Traveler's Notebook :: Thumbs Down?

I am incredibly anxious about posting this page but it is something that has been on my mind for a while. My favourite social media platform has to be Instagram. I love it's positivity and supportive community. And while I love YouTube – for those very same reasons – I really struggle with the negative aspect of "thumbs down". I just can't work out what its purpose is apart from trying to make people feel bad. I've seen thumbs down on baby announcements, emotionally open and vulnerable posts, and almost every other type of video. And I don't understand the point.

I'm REALLY lucky that the vast majority of my feedback on YouTube is incredibly supportive, but I can't help feeling terrible when I see someone's video get a thumbs down or when I get a random thumbs down myself. I know I shouldn't but I do. So much time and effort goes into making videos, and apart from that, somedays (like today) it takes everything I have to push past my fear and anxiety and put a little piece of myself out there for judgement. And I can't be the only one who feels like that, right?

I don't expect everybody to love every one of my videos, even I have stopped watching videos from people I love because I didn't agree or just wasn't interested. But that's really as far as it needs to go. Just stop watching.

Making this page really did help get some of these thoughts out of my head and on to paper so I'm glad I made it. But it doesn't stop me feeling sick about posting this today. So let me ask a favour, if you don't agree with me – just stop watching.

And here is the process video of how this layout came together...


You can watch this video on YouTube or subscribe to my YouTube channel here.