Something, something content creator - Part 1
Are there any creativity in content creation anymore? The constant barrage of lazy food vlogs, fake street interviews and over-sensationalised news on seemingly innocuous events highlights just how one-dimensional Malaysian content creators have become.
For the budding content creator, I can understand this. It is difficult to spend days, months even, to produce a piece of work on top of the 9-5 and making reactionary content allows one to quickly hone their video production skills. Sometimes, this is a necessary starting point for many creators.
However, we have entire companies (WeirdKaya, mgag, WabiKong, etc.) with full time production teams churning out reels after reels of unimaginative, repetitive and sometimes disinformed videos.
I think it is important for us to be critical of the art we consume, lest the rise of A.I. brings about the total annihilation of any future artistic endeavours.
Food
I have a particular disdain towards food vloggers, especially those that operate on short form social media platforms. Approaching these 30-second food vlogs critically, one quickly observes that there is little to no substance in said media. There are typically no meaningful critique, appreciation or historical insight towards the food they are served, just vague, cliche and somewhat 'politically correct', bordering on bland, remarks carefully crafted to draw in a large number of people on their afternoon breaks towards their video covering at most mediocre and at worst expensive food.
One glance at the comment section of the plethora of videos these "foodie influencers" (for they do not even have the courage to call themselves food critics) make shows that their reviews are more often misses than hits. You need both artistic and journalistic integrity when doing a piece of content on restaurants, both of which are severely lacking in Malaysian content creators.
tbc ...