The joy of holiday specials.

[rogueslayer452]

++ With YouTube attempting to block anyone from using adblockers, it just really highlights the absolute capitalistic bullshittery that's been happening online over the recent years. Listen, websites need money to continue to exist, we know and understand this. At best, it's an inconvenient annoyance. However, bombarding people with an endless string of unnecessary and oftentimes unskippable ads isn't going to win people over. And forcing people to see them by taking away their choice to block it just so you can get money is going to repel them even more.

++ Because it's nearing Halloween, this is something that's been on my mind recently. I absolutely love holiday special episodes in television shows, which is something I think has been lost in the recent years of streaming that has drastically reduced episode numbers per season. Aside from losing the episodic factor, it doesn't allow us to get these amazing holiday-centric episodes that can be silly and ridiculous or just overall festive in tone. It can be plot-related or just something completely separate. Sure, not all of them are winners, but the joy comes from seeing what the writers can come up with to accommodate to the holiday themed episode, and if nothing else let us be entertained. Halloween and Christmas special episodes are my favorite, though Thanksgiving episodes can also be just as good too, if nothing else than for the autumn aesthetic. And I think that's what I like about these special holiday episodes, it's the aesthetic. Whether it advances the seasonal plot or not, you can always count on those holiday episodes of providing some kind of festive aesthetic vibe.

(Similarly, while I don't really watch them, I can understand the appeal of Hallmark holiday movies, since they provide a similar dedication to the aesthetic of the holiday they're centering the story around. Every scene, every location, every frame is filmed with lights and decorations so you don't forget what holiday they're in, lol.)

Comments

[rogueslayer452]

I honestly don't know. I've gotten the little "warning" popup before videos sometimes about how YouTube doesn't allow adblockers that I've been able to exit out of (even the "videoplayer will stop working after three videos" if you continued to use an adblocker), but haven't gotten anything beyond that and haven't been bombarded with unwanted ads. I've seen some people say that they were, in fact, affected by having their adblocker extensions no longer working. I guess it depends and is randomized.

[tabaqui]

Huh. I've never seen that warning at all. Sucks to be them; YT shows too MANY ads.

[rhoda_rants]

I'm on Firefox running uBlockOrigin and I was coming in here to say the same thing: I never see those pop-ups. It's a VERY different YT experience, and every time I have to use it for work I remember why I installed all that in the first place.

[tabaqui]

Dear gods, yes, this.

[rogueslayer452]

I'm on Firefox too and I had recently just got uBlockOrigin before all this happened, and I still saw them. Although recently I haven't seen anything since (and I hope it remains that way). I only got several of those popup messages and not on every video, it was totally random.

[rhoda_rants]

There *might* be additional steps/scripts you need to add to YouTube specifically: https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/178yasm/youtube_antiadblock_and_ads_october_16_2023/

Oh wait--you're not logging in, are you? I haven't logged into YouTube in years. A lot of crap doesn't work if you log in. That's Google's fault, I think.

[rogueslayer452]

I am logged into YT, yes, although aside from the initial messages I haven't had much of a problem lately. I do have that link saved in case I might need it should anything change.

[rhoda_rants]

Okay yeah. I don't subscribe or ding the bell or whatever else; I memorize all my favorite creators' names and type them into the search bar by hand. It just occurred to me most people probably don't do that.

[rogueslayer452]

I only just subscribe to certain channels, which isn't that much I'll be honest. Otherwise I don't do much of anything else. I also use the search bar for most things anyway, which memorizes what I looked for.

[goodbyebird]

I think it depends on what browser you're currently on, and how up to date your ad blocker is.

[rogueslayer452]

Interesting. That would make sense, actually.