let's discuss the STORYTIME era | Internet Analysis

[@tiffanyferg]

"STORYTIME! I overanalyzed an era of youtube for way too long!" (PS, captions will be up ASAP, sorry for the wait!) // Thanks again to Bright Cellars for sponsoring this video! Click here to get 50% off your first 6 bottle box! bit.ly/BrightCellarsTiffanyFerg2

[@shalomisosa6228]

Love you Tiff

[@zeehighness9310]

Hello

[@talia9895]

ty for captions :)

[@kaylanek1]

I am loving having these on Spotify! Thanks for all your hard work. I feel I’m more well rounded after listening to these. Could you do one about the stereotypical American and how there are more and more people trying to be any race other than American to try an avoid the negative stereotypes? I have been thinking about this for a while now. Anyways loved this video :)

[@dieja49]

Where did you get that striped turtleneck sweater? I really like it! PS GOOD VID

[@sheridensmith]

INTERNET ANALYSIS RUINED MY LIFE?! (not clickbait) **emotional**

[@tiffanyferg]

*extremely emotional* **CRYING**

[@kaiw522]

LMAOOO yess so true!!! ****emotional****

[@lockheart619]

LMAOOO

[@chaaaargh]

lmao byee 😭😭

[@siddhiahuja9973]

I think having tana mongeau as my older sister would emotionally traumatize me for life

[@that_dam_baka]

Older siblings are traumatizing either way.

[@elleashee]

@@that_dam_baka as an older sibling, i can agree

[@Viktoria-yn5yn]

@@that_dam_baka well then I’m happy I’m an only child lol.

[@lairisyapping]

@@Viktoria-yn5yn only child gang

[@filtrations]

Viktoria having siblings is fun tho

[@withlove_nikki]

there's def something to be said about how loneliness plays a part in the popularity of these videos. of course everyone's reasons are different, but i was pretty indifferent to storytimes until i was bedridden for a few months following an injury and started watching storytimes late at night. it felt like someone had come to visit and tell me about their wild and unpredictable life, and it was fun and soothing for me. i don't use tiktok anymore, but when i did i loved running into people's stories -- especially when they kept it to one video -- because it was a little something similar. late-night scrolling, 3am being the lonely hours, and all that

[@aok2075]

I think a lot of media today is geared towards lonely people. Podcasts are only so popular because it's like listening to your friends have a conversation. Obviously everybody is different but that kind of content would be much less appealing if you lived in a crowded house or a busy neighborhood.

[@BlackDhalia90]

You’re so right, I never thought it like that

[@ThatWeirdFinn]

@@aok2075 this is why I cannot find podcasts I like. Heaven's Gate docu-series is like the only one I remember liking. There was this awesome one related to TEDtalks but it was about different places in the world, not about ideas as such. But it only had like 5 episodes when I found it, and when I returned to it, no more had appeared. I am so tired of podcasts sounding like a few friends talking to each other, instead of me hearing clearly about a topic I am interested in. Oh, and Not Your Average Runner! I think I stopped listening to that because there were too many ads, though.

[@shohineedeb9089]

Is your injury better now?

[@mizzbelle97]

I found I had to cut tiktok out of my life bc I had essentially replaced putting effort into socializing with living through people on tiktok.

[@booksvsmovies]

Honestly I do think there's something insidious about the way storytimes depict kidnapping. I think it perpetuates the general idea that traffickers wait at target parking lots to kidnap pretty white girls when the vast majority of victims of trafficking are put in that situation my people they personally know and that people in precarious situations like people just out of foster care or homeless people much more vulnerable to trafficing than the general population.

[@tiffanyferg]

Spot on!

[@misseselise3864]

i know a few ppl who used to do story times said they would clickbait so badly. like some guy asked them for their number twice and they made it into a “i almost got kidnapped” story time. they know now it was bad, but clickbait used to be the main way to get views

[@Allison1111]

On TikTok for a while there every other video would be someone saying “I was almost trafficked at Target because someone talked to me!!” It became so annoying. That’s not how trafficking works. Then there was that mom influencer who is now in trouble for accusing a couple of attempting to kidnap her kids who did nothing similar. They were in line and the couple were speaking Spanish but she thought they were talking about her so she came up with this big story about people watching her kids too closely and acting weird around her and her kids.

[@catis4]

There are also a lot of TikTok videos of people saying "if someone puts a thing in you car or leaves some kind of mark in it, it means you are marked as a potential traffic victim". But (almost) all of them are bs.

[@titus5920]

Especially because the reality of the story was actually that their driver took a different route because of traffic not that "I was KidNapPeD by my Uber driver. cRaZy!" Nothing like real and horrific stories of people being kidnapped.

[@callumg3330]

The 25-30 year olds who pretended they were teens in their bedroom for their brand would lie? That’s unbelievable

[@autumnh5027]

Uhh most of them were not that age. Most were early 20’s at the latest when this started. Tana even younger

[@shanisokay]

"As someone who used to film exclusively on my bedroom floor..." --Tiffany, from her bedroom floor

[@leenanorms]

Yes! This was so interesting. Watching storytimes was almost like watching people put THEMSELVES on doctor phil or jeremy kyle (the uk equivalent).

[@sams3015]

For me these story times make me think about chat shows more than the “self help” shows like Dr Phill as the guests may not be aware that they are being used for entertainment value. I think shows like Loose Women (but strangely not “the view” as they seem more guarded), The Real Real are more story-timey as the hosts willingly do it for entertainment and content. Also, I always felt dubious about how Ellen would poke her guests into telling personal stories & to a lesser extent the Jimmy talk-shows do it but it seems to come up more organically. Ellen always seem like she tapped into an arsenal personal relationships with celebrities. It was a bit “yoooo know” with a wink as guest try and act like they don’t know what she is talking about.

[@bina.k]

OMG HI LEENA

[@mimismithson5372]

LEENA!! ❤️

[@ljc5277]

My therapist (meaning that mental health professionals are paying attention) mentioned a word she heard recently about social media oversharing: "Vulnerability porn." We're seemingly not allowed to share or feel our feelings in real life (or less often, some folks are just narcissists), so we dump our lives on socials so that as many people "see" our issues in real time as possible whether they v want to or not. Then people start feeling overwhelmed, and since our society has trained us to help even if we're not asked for help, we feel responsible for others' struggles. We may also receive that unwanted advice and get upset because people aren't actually listening to us. Either issue tends to result in resentment. All that doesn't even touch on just vlogging in general, which imo, becomes deeply invasive when, say, parents raise their children from literal birth on camera.

[@russshh]

I actually find these vulnerable videos extremely comforting. It helps me to judge myself less when I'm struggling with something and shaming myself for struggling and shaming myself for shaming myself. when I see that other people are also having bad mental health moments and that it is very human thing to struggle from time to time, it makes it easier to accept my feelings of struggle.

[@360shadowmoon]

Well said. This is also why I find a lot of subreddits toxic. It’s full of people unloading their therapy sessions on the Internet. Basically, anyone who reads these subreddits are put in the position of a therapist without actually (for the most part) being a trained therapist or in a clinical setting attending to one person at a time, instead of a bunch of people at once.

[@lydiarodgers6907]

@@sweetembrace6706 I have to agree with you. I think people can offer valid and helpful advice, insight, or encouragement without the degree or title. But I see how it could be harmful if someone naive or impressionable reads bad advice and doesnt have the discernment to know if its sound or not.

[@alias201]

Some of us have oversharing issues due to ADHD or BPD. I spill my shit on reddit, because I've learnt not to do it to real people. I've realised how uncomfortable it makes people, but these things fall out of me and I can't stop, so I try to redirect. My oversharing and trauma dumping is the thing I hate about myself the most, so I'm trying to deal with it. Reddit is how I deal with it.

[@RetroGameBros]

One of my old high school friends wanted to become a "youtuber". She did storytimes where she talked about crazy drinking at parties, hooking up, and her job. She lost her job because her employer found her videos from instagram and didnt want her nannying anymore. Then she made a storytime involving one of my friends and he threatened to sue her since she used his pictures in the thumbnail. All to never pass 200 views a video

[@kimberleywilliams7802]

The last line, I- 💀

[@888pil]

oh my god this reminds me of a guy i knew in HS who started KZbin and basically alienated himself because he would want to turn all his hangs into content and air all his friends' business online to make himself more interesting and we all knew who he was talking about even if he didn't use names. all his friends started avoiding him. he still does vlogs i think but has never made it past 1000 views

[@PoopinRainbows]

Omg

[@notwithoutpizza4702]

whats the channel called? i’ll watch lol

[@rookiemonster646]

@@888pil What's it called? The channel.

[@SistahPunkStudios]

As a Black woman content creator, its interesting to see the change in "storytime" tellers go from mostly young white women to mostly Black women today. There's an interesting correlation to Black women using video "storytimes" as one of the only ways for them to speak up about a conflict or experience that would normally go ignored IRL but has the chance to get public attention and even a chance at justice if shared online. Some of these stories of ab*se and kidnapping that would be embellished for views are real life stories for Black women but "storytimes" still have this frivolous connotation to its genre because of how its feminized and capitalized. This video was great food for thought.

[@HyphenatedHistoryUK]

Cosmeholics Anonymous’ recent exposé of her sister’s abusive pastor partner spring to mind, that was literally the result of the problem being ignored for years and her feeling like she had no choice but to put him on blast on her platform. HeyParis is another one who’s had to do similar on her page to set records straight. Those are the ppl I traditionally associate with storytimes tbh, along with The Voodoochild (who stopped doing them years ago)

[@onemillionpercent]

thank u sm for this perspective it's v v important and factual i need to watch more of these storytimes then (if anyone has any recommendations for youtubers especially black women/non white women pls lmk!!).

[@MB-ig3tm]

I noticed this too! Maybe it’s just the algorithm doing his job but I also noticed that mainly bw are doing storytimes now

[@dustinaltenhurst7958]

you're being way too charitable. storytime is still 95% a grift, not an outlet for black voices (with exceptions of course). it's just that black grifters catch on to these grifts after white grifters. Not any different from hoteps recycling conspiracies that white conspiracy theorists have been spewing for years.

[@CarrieDayton]

Loved this video, friend! Super fascinating and I'm honored to be a small part of it. 💞 **books therapy session to unpack storytime era trauma**

[@inaccessible4327]

Honestly, even talking to friends, I‘m constantly scared of oversharing - couldn't imagine being a story time KZbinr. Especially because the internet doesn’t forget.

[@Monicalia]

Same. And in Internet's case, you have no idea who is watching your video and there might be someone who will completely misinterpret your words and then try to make you look like the worst person on the planet. I considered being a storyteller on yt at one point, because I LOVE telling stories, but I kept thinking of all awful people online, who would think they can totally dox me or my parents because they believe I'm their family or a ''big sister''. There are way too many entitled deranged people online to share anything with them.

[@LoveAndSnapple]

And depending on who you are, the Internet never forgives. Especially if you’re a woman.

[@cbpd89]

So sososososo true! I an internet weirdo list off where I live and the names of my kids in a threatening way, none of which you can find with a Google search of my name. After that I deleted my Facebook and I will not be joining any other social media. Ever. This right here is the extent of my social media presence.

[@kamila5241]

YEAH

[@Sasha-zw9ss]

ESPECIALLY with your face. I do (though rarely) overshare on IRC, but at least I am a faceless persona I can easily discard in case of shame.

[@r-i5732]

You will be a great help in writing the history of KZbin.

[@slowdancers]

the way tiffany is the heritageposts of youtube...

[@gazingatsaturn]

@@slowdancers oh my god the accuracy

[@HimynameisNikkiii]

You need to do an internet analysis on the HUGE amount of ‘true-crime’ storytellers that have crept up recently, particularly ones who do their make up alongside telling the ‘story’… Is it ethical?

[@mallorycarpinski1160]

I was just wondering about those... with the makeup...???

[@joelle4226]

It’s just so they’re doing something while they’re talking

[@HimynameisNikkiii]

@ABC Maybe, I looked but couldn’t find anything though…

[@sophieryan1387]

@ABC Pinely did a video on it kzbin.info/www/bejne/bIq6epavlsibi7s

[@deeb1124]

About as ethical as the news reporting I feel

[@AveryTalksAboutStuff]

I remember being young and wanting to be just like my favorite KZbinrs who told super dramatic storytimes on KZbin...oh how times change. 😅

[@mariomario1462]

That still a thing

[@sams3015]

@@mariomario1462 I think they meant it’s not as glamorous as before

[@kitty_k4to]

@@sams3015 I think she just means she don't think she wanna do that anymore

[@AveryTalksAboutStuff]

@@kitty_k4to yeah, to clarify, I meant that as a young teenager I idolized people in that genre and now it's been years since I've been interested in that content.

[@idontknow1356]

when the pandemic started, i used to be obsessed with vlogs and storytimes. back then, i always felt my life was more boring and less happy that others and got second hand happiness and experiences from them. now i’m in a more positive headspace, and if i ever want to watch these types of videos, it’s not out of insecurity, just curiosity, and i’m really glad i got to have this positive development.

[@_lilly347]

this is nice, I'm glad you're feeling better now

[@Sheena000]

I remember loving the sub genre of bad Sephora store experiences until I worked there and was treated horribly by clients who were expecting to have the same experience. Looking back a lot of the videos had the exact same format so I think creators made employees lives hell for no reason.

[@theLatestkraze]

Omg that was my fav lmao

[@theLatestkraze]

I used to like the coworker stories at Sephora lmao

[@Sheena000]

@@sweetembrace6706 the issues are definitely there in the stores which is why I left. In my experience it mostly came from management and I didn’t have luck changing the attitudes. I don’t fault the creators talking about their genuine experiences. But some videos at the time were blatantly copying other peoples real experiences with racism/classism in the stores. I remember one video blew up where the employee said not to help the girl because shes Asian. After her video got traction there were a bunch of others telling the exact same story as the original girl with the exact same dialogue by the employee. Those are the people who I think made the employees lives harder for no reason.

[@Monicalia]

The ''I don't care if someone is lying or not, I just want to be entertained'' mentality is what frustrates me the most, because that's why problematic, toxic content creators like Shane Dawson, Tana or David Dobrik will never lose their platforms. Their fans act like these are the only good content creators on youtube and they won't find funny, engaging videos anywhere else, so they throw their moral compass in the trash and turn a blind eye on the creator's literal CRIMES for the sake of ''entertainment''. ''I don't care that he hurt someone, as long as he makes me laugh and keeps me entertained''. I can't imagine still being entertainted by someone's content while being fully aware of how awful they are in real life.

[@rubysilverburg1937]

Me too! An example is this one story time by Tana Mongeau in which she lied about a particular singer/rapper. The truth came out and people in the comments were literally saying that they didn't care because it entertained them. Huh? This person is potentially ruining someone's reputation 😒. weird.

[@kkuudandere]

Speaking of storytimes paired with unrelated footage (e.g. slime, cooking): Ann Reardon of How to Cook That recently made a video about "life hacks" or cooking channels combining their innocent cooking/baking footage paired with some... occasionally disturbing storytime audios in the background. Someone could be baking a chocolate cake, and tell a story about being poisoned. Like, they make no sense at all. And this stuff is clearly marketed towards kids, it's very weird. I recommend that video, too!

[@katehobbs]

I was just about to comment on this! It might seem cool to have “satisfying” content paired with a story, but like Ann Reardon pointed out, it can be dangerous for kids

[@maddyrevenge]

Oh I’ve seen these videos! I think a lot of the time they’ve just stolen a story from Reddit and slapped it over random footage, but the comments section is always so confused haha.

[@meagantrout2127]

Omg yes I watched her video discussing this and I was disturbed

[@katie9294]

call me crazy i miss it, i loved getting ready listening to their storytimes

[@Msrainbowzebras98]

Pretty sure the story time era is why I’m constantly listening to podcasts lol

[@Feliciatanktop]

I still listen to old 2016 story times

[@naomi-art-stuff]

@@Msrainbowzebras98 that's why I listen to the good mythical morning podcast 😭😭 it's just them talking abt their week and being funny

[@stevie6765]

ME TOOOOOOOAHH

[@youllbemytourniquet]

50% of what I watch are storytimes, idk why I just love them

[@mattiehamilton874]

I teach ESL and I recommend Storytime videos to my students to practice their listening skills! It's very close to the tone and vocabulary that non-native speakers will encounter in real world conversations and listening to storytimes in other languages has also helped me in the languages I learn.

[@Smidgeon-pigeon]

This is a great idea. I'll have to keep it in mind!

[@SuperMustache555]

Despite what was said at 1:30, there was a pretty large storytime audience among young men, too. Though much less popular in the mainstream, creators like Luna were famous for their daily storytimes. Luna narrated his stories over footage of him playing Call of Duty or surfing in CS:GO. While it doesn't follow the typical dramatic storytime on the bedroom floor format, it was equally as overdramatized. Luna's topics usually involved drugs or girls or school punishments, and they appealed to a similar audience as Leafy, Pyrocinical, and other early male commentary KZbinrs

[@collyflower6623]

This is a great point!

[@damian4628]

Male story time KZbin is a whole.other conversation bc they would bully ppl

[@LoudRevised]

Nothing beats the story time animators.

[@averyjeanne]

I feel like I never realized just how young Tana was when she started her channel. I was only in middle school when she became popular so I just saw her as being older and more mature.

[@LorryHill]

Great video ! Regarding great black story time creators ; I watch Oh! Stephco and video essayist Khadija Mbowe 💕

[@faithkayy]

Yesss i love Oh! Stephco, I could listen to her all day😩

[@kimberleywilliams7802]

I appreciate you Lorry! Love your channel

[@soulsearcher7077]

@@vepri9421 Yeah I think she would like to tell them to stop, but her channel is still pretty small so it would be disadvantageous and detrimental to channel growth. So I understand just avoid those comments.

[@alienatedlibrarian5017]

I loooove Khadija she really opens my mind and gives great advice and keeps my plants fed We stan

[@yourfavoritepessimisticexi8041]

@@alienatedlibrarian5017 Khadija is non-binary and their pronouns are they/them btw (:

[@paytenparfait5983]

This is so random, but I went to undergrad with you, and I remember you always having a camera anytime I’d see you. I’m so proud of you for following your dreams and making this happen!!! ❤️

[@tiffanyferg]

omg that’s wild! Loyola? thank you so much, that’s very sweet 💖💖💖

[@kaydreamer]

I'm surprised Creepshow Art didn't get a mention in this, the controversy surrounding her was huuuuuuuge amongst the sketchbook storytime KZbinrs. It leaked out into other drama spheres as well. Look it up if you're curious.

[@brittneybabeee4031]

That’s a whole ass video on its own, lol.

[@camics]

Wow I had completely forgotten the existence of "girl code", you just gave me a massive flashback

[@musicIistener]

Drama videos definitely seem like a new evolution of storytimes. I used to never click on storytime videos because I never believed them, but everytime I see a video about some drama (which is essentially?? a storytime!!) I feel compelled to know what happened! But it's difficult to contend w the fact that a lot of drama videos involve very intense/triggering situations, PERSONALLLL info, real people (sometimes named but mostly identified through deduction), and the reality that there will be a response from the audience (people going to someone else's page to berate them for their part in the drama or people demanding to know more about something sensitive that happened to the person recanting the "drama"). It's interesting to pontificate abt

[@sheridensmith]

Yes! I totally agree with this!

[@avgeek707]

Would love to see you breakdown the "news", News Corp and other mega conglomerates, and the polarization if media outlets at least in the USA. Much love from Uruguay.

[@Betty-lx5nn]

🇺🇾🇺🇾🇺🇾

[@lucianasoriagutierrez5593]

🇺🇾🇺🇾🇺🇾 Vamo' arriba Uruguay

[@suoutubez19]

Oooh great idea!

[@sourgummiescureyourpain4555]

I'd like to see that video, too!

[@avgeek707]

@@lucianasoriagutierrez5593 y Betty, vaya uno a saber que había tantos uruguayos acá jajaja

[@jaybee4118]

I so glad I’m a generation older. This is a genre that has never appealed and made me very uncomfortable. All these young people sharing true (or not) stories to the world with no thought to the future or other people just never sat right with me. I didn’t even realise how young Tana was either, I was shocked when I realised. I’m just glad I grew up before the internet was a thing and there wasn’t this pressure. There was plenty of pressure, but less that could shape your life in such a drastic way.

[@sarahnelson8836]

Also heads up oversharing can be a trauma response, which is generally not healthy and sometimes even risky since you haven’t built trust with the people you are sharing with. Definitely not something to be ashamed of, we all respond to trauma differently, but something to be aware of for sure especially when talking about this type of content.

[@sheridensmith]

This is such a good point.

[@sams3015]

I was the story time guy in my early 20s in my friend group before I knew it was a genre on KZbin. It turned out that friend group, who encouraged me to do it (especially when we were at a party and met other groups) weren’t the nicest people. I can’t imagine how vulnerable I would of been if I got the idea to do KZbin as I suffered for oversharing in real life. Also, I ended up having to dig deeper to to keep this “party trick” going crossing into topics I told a friend privately who would bring it up in a larger social setting. Anyway, nowadays I love “spooky true stories” especially non paranormal, to sleep to. I can relate to it but it’s refreshing it’s not me (at least not right now).

[@jfinney225]

12:00 yes! and I HATE the phrase "we're the ones who got you to where you are so be grateful!" or the entitlement that sometimes goes with being a loyal superfan. the creator "owes" them collectively AND individually because they wouldn't be said creator without them [watching]. in my own personal example, I made a tiktok account talking about my recovery from hero!n, and people would get offended if I didn't open up the rest of my life to them as well. or when creators get into some type of controversy (whether it be, negative, positive, or SUPER drama) and the fans want some sort of explanation or questions answered and they don't get it - or if they don't get it as quickly as they THINK they should. in that situation, I commonly hear "you owe us an explanation" or "you at least owe it to us to answer _____". that's not fair at all. just as with any other "normal" relationship irl, I can opt-out or renege at any time with zero explanation. that may not be very polite of me, but we as individuals do NOT *owe* anyone anything.

[@SuperMustache555]

The oversharing part was super interesting. I remember James from TheOdd1sOut, a storytime animator, sharing in his video about meeting fans that we all know that he wet the bed until he was 8-years-old, and he knows nothing about us. That was my first introduction to the idea of parasocial relationships

[@_Alimm]

A internet analysis on the podcast boom would be so interesting. It's relation to ASMR, the shift in entertainment consumption, the pitfalls (misinformation, incel culture)and cult followings. So so much to touch on.

[@thatmoviejunkie]

17:10 and your point abt thumbnails immediately made me think of true crime KZbin and the lack of boundaries that exist in that space. TC is consumed the same way story time videos are (mindlessly cooking, cleaning, etc.) I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic and how this specific area of true crime “content” has spawned pseudo-detectives and the like. I used to be an avid consumer of the “genre” but as I’ve matured I’ve become really grossed out by these channels.

[@rileyblanton7281]

Yes!!!

[@ClaireCraig]

yesss that would be so good!

[@Biogrrrl]

💯

[@simplesimply3753]

Agreed

[@Ari_Madrid]

a perspective of someone who use to watch it, for me i realized it was all about my comlpex-ptsd (not ptsd) I watched murder/crime shows on tv because i felt it made me safer in this world, the logic being that if i keep up with what criminals are capable of then i'll have a better chance of protecting myself if I encounter a scary situation. I started watching make up ones because they didn't cause me as much anxiety. the tv shows play a lot of dramatic music and dramatize everything, it would make me tense the entire time i was watching it. With the make up ones i can take in all the information without the dramatization. I don't watch any of these videos anymore true crime alone or mixed with make up because i've seen how unhealthy it is to keep myself in a state of fear under the guise of "protecting myself". i will say that some of the makeup crime ladies sincerely care and i think thats why they share these stories, ofc i can't speak for anyone tho.

[@Carolina-wz2qo]

1:58 "used to exclusively film on my bedroom floor" she says, while filming on her bedroom floor lol

[@tiffanyferg]

Hahaha an intentional departure from my usual desk spot!

[@ItsMePhoebe]

Perfect timing, needed some procrastination from my studies! :D

[@morethanyourbasics]

I'm a black woman 👋🏾 I remember "story times" way back in high school that were about school fights or dates / hair disasters. I think it is about being in different communities and algorithms keeping people within the same KZbinrs or communities. there a plenty of storyteller content on tik Tok and other platforms I just think Tana and Gabbie rose to fame with their heavy promotion and controversies. they are also more palatable for sponsorships interesting video. nice to hear your perspective

[@ChainringTours]

I'd like to imagine in 100 years from now anthropologists are pulling up these videos and creating a whole "orgins of the internet" university course with these videos being source material.

[@kashology]

the way i still watch these every day during my shift. i bought yt premium so i can listen to them like podcasts.

[@sheridensmith]

You can also listen on Spotify!

[@d.on.in.a]

@@sheridensmith no?

[@avgeek707]

@@d.on.in.a You can now!!

[@d.on.in.a]

@@avgeek707 you can listen to the audio of yt videos on Spotify? 😦 How?

[@slammed23]

While I don’t remember the storytime era of KZbin, storytime is HUGE on tiktok right now. Usually someone posting just a little bit of their story in response to a trend, then a full story after commenters flood them with requests for the full story (even when it sounds like it’d be traumatic to retell).

[@panoptischau665]

I grew out of storytimes reeeeaaaally quickly. It felt strangely invasive and it just got to a point where I felt that people just made shit up... ...I do enjoy when people, like you, talk about a certain topic or issue and then give examples from their own lives. It makes the topic more accessible without the video being too personal. If that makes sense...

[@dani-888]

was i incredibly gullible for believing 90% of these ridiculous story times? yes. would I still consider this time one of the peaks of youtube? yes.

[@jaelikesjackalopes]

As someone who get their tiktoks exclusively via reposts to KZbin shorts, I can literally NEVER get part 2. DO IT IN ONE PART.

[@notwithoutpizza4702]

exactly! especially when the limit for tiktoks is 3 minutes. Why make it into multiple 25 second parts

[@stillfangirlingtoday1468]

I do actually like that type of content when involving other cultures and can be an eye opener to a few situations otherwise most people wouldn't know it happens or give a two minute thought.

[@engalletado3454]

I found this type of tiktoks named "Am I The Asshole?" Where people find stories from a Reddit (or submited), where the narrator starts with an engaging portion of the storie without context (most of the time something that seems radical or non-sense), and then procedes to tell the storie; starts with basic information and continuos to tell some details that, most of the time change your perspective of the story. I think that there are tiktoks, KZbin videos and podcast with this kind of structure.

[@lainey6234]

you are honestly my favorite creator on this platform. every single video is so well researched and you speak so eloquently. thank you so much for sharing your content with us!

[@komyn27]

Let's be real here: Storytime KZbin just turned into Reddit Story KZbin.

[@BryonyClaire]

The wedding storytime is v alive and well, when we were planning ours I kept getting recommended so many, constantly (granted this was 2.5 years ago so things have probs changed) but its the perfect storm to create "drama". Some of them honestly helped me plan for potential meltdowns/malfunctions on the day.. even if sometimes I'm sure family relationships were a bit sketchy for the creators afterwards

[@lisamedla]

Mmh...I remember KZbin pushing these...they still pop up once in a while

[@pianomeditations9724]

Tiffany keeps providing analyses we never even knew we needed! So interesting to analyze these youtubers I've spent countless hours following in my younger years...

[@sophiaisabelle027]

I loved KZbin storytime videos back in the day. Like I’d be watching all storytimes related to horrors of having a period for girls and all things spooky like ghost stories and stuff like that. Fun times.

[@Winedrunk2lulah]

I haven’t been a fan of tana since high school, but even at the ripe age of 22 when I saw she had posted a two hour story time AND it was about her stalker, oh I clicked on that shit so fast.

[@thecheck968]

My favorite story times have to be a KZbinr playing a chill game, Sims is a classic, and just rambling. Since it’s not the focus of the video, what they do say feels a lot more genuine. And it’ comes across as less “gossipy” and more just chilling with a friend.

[@katmariemp3]

Carrie Dayton's channel (top right on the thumbnail) brings me so much happiness, she also talks about the aftermath of being a storytime youtuber

[@taysivyo1863]

I used to be soo obsessed with animated storytimes, they were/are superior

[@Sheena000]

I remember one prominent story time creator who would retell OTHER story time creators stories without credit or permission. They told the stories beat for beat making no changes. They claimed the whole “I’m providing publicity more people will watch the originals” defence non-transformative reaction channels were using at the time.

[@Anniebanany1955]

It would be super interesting to see a video about the expectation of being a “good influence” - both from social media people and celebrities. It’s such an interesting double edged sword

[@gillian7662]

I love this topic, imo it's an important part of KZbin history *and* also shows how much power teen girls have in creating and influencing trends. I was a little on the older end of the demographic for Gabby/Tana storytime videos but i do remember watching Olan Rogers and Trisha paytas back in like 2013/2014, and she did a lot of videos that weren't called storytimes back then, that i think now we would consider them in that genre. For a young person with their first laptop or smartphone and wanting to exercise some independence, watching storytimes and get ready with me videos made me feel like i had cool internet friends. I also think everyone who saw these crazy videos wanted to be a KZbinr because they either had "crazy" stories, or they thought that being a KZbinr would give them that craziness.

[@augustlunaonline]

I do think that telling stories is a inherent human traits. Oral storytelling traditions were and still are ways we make connections with others. Much of how we interact/communicate/connect with people on a day-to-day basis is all telling little stories about what happened that day (sharing about bad traffic or weather, etc.). Telling a good story that is entertaining, makes sense, lasts more a few minutes, and can captivate a room is quite a skill!

[@cakepop918]

I remember loving the fake ones! Glad I didn’t think they would happen to me.

[@vellamour]

Story times sort of became the template for all KZbin videos. The “sit down” video. Even makeup KZbinrs we’re doing story times in the form of “get ready with me’s”. And I watched A LOT of paranormal story times too.

[@Pumpkinspicebrittany]

Tiffany I love that you’re trying to use the words “crazy” And “psycho” less!!! I feel like “crazy” is such a dismissive word

[@SuperMustache555]

I think the idea that there's a financial incentive for oversharing is so interesting. It creates such a difficult scenario for a lot of these creators

[@yhnp2152]

storytimes have same connotation as mukbangs. it was created for lonely people wanting to feel normal things like eating with a friend or a family, talking with your beat friend, sharing stories. it's sad but it actually helps a lot of people.

[@lordoftheducks332]

My favorite story time KZbinr growing up was Jessii Vee, and I’m honestly too scared to look up her channel again because I don’t want to look back and see if I can tell if it was over exaggerated or not? Yeah, it’s super naïve, and it just screams parasocial relationship, but she was arguably the first KZbinr I ever subscribed to, and looking forward to whatever new video would be uploaded every Wednesday got me through my early years of middle school when I felt deeply lonely, and it was comforting to watch someone proudly describe herself as weird. Hell, she’s probably the reason why I lean towards more of a gothic style nowadays. Edit: ok I actually did end up looking up her channel because I was curious about how she’s been for the past 5 years and it seems like she hasn’t uploaded story times in a long time and tends to focus more on creepy content with clickbait-y titles but I did scroll back to find the videos that I remember watching when I was younger and holy shit I completely forgot that there was a whole thing where she had a video where she showed off a picture of a “weird mark” that she had woken up with and joked that it was made by an alien or something and then it turned out to be fucking Lyme disease. I say this not to make fun of her, because Lyme disease is awful, but I think it really shows the culture in the story time community because I don’t remember seeing anybody tell her that it was a bullseye rash in the comments and that she should go to the doctor immediately, people just made alien hickey jokes

[@Meenieweenie]

I’m so glad you covered story times! A true staple in my life. Also surprised NikkiGlamour didn’t come up. She’s one of the few who imo does it right. She adds advice, does all she can to protect both viewers and people she talks about, but brings the stories to life in such a way that even routine work stuff is fascinating. She’s the embodiment of parasocial family to me; she makes it feel like you’re sitting down at her house w some wine and snacks 🥰🥰

[@Thestormraincheck]

As a former YT “storytimer” I agree with and love this video.

[@vellamour]

Omg I used to follow your story times so closely. It’s nice to see you’re still on KZbin!

[@randomchickrobin]

Oh damn I used to watch you haha

[@goldenxkenny]

As to what you are saying about the seeing more story times from black women. I have definitely noticed that recently. I still get a lot of story time videos from black women pushed to me by the algorithm and I don’t watch story times. But I do watch a lot of content from BW

[@davidkonevky7372]

I feel like the only thing I miss from this era of youtube is when animated youtubers were at their peak. I feel like animated youtubers were way more relatable because they tended to be more introverted and they had funny visuals to accompany their stories which. It was pretty uncommon for them to overshare and they always tried to keep things as private as possible which was really neat too

[@KarolYuuki]

For people who like interesting storytimes I definitely recommend Of Herbs and Altars. She is a UK goth that talks about what her life was as a goth during the late 90's and early 2000's. She is really good at telling stories and for someone that always admired that scene and that era, it feels like you are living that.

[@ordinarybackpack3856]

I just wanted to thank you for trying to alter your vocabulary to remove "crazy," "insane," etc. It truly is ableist, and even I have to work hard to rid those words from my vocabulary, and I have a psychotic disorder myself! It'd difficult to alter the way you speak, but more people need to acknowledge that flaw and try their best to change it.

[@Ambalamb]

I’m so glad you covered this genre! I was secretly hoping Christy Carlson Romano would make it onto your current day storytime section. She’s definitely leaning into the advice from a big sis on her channel but it’s refreshing and not spammy toxic from the clickbait era.

[@helenross3037]

back to the roots of internet analysis! your videos cannot be too long honestly

[@humanity_bear]

Such a throwback! I looooved your customer service and camp storytimes🦋✨❤️ I even used them to improve my English and range of vocabulary back then, thanks Tiffany☺️ xoxo from Germany, Anna❤️

[@adrianvelazquez4234]

Funny how you didn't mention Trisha Paytas in this genre, THE definition of a person who can not tell a good story to save their life, dragging out a story that would have been only like 6 minutes to 25 minutes. Ugh lol

[@naomi-art-stuff]

I'm so glad I never got into them when they were popular 😭

[@sheridensmith]

I for sure think that Trisha is a whole other video in itself! They've adapted their content with every trend, era, and KZbin "moment" to stay relevent. Truly a chameleon!

[@Prairiewench]

You didn't watch frenemies. Her stories on frenemies were really entertaining (too bad we now found out a lot of them are inconsistent or fake). I think having another person asking questions and keeping her on track helped a lot

[@888pil]

the thing about Trisha though is that it's entertaining to watch them do stuff regardless of whether or not they're good at it lol. i don't watch Trisha but that seems to be the vibe amongst the ppl that do

[@PoopinRainbows]

Oh Trisha lolol

[@kagey7591]

So happy to hear you shout out Drew Monson. I, too, could listen to him talk about anything for hours. Plus, he's an incredibly talented musician, so I have his entire catalog of songs in heavy rotation on Spotify. I just wish more people would support him on this platform.

[@rissd6487]

I started watching storytime content at the beginning of the pandemic. I needed some tea, I needed to hear about someones life!!!

[@theinfodump8572]

Goodness it’s always so weird to watch internet analysis and see how it intersects with all these old trends. It might be because I lived through them and the half life of the internet is ten seconds but it’s like being a 90 year old. Like oh yes I remember the days of vine.

[@alexandria3583]

i found carrie daytons channel through her storytimes, i watched almost all of them, and still love her fashion content. carrie is awesome

[@Goat.Cheese]

You're pfp makes me miss Jenna :(

[@helenross3037]

the nicole rafiee earrings bring me so much joy

[@tiffanyferg]

they're so cute I wanna wear them everyday!!

[@helenross3037]

@@tiffanyferg yes i love them!!

[@ailsaburns]

Thanks for another great video! What I think is especially interesting about Storytimes is the commodification of a real, human interaction that you experience as part of a relationship with a friend/partner/colleague/family member. What a weird world we live in where we monetise and emulate an experience that we have our in everyday 'real' lives (I have nothing against them, I personally love a vlog or a storytime video). In terms of embellishment, I think this also emulates our 'real' lives. We all have that friend who is a fantastic storyteller, but we also know that sometimes we have to take what they tell us with a pinch of salt. There is usually truth there but they might have turned up the dial on the story to make it a little bit more impactful. There is always an element of embellishment when you relay stories in your everyday face to face relationships. It might be because you want it to be a bit more dramatic or it might be totally unconscious because human memory is notoriously bad.

[@twiggledowntown3564]

I do remember back in 2015, I would watch a couple of storytime videos, while I also enjoyed watching the older ones too. It's understandable, as why it can create a problem, because of the overhearing. Sometimes people end up in arguments with other person lives, and it becomes too much.

[@plantycassy]

This has reminded me that I’m not looking forward to when the random deep dives era ends.

[@isabellacorrea512_]

Tiff always hits the nail on the head

[@UncommonRD]

Thank you so so much for posting this. I've been sitting on some videos I haven't uploaded yet, wondering if I'm sharing too much, but couldn't really put a finger on why till you explained it so perfectly here! Also I am loving this top on you. Vintage vibes so cute!

[@360shadowmoon]

I love that you covered this topic because I used to really enjoy these! I still technically do…but I feel conflicted about it because of the reasons you highlighted. They’re really entertaining but can come at a cost of the creator’s own privacy and those around them. It would be very comforting for me to listen to them talk about similar experiences to what I had, like breakups, because I would feel less alone. I generally feel it’s important for there to be some spaces for people to share intimate stories and experiences with one another, but the circumstances in which to do this securely are limited. That is the benefit of a lot of anonymous forums, but you still have to be careful about the info you share to not out anyone.

[@zelwonnie]

i was obsessed with gabbie hanna and tana mongeau's storytimes when i was a teen and tana's videos especially helped me to express myself more and i actually started cussing because of her and never went back i fucking love being so comfortable and not caring what anybody thinks

[@miss.megalodon]

My favorite story time channel back then was Trinity Jae!! I just looked & she’s still making videos but it seems like her focus is on trying fun challenges love her

[@fauxcherry]

About the tiktok and multiple parts thing, i totally agree. Most times i can't even find the part 2 even after searching the profile! But they are my guilty pleasures, i love this one particular series by this Vietnamese woman (because I'm Vietnamese) about her crazy 'Vampire' ex, it was so fun and so interesting and the story kept getting worse every video, she even shows the text she gets from him, which is just wonderful. Also it's fun because she's using the tiktok filter than only shows the eyes and lips of the creator. It's silly, these floating pair of eyes and lips is telling you this batshit crazy of her stupid ex

[@pal8542]

Another thing that KennieJD said when she stopped doing storytimes was that she kept putting herself in bad situations just for the hope of having a story to share to meet the demand

[@mileacn]

i love storytimes, i be cleaning my entire house happily while listening to the dramaaa

[@elise12345]

Love this! I was a little too old to be the target for this era, so I pretty much completely missed it. I was aware the creators existed but they just weren't on my radar at all. I did watch beauty guru stuff for a couple years 2012-2014 ish and there were some similarities with the GRWM videos.

[@Joviaero]

This was such a good video! Thank you for covering such specific aspects of the internet. Internet history and analysis has quickly become a favourite KZbin subgenre of mine.

[@leahc3357]

thank you so so much for all the hard work you put into your content. Truly amazing, I love listening to you talk . Thank you again

[@icecold0098]

watching storytimes always reminded me of high school when you would accidentally over hear the fucked up and wild things popular people did over the weekend💀

[@Life_After_]

I really love this series. Thanks for the thoughtful analysis.

[@raejadehansen1789]

Okay I def wasn''t excited for this one because I LOVE storytimes. but this has turned out to be another banger, why was I even worried. Tiff you're always on point, thanks for another informative vid.