YouTube is the biggest video streaming service on the internet. With billions of people that use the site each day, there are endless opportunities for videos to get popular or “go viral.” This is the breeding ground for new ideas, popular personalities, and advertisements for new products,  so why is it that when a video becomes really popular, it is almost always a mindless video, featuring pranks, stunt fails, or just stupid, half-baked comedy.

The fact of the matter is, we are a society with short attention span, and long boring lectures belong in school (thanks adults), so why should we watch lectures if we can watch crashing cars, babies biting their siblings, and He-Man singing? We would rather laugh than be educated; that much is true.

Even adults consider school a habit of the past, preferring a quick laugh with friends rather than a talk about an interesting topic for hours. Some just do not understand, others do not have the time, but most don’t feel like sitting for an hour to watch something that they could be told in five seconds. Now some might ask, “What about shows like Game of Thrones and Avatar: The Last Airbender? Those were/are great shows that have complex plots that told multiple characters stories that were all intertwined perfectly together for one story. How are they popular?”

Well Game of Thrones is easy. It shows, regrettably to parents everywhere, nudity. This is not someone bashing on a good show, it is just that the show went way more in depth with the relationships than the books ever could, giving people characters they can get attached to, and when they die off, you feel like you’re losing a good friend, not a favorite character.

Avatar is a different story. It is a kids show, and most kid’s shows are either a ploy to market toys to the younger audience (I.E. Transformers, My Little Pony, and Lego: Ninjago), or action shows, with a plot (if they had the budget to think of one) Dragon Ball Z, Power Rangers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles come to mind. Now, Avatar started its first few episodes out as a mainly comedy series, with moments like, “This is Appa, my flying bison.”  “Right, and this is Katara, my flying sister.” But soon, the characters get flushed out, and the show becomes very dark, and has many sad moments, But It never forgets its comedy roots, reminding people that it is ok to laugh even in the bad moments of life. So why is it that a show can have things like death, revenge, abusive parents, and psychopaths, yet still make you laugh? The fact is, Avatar is a television show, and television shows are meant to be long, but not as long as a movie. That is the medium. They can be many different things: comedies, dramas, thrillers, sit-coms, and action.  When people watch TV, they sit on the couch, eat a bowl of chips, and have a lap dog in their lap. They expect the shows to be short, but long enough to finish their food.

This means the internet is its own medium, a medium of jokes, illogical arguments, and videos filled with nothing but stupidity. When people get online nowadays, they are on their phones with a pair of earphones in, waiting for class to end, sitting at an airport, or fighting boredom. This is why they need the mindless humor; it keeps them engaged (sort of) instead of daydreaming. This is where the question comes to a full circle: “Why do we love stupid?” Well, not all of us do, but if put in the right medium, whether it be a video, a song, a movie, a book, or a TV Show, the idea can shine as bright as anything else.