Just Despacito

YouTube’s 2017 Rewind came out and it’s exactly three things: Despacito, Poppy, fidget spinners, and a bunch of people laughing while they throw paint. That’s the entire year, according to YouTube. No depth, no German creators, just an endless row of interchangeable smiling faces.

What kills me is what’s not in there. Whole channels getting destroyed—demonetized, censored, deleted. Content aimed at kids that’s genuinely disturbing; those animation hybrids where characters are doing things children should never see, millions of views. Huge sections of the platform full of low-quality garbage designed for children whose attention spans are already cooked. But that doesn’t fit the Rewind narrative.

So you get this sanitized version instead: YouTube is paint and viral songs and everyone’s perpetually happy. And if you watch it long enough, you stop noticing what’s actually there. The demonetization, the algorithmic rot, the systematic decay of quality—those things exist somewhere off-frame. You’re not supposed to look.

I remember reading the end of the original post—this dark joke about listening to Despacito until your brain falls out and you just stop caring. I thought it was exaggeration, hyperbole about how bad things had gotten. But maybe it wasn’t a joke at all. Maybe that’s actually the deal: feed the algorithm, keep the creators smiling, and everyone keeps quiet until Despacito is all that’s left in your head.