The crippling experience of browsing Internet videos is mimicked – intentionally, I think – in “The YouTube Effect,” a discursive documentary that collects quite a bit of information about YouTube’s impact on society, but struggles to say anything new about it . . Directed by Alex Winter, the film charts the rise of the video-sharing platform and then attempts to trace the Sasquatch-sized footprint on the culture.
YouTube, the second most popular site in the world (after Google), is an incentive machine. Mimicking this quality, the film finds a formal rhythm by combining a mishmash of YouTube clips with voice-over analysis from technical experts. It also highlights several popular YouTube creators, including social commentator Natalie Wynn, who is best known for her channel ContraPoints. A persuasive speaker, Wynn says she turned down offers to partner with streamers or cable because she values the “creative control” that YouTube offers.
Interrupting these success stories are tangents to some troubling chapters in the site’s history. We hear from video game developer Brianna Wu, a target of death threats during Gamergate, and from Caleb Cain, describing his tumbling in an array of far-right videos. Much has been reported about these events – “Rabbit Hole,” a DailyExpertNews podcast, that chronicles Cain’s experience – and the sections often feel like retreads.
The internet moves fast, perhaps too fast for such an unfocused overview. Even Winter seems overwhelmed with the task of compiling this deluge of white noise news and memes: His rundown of YouTube’s connection to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is about as long as the “Charlie Bit My Finger” viral video .
The YouTube effect
Not judged. Running time: 1 hour 39 minutes. In theatres.