking it out. I discovered some of my favourite music this way and it’s always from the ones who are analytical. They also work as free advertising for the original creators. Whenever someone praises their work, sometimes they will even comment on the reaction video thanking them for taking the time to check out their stuff. Some even go as far as to ask someone to react to their stuff, kind of like music critics or tech reviewers who are sent things in advance for reviews. Sometimes, when it’s a music video, the label may not like it since it’s supposedly piracy. Other times, the record labels don’t mind and just let the content exist since it’s free advertising.
These videos are wildly popular but I feel like we only get two reactions from the average reaction, no matter who I’m watching. Either we get someone that loves everything, which is hard to believe. Sometimes they will react appropriately. Other times they will just freak out over something that doesn’t need a reaction. Too much positive feedback is a bad thing as it makes each thing feel less special. When I watch these people, I don’t need to predict how they’re going to react. I know they’re not going to be honest and say they like it. I get the fact you don’t want to get hated but you need to be true to yourself every once in a while. The other kind is someone who hates everything which isn’t fun. They feel like someone that only likes things that are popular. They also never have anything nice to say almost all the time. I like them for trying to go against the grain but sometimes I feel like they might need to re-evaluate themselves and try to find things they like. The common ground for both these types is the fact that they’re usually just making these videos for content, rather than having a genuine reaction to something that they’ll never see or hear for the first time ever again.
However, we do sometimes get a rare third one where the person is just honest. Their reaction varies but it’s clear they are actually reacting to something rather than just doing something to make content. For the most part, they always enjoy what they’re reacting to and if there are parts they don’t like, they just say it’s not for them Unless the general consensus is that it’s bad, they will never actually think anything they see as something that’s horrendous.
Reaction videos aren’t going away anytime soon. They’re easy things to make content for and sometimes you end up discovering new thongs this way. However, the lack of honesty in most videos makes them feel bland at times. However, the ones that are honest and also analytical keep it interesting which is refreshing for something that has mostly been the same for so long.