Tech special: The secrets behind long-lasting but oh-so sporty road bike tyres
Journalist, photographer, songwriter and film-maker, Nick Berkeley of Bikerglory navigates the dangerous minefield of the internet
Christmas 2005. A YouTube video hits one million views for the first time. Ironically, it was an advert for Nike. Online publishing was a brave new world, allowing individuals to express themselves without corporate restriction or interference. Compared to stuffy old magazines and papers, YouTube channels were straight from the horse’s mouth, unmediated by fear or favour. That was the idea, anyway. Advertising is the reason an awful lot of web content exists, but the relationship between content and views is notoriously unpredictable. Bike vloggers are also supported by the industry, according to popularity. Fancy running a 2019 sportsbike for the season? Get serious numbers, and it shall be yours. Do enough, and the kit, flights, consumables and track time will be taken care of. Almost no-one in this excitable environment chooses to declare a full list of endowments, temporary or otherwise. There is no journalistic code of practice, no-one to monitor ethical boundaries and for the most part, precious little fact-checking beyond the spec sheets. But is this so very different from print media of a few years ago? Actually, it is. Everyone on YouTube is their own editor, and anyone can upload content irrespective of quality, or their own level of expertise. Which is the whole point: welcome to the new democracy. But it’s like a jungle out there, so how best to avoid the hazards? To some extent that depends on whether you’re looking for sheer entertainment or important information.
Print journos provide some of the more informative and objective commentary, and checking out channels they’re involved in makes an OK start point. Aspirational production values and narcissistic tendencies don’t necessarily mean you are being informed. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true: genuinely insightful observations can be hidden within a crushingly boring visual context. It’s a question of balance. If you want entertainment, head left field and off vlog. Avoid click bait straplines. Go international: the good stuff is often found by chance. Avoid comments. You may not survive the amount of crap you have to trawl through to reach them. Which pretty much sums up the entire experience.