In the age when thousands of online personalities are created on social media every day, it’s not easy to get noticed. It seems like you have to be the loudest and the brightest one out of millions, for people to pay attention to what you have to share. But what if there are other ways? A community of vloggers in South Korea chooses to create content that is the exact opposite of the classic flashy and eventful YouTube. These vloggers draw attention to the little everyday things – pouring a cup of tea in the morning, or sliding into the flannel pajamas at night.
What Exactly is Korean Silent Youtube?
A group of vloggers in South Korea created a new world within YouTube. They vlog anonymously, not showing their faces, and never speaking in their videos as well. Sometimes, there’s music in the background, but most often their vlogs are accompanied by nothing but the simple sounds of life – the buzz of a coffee machine working or the clutter of a dog’s paws on the wooden floor. For these reasons, this YouTube movement is called “silent” or “anonymous”.
Is My Life Boring?
I think most of us are familiar with the feeling of envy and jealousy that social media content often evokes. We constantly see updates from people whose life always seems better – they wake up earlier, travel more, have healthier relationships and better clothes. This stream of what my life could look like but for some reason doesn’t, often makes me feel insecure, insignificant. Because while I see others sunbathing in Bali or getting their dream job at Google, I’m struggling to finish my homework or making the same meal for dinner for the fifth time this week, or simply procrastinating on the couch.
But what we often forget is how little is usually shown through social media. The influencers, as well as ‘normal’ people, prefer to share the brightest moments of their lives. Not because they want to lie to you, but because those are the moments they want to remember izmir escort themselves. Seeing others sharing their accomplishments and fascinating experiences can make us feel like the little everyday things we do are not significant, exciting, or beautiful enough. We forget that these things are part of everyone’s life, many people just choose not to share them.
When I first discovered Korean silent vloggers, their videos made me feel the exact opposite. It was in the middle of the pandemic, and there was literally nothing exciting happening in my life. I used to wake up, spend 8 hours in front of my laptop, make dinner, watch Netflix, and go to sleep. What a relief it was to see someone on YouTube doing the exact same, and making it look beautiful and inspiring.
The Little Things
Having every day full of adventures is not always possible, especially during a pandemic. But silent vloggers show that living your everyday life is not any less meaningful. The trick is to learn to love the little things.
These vlogs made me focus on what I already have, instead of what I can’t have at the moment. Suddenly, making eggs for breakfast, or reading a book in bed, or walking my dog, became the exciting parts of my day that inspired me to wake up in the morning. Finding beauty in my routine that seemed so boring before, made me feel fulfilled. It doesn’t matter if I didn’t run a marathon or travel to India today – as long as I made time for something that makes me happy, my day was successful.
Having spent most of my life in a fast-paced city like Moscow made me value speed and quantity over quality and meaningfulness. I often feel like a hamster in a wheel, running for the purpose of running, and doing things merely for the purpose of doing something. Silent vlogs helped me realize that no matter how many things I cross off my to-do list, they won’t matter unless I truly experience them.
Nobody likes cleaning the toilet unless you’re Monica Geller. The idea that silent YouTubers translate is to find things in your everyday life that you love and live through them to the fullest, not to love every moment of your day.
I don’t want to be a hypocrite and say that you can find magic in every single thing you do. Nobody likes cleaning the toilet unless you’re Monica Geller. The idea that silent YouTubers translate is to find things in your everyday life that you love and live through them to the fullest, not to love every moment of your day. Often, we have to do things that don’t bring us any joy, but if there’s something else that does, it makes life a lot easier, even when nothing “exciting” seems to be going on.
A Sneak Peek of Someone Else’s Life
What I like the most about the anonymity of silent vlogs is the feeling of presence that they give to the viewer. Usually, when a classic YouTuber shows his/her face and talks to the camera, it gives a very clear impression that you’re being shown whatever he/she chooses. Anonymous vlogs, on the other hand, make you feel like you were let into someone’s life and allowed to observe it for a while. As if you were there instead of the camera.
Very often, it helps me deal with loneliness. Even before the pandemic, it was not common to see how other people live, unless you live with them. You probably don’t know how and when others wake up, cook dinner, or reply to emails. Sometimes it makes you wonder if the way you’re doing things or what you’re feeling at the moment is normal. When watching anonymous vlogs, not only do I feel like I have company while going through my day, but I also sometimes feel relieved that someone does things the way I do them. For example, some people find it strange that I let my dog sleep on the couch or that I drink tea with milk, but seeing vloggers do it as well made me feel better.
My Favorite Silent Vloggers from South Korea
Here I want to share some of my favorite silent YouTubers that I recently discovered. I hope they will also inspire you to fall in love with your everyday life.
- 해그린달 haegreendal
2. 슛뚜sueddeu
3. 냥숲nyangsoop
4. 아지Aji살림_Housewife Story
Cover: Unsplash
Edited by: Rajal Monga
