The Curious Case of the YouTube Comment.

Let’s face it, YouTube is not renowned for the quality of its comments. It appears to count among its ranks whole regiments of people easily roused to emotional nausea, and much given to spewing forth tirades of vomitous invective liberally sprinkled with words beginning with f and s. There are even those who are habitually given to suggesting that male appendages be deposited in ears. I never had a clue what that one was about; I assume it’s a colonial thing, since the tone is usually redneck in nature.

They don’t bother me, since the abiding impression is always that the commenter is suffering more than the recipient, and so they can be viewed with amusement. The ones that really irritate me are the ones that offer no comment at all, but simply quote the lyrics. Somebody has just listened to Land Down Under, and their comment reads:

‘Do you come from the land down under

Where women glow and men thunder?’

That’s it; that’s all there is. Why? Why would I want to read some words I’ve just been listening to? What’s the point? Can anybody tell me?

My own comments are, of course, literate, incisive and generally well-intentioned (!) Just occasionally, however, they’re a little veiled. There’s a song I listen to now and then, the lyrics of which amount to nothing more than:

Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum-tittee

I asked:

‘Does anybody know what language this is? Is it Japanese, or something?’

Sadly, the humour went begging. I got a reply which said:

‘It’s Gaelic, or Irish to be precise.’

Thank God for precision, I say. Here’s a man who really knows his stuff. That’s a rare quality on YouTube.