Addicted to Tutorials

It’s Not Learning by Doing Anymore, But Rather Learning by ‘Youtubing’

I am not quite sure if you are familiar with youtube tutorials. To be able to follow my article I’ll give you a short outline. Tutorials are the online version of a written or an oral instruction. You will find videos on youtube from random people who explain how to use makeup, how to deal with a play station or how to peel a garlic clove the best way. So you will discover tutorials for every day life situations.

So you don’t have to ask your mum anymore how to iron, you can just watch a video.

However, these videos can be strongly criticised. All these technology features let us forget about our real social contacts. Parents, friends, colleagues can help with life situations. And while asking them you will even benefit of real friendships or existing relationships in general.

In addition do not forget about the economical profit which hides behind those videos. Lots of bloggers present e.g. makeup labels where they earn money from. They can be even youtube partners who are dependent on getting as many clicks as possible. So these videos do not just represent generous helping, they give us moreover a hint to buy the current products. It is an obvious attempt to provide the worthiness of being up-to-date.

I am not saying you shall forget about those videos. They can be quite useful. But do not consider them as a life recipe. It’s still cyberspace. We still need social skills! We need them to be able to talk to people, to find friends, to be a friend, to feel empathy, to count on our friends, to find common interests, to be able to survive in a job later on, to not feel lonely, to not get lost in the virtual world, to follow the human instinct of being a part of peer-groups, family etc., to live!!

“They need to know when a colleague needs a kind word or some quiet to get on with a deadline.”

The risk of loosing these skills is the fact why social networks are criticised that much. The Guardian emphasises this fact in an article about its significance for being able to deal with a job later on and to deal with daily life situations.