“Absolutely love the Target adventures,” comments user @joanierivera1020 on the third upload of Alisha Marie McDonal’s 2023 Vlogmas series, “I’m living thru yinz all since it’s a struggle this holiday season. Thank you for my serotonin boost this afternoon!”
The video titled, “Christmas Shopping at Target w/ Remi and Oli!! Vlogmas Day 3” features the 15-year YouTube veteran doing her makeup, shopping at Target with friends and going to the movies. This is the creators tenth year participating in Vlogmas.
Vlogmas is a YouTube tradition where creators upload vlogs every day during the month of December leading up to Christmas. The series is most common among lifestyle creators and is definitely not for the weak – requiring both the filming and editing of videos with a one-or-two-day turnaround, on top of other responsibilities for the holidays and life in general. It is definitely a commitment.
For the most hardcore of Vlogmas’ largest creators, the series also takes months of prep leading up to December; filming intro photo-or-video-shoots, designing merchandise and planning content so they don’t run out of things to film over the span of the month.
McDonal’s 2023 Vlogmas uploads have featured the influencer’s day-to-day routines – anywhere from working out and taking her dog to the vet to luxury car shopping and vacationing in Miami. Despite sharing a seemingly luxe and unattainable lifestyle in her Vlogmas content, each video amasses over 100,000 views and McDonal has managed to sustain her huge online relevance since she first began uploading in 2008.
The concept of vlogging and sharing personal day-to-day routines online is not exclusive to the holiday season. The video blog has been a method of online communication since the dawn of YouTube. Adam Kontras is acknowledged as the first and longest active vlogger on the YouTube platform, uploading his first “vlog” in January of 2000. Indiana’s John and Hank Green have been uploading videos on their channel “vlogbrothers” since 2007.
A survey conducted during the second quarter of 2023 and published by Statista this October found that 34.5 percent of female internet users worldwide in the 16-24 age bracket watch vlogs weekly. In turn, the same applies to 26.3 percent of male internet users worldwide in the same age bracket.
So, what is the appeal of watching vlogs?
At first, I was approaching this column with a sense of bitter pessimism. But I spent a few hours watching the most recent Vlogmas content in preparation for writing this piece and it was something I found great pleasure in. Despite the tax-bracket and lifestyle differences between my favorite creators and I, I do really enjoy watching vlogs — especially Vlogmas series.
Truthfully, I always have.
We enjoy watching vlogs because they feel intimate. Maybe we don’t live similar lifestyles in Los Angeles mansions, but despite vloggers’ privilege, these people are also only human. They feel insecure without makeup on just like you or I might. They struggle to take care of their health sometimes, too. They deal with loss and pain just like anyone else does, and they share it with an audience of hundreds of thousands of people. The concept of vlogging has allowed for more authentic and creative creators to succeed. But maybe the exclusivity and unattainability of their lifestyles is a little entertaining to watch too.
There is also a sense of nostalgia. Some of these creators I have been watching since I was as young as elementary school age. They feel like internet big sisters.
Plus, there are plenty of vloggers whose lives look a little more relatable on screen. Riley Rehl and Audrey Atienza are two creators who share their experience and days in the life of being a college student, with more vulnerable videos on finals week, moving into the dorm and overcoming insecurities. There are over 61 million creators on the YouTube platform. You are bound to find someone who shares the same interest, experience or struggle as you in their day-to-day lives.
Perhaps @joanierivera1020 was on to something. It is easy, and sometimes nice, to receive serotonin from other people’s happiness consuming or doing what we can’t during the holidays. But it is also a harsh reality.
While the holidays can be a time of joy and gratitude, they are also a time of hardship for many families and individuals. A poll published by the Associated Press in December 2022 found that 57 percent of adults say gifts have gotten more difficult to afford. The results revealed an even more stark reality: 64 percent of families earning less than $30,000 annually found it harder to buy food during the 2022 holiday season.
Financial struggles aren’t the only concern people deal with during the holidays. There are also personal and familial issues which become more prevalent during this time of year.
Consuming Vlogmas content may act as a distraction for our own hardships during the holidays, no matter the sorts. But it doesn’t change the fact that the time of year which offers this small population a platform for great success and wealth by sharing their ostentatious lifestyles simultaneously presents great stress and struggle for a large majority of the rest of us.
