Imagine this: it’s 2010 and you’ve just gotten home from school. You flip on the television, sit down on the couch with a few snacks (Gushers, anyone?) and tune into the newest Wizards of Waverly Place episode. Life is simple.

For us older folk in Generation Z (people born from the late ’90s to early 2000s), this was our daily activity after school for most of us. Until now.

With the rise of YouTube and the decrease of television use, kids are now tunning into the latest Emma Chamberlain (the latest and greatest YouTuber right now) episode rather than watching the newest television episode, leaving TV networks like Disney Channel and Nickelodeon in the dust.

Though you may be shedding tears over the sign of the times, this shift is not that bad. The question to be asked is: what caused this tectonic shift in the entertainment industry from kids aged 5-17? What are the key differences between YouTube and your traditional television?

We must turn our attention to the accessibility of the two. While it would be a sight to be seen, you cannot carry your television set around in your back pocket. That means, no tv-on-the-go and less interest peak in return.

However, on the other side of the coin, YouTube allows you the accessibility to watch your favorite YouTuber from the car, in the doctor’s office or walking to school if you have excellent multitasking capabilities (though I would highly advise against that).

YouTube is such a vast platform for entertainment, that viewers can find exact communities for their exact personalities. If your passion is guitar, you can find a plentiful amount of guitar channels suited towards your liking, some channels with comedic bits added into the mix. This is not the case with television networks.

The characters on Disney shows didn’t have super-unique traits that YouTubers have, with bland, cookie-cutter quirks and attributes that could mess with kids further down the road once their true personalities begin to develop. YouTubers are real people with real-world problems, making them more interesting and relatable in return. Niche communities are made within the realm of YouTube, the average consumer having the ability to pick and choose which community they fit into.

One key downside of YouTube, however, is how often videos are put out. With television, you can be ensured that the newest episode of your favorite show will come out on a certain day. With YouTube, this is not the case. YouTubers typically post their videos whenever they see fit, which hurts the interest of their subscribers, who could lose interest over time. If the next video upload is unknown, the YouTuber could lose subscribers or just interest to the channel.

This may seem like a downside, but when a YouTuber does finally post a new video, their subscribers scramble to their computers, excited to see what happens in the latest video: what jokes are made or what ‘tea’ is spilled.

So though your hearts will always stay with the innocence of our younger days and you may rattle your fists toward the new kids on the block and their “strange” habits, don’t act like you haven’t spent many hours on YouTube. It’s an app all of us (for the most part) have fallen victim to, whether we like it or not. On another note, have you seen the latest Bon Appétit video? Amazing!