07 Aug 2019
It kills me whenever a YouTube video ends with, “Let me know if you liked the video,” or “Tell me what video to make next.”
Getting views should not be the goal. Appealing to the internet does not improve one’s self worth. Nor does it make the world a better place.
Producing quality content - perhaps even advancing society - should be the goal. Sure, views can be a proxy for quality, but nothing more.
Why doesn’t the system reward quality content in its own right? Why do instead we pay people based on how much attention they draw to themselves? What would it take to rewrite the rules of the game?
Long term, society needs to figure out how to reward quality over viewership. In the meantime, we owe it to each other to quit playing the clickbait game.
It’s unethical.