Stampylonghead
August 31, 2014 6:19 PM Subscribe
Tens of millions a viewers a month watch Youtube videos of an orange and white cat and his friends playing in Minecraft. Twenty-three year old Joseph Garrett plans to use Minecraft as a platform for launching an educational channel.
In the news: 1 2 3
[via 6 y.o carter jr., who has been binge watching this since discovering it a few days ago]
In the news: 1 2 3
[via 6 y.o carter jr., who has been binge watching this since discovering it a few days ago]
Kids today, with their cellular phones and multimedia empires.
posted by davebush at 6:39 PM on August 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by davebush at 6:39 PM on August 31, 2014 [3 favorites]
Wow, does anyone know if it's appropriate for adults to like Stampy? This is hilarious.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:45 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:45 PM on August 31, 2014
My 6-y.-o. will randomly call out "HelLO, it's STAMP-AY!" just so she can make me flinch.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:45 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:45 PM on August 31, 2014
I remember trying to explain the "youtube phenomenon" to older relatives in like 2010. And now this shit comes along and proves that the future is always far weirder than you expect it to be.
posted by DGStieber at 6:47 PM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by DGStieber at 6:47 PM on August 31, 2014 [1 favorite]
We talked about ASMR videos recently; I wonder if this isn't another form of it. His Stampy personality is very friendly and open ... always.
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 6:49 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 6:49 PM on August 31, 2014
I'm reassured to discover it isn't just my kids who love Stampy.
posted by Area Man at 6:56 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by Area Man at 6:56 PM on August 31, 2014
Yeah, last Christmas I hung out with my 7-year-old nephew, who seemed to divide his free time about equally between rainbow-looming and watching Stampy videos. He occasionally played Minecraft, too, but he watched Stampy more often. Oh, and he also wanted to make videos of himself explaining how to make rainbow loom bracelets and post them on YouTube. Current kid culture is kind of endearingly odd.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:01 PM on August 31, 2014 [6 favorites]
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:01 PM on August 31, 2014 [6 favorites]
I think watching Stampy and then wanting to make your own youtube videos is definitely a trend with kids these days. I know of at least two that fit the mold.
posted by oddman at 7:13 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by oddman at 7:13 PM on August 31, 2014
argh! my kid loves Stampy sooo much. At first it was just curious to see him spending more time watching youtube vidoes of someone else playing Minecraft, and now he branched out into watching other people play as well.
I'm trying to use it as a springboard into teaching him how to program, since Stampy visits a lot of "modded" servers and my son is now talking about making his own mods. So maybe something useful can be wrung from it. I don't understand the appeal myself.
posted by inthe80s at 7:51 PM on August 31, 2014
I'm trying to use it as a springboard into teaching him how to program, since Stampy visits a lot of "modded" servers and my son is now talking about making his own mods. So maybe something useful can be wrung from it. I don't understand the appeal myself.
posted by inthe80s at 7:51 PM on August 31, 2014
Stampy merely has an annoying voice, but he's benign. Wait until the kids graduate to Markiplier, Pewdiepie, et al. Where they're not just annoying but yell FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK every ten seconds.
posted by fungible at 8:05 PM on August 31, 2014
posted by fungible at 8:05 PM on August 31, 2014
*Watches channel trailer*
Okay, so not an actual cat playing Minecraft, right? Twitch experiments may have spoiled me.
posted by figurant at 8:25 PM on August 31, 2014 [12 favorites]
Okay, so not an actual cat playing Minecraft, right? Twitch experiments may have spoiled me.
posted by figurant at 8:25 PM on August 31, 2014 [12 favorites]
Wait until the kids graduate to Markiplier, Pewdiepie, et al.
Oh man. Pewdiepie is just awful. Let's hope they skip that phase.
posted by ZaphodB at 8:29 PM on August 31, 2014
Oh man. Pewdiepie is just awful. Let's hope they skip that phase.
posted by ZaphodB at 8:29 PM on August 31, 2014
My kids (8 and 4) are total Stampy addicts. More time is spent watching him than actually playing mine craft.
But I've listened to enough of them to say I think the reason why he is so successful is because he has the personality of a children's tv present - endlessly enthusiastic and full of energy and can be relied on not to swear.
They've also been watching him play Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch and are disgusted I won't buy them a PS3 and an import game to fulfil their love for all things Ghibli.
posted by hfnuala at 12:23 AM on September 1, 2014
But I've listened to enough of them to say I think the reason why he is so successful is because he has the personality of a children's tv present - endlessly enthusiastic and full of energy and can be relied on not to swear.
They've also been watching him play Ni No Kuni: Wrath Of The White Witch and are disgusted I won't buy them a PS3 and an import game to fulfil their love for all things Ghibli.
posted by hfnuala at 12:23 AM on September 1, 2014
Films are going to be pretty odd in 25 to 30 years when this generation is making them.
posted by Segundus at 1:12 AM on September 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by Segundus at 1:12 AM on September 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Yeah my two have watched Stampy a lot. TV companies should be shitting themselves if they are anything to go by. They watch very, very little TV at all, they just go after what they're interested in on YouTube and I can't see them changing in later life.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:06 AM on September 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 2:06 AM on September 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
Films
Fuh-il-...ems? Hmm. What is that exactly? Oh like vids? They're already making those.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:27 AM on September 1, 2014
Fuh-il-...ems? Hmm. What is that exactly? Oh like vids? They're already making those.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:27 AM on September 1, 2014
In 50 years, will people watch 2 hour movies? I doubt it.
posted by davebush at 4:21 AM on September 1, 2014
posted by davebush at 4:21 AM on September 1, 2014
Another mom with a YouTube watcher here. Mine is 8 and while he started off actually, you know, playing minecraft these days he's much more likely to be watching someone else play. I find it so weird but he loves it. It's YouTube, video games and Netflix (which we watch on the computer or handheld devices) at our house. The TV is like some strange sculpture in the corner of the room.
posted by Cuke at 4:40 AM on September 1, 2014
posted by Cuke at 4:40 AM on September 1, 2014
Another Stampy family chiming in here. Stampy and Squid have been playing a lot of adventure maps, which has convinced my kid to try and design an adventure map (with me) which leads him to think about storytelling and pacing and all sorts of things.
Also, I love the White Witch playthrough so much -- he's so much less frentic in those, too.
And, after reading some of his interviews, I love his philosophy on the series -- the swear jar, the idea that he knows kids are watching and tries to speak directly to them.
Love Stampy.
(Sometimes I watch him when no one else is home. That's bad, right?)
posted by anastasiav at 7:08 AM on September 1, 2014
Also, I love the White Witch playthrough so much -- he's so much less frentic in those, too.
And, after reading some of his interviews, I love his philosophy on the series -- the swear jar, the idea that he knows kids are watching and tries to speak directly to them.
Love Stampy.
(Sometimes I watch him when no one else is home. That's bad, right?)
posted by anastasiav at 7:08 AM on September 1, 2014
Related: YouTube: top 100 channels' views have grown 80% in the last year:
posted by effbot at 7:12 AM on September 1, 2014
The second biggest YouTube channel in July 2014 was DisneyCollector, with its collection of toy-unboxing videos racking up 268m views in the month, putting it ahead of musician Shakira’s 226.6m views.(#1 appears to be persona non grata on mefi, so won't mention him)
Gaming channels Stampy (199.6m views) and The Diamond Minecart (186.1m views) took fourth and fifth places in Tubefilter’s latest monthly chart.
posted by effbot at 7:12 AM on September 1, 2014
Same - though it sounds like Stampy is much better than some of the amped up young males he's currently watching.
Then he wants whatever mod they're playing, plays it for about half an hour and he's done.
I think there's a big draw to being peripherally involved in the socializing of older kids. It's not a parents thing, it's just kids, but they're older and including the youngers as their audience. And he laughs and laughs at the pranks (long discussions and experimentation about what makes funny trolling and what is just mean).
Darned interesting to say the least.
posted by emmet at 7:19 AM on September 1, 2014
Then he wants whatever mod they're playing, plays it for about half an hour and he's done.
I think there's a big draw to being peripherally involved in the socializing of older kids. It's not a parents thing, it's just kids, but they're older and including the youngers as their audience. And he laughs and laughs at the pranks (long discussions and experimentation about what makes funny trolling and what is just mean).
Darned interesting to say the least.
posted by emmet at 7:19 AM on September 1, 2014
PewDiePie's okay. Actin' dumb and silly for entertainment is hardly something new or indicative of some kind of worldwide IQ crisis. He's having fun and acting carefree so his viewers have fun. And what's more, he's visibly making his own very successful videos (encouraging creativity) and deals pretty regularly with less-popular, indie, or even niche games, which is more than can be said for the inaccessible and throughly mainstream...ificated worlds of other #1 entertainers on TV and the suchlike.
Do wish he wouldn't call me a bro, but whatevs. He's alright.
posted by Drexen at 7:35 AM on September 1, 2014
Do wish he wouldn't call me a bro, but whatevs. He's alright.
posted by Drexen at 7:35 AM on September 1, 2014
Oh, and I think Stampy is great. He saw something that was missing, reacted quickly and confidently, and made something that huge numbers of kids absolutely adore while being pretty much 100% inoffensive. Again, that's something that 'old media' is barely ever capable of.
posted by Drexen at 7:37 AM on September 1, 2014
posted by Drexen at 7:37 AM on September 1, 2014
You know, when Minecraft came out, if you'd asked me how kids would like it, I'd have probably said not much, they will want amazing graphics and fast gameplay, and this will bore them.
I'm going to take out a short position in myself, I think.
posted by thelonius at 8:26 AM on September 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'm going to take out a short position in myself, I think.
posted by thelonius at 8:26 AM on September 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Thanks to this post I'm getting hooked on Stampy, and I've never played Minecraft! I'm a little fond of SqaieshyDuck.
posted by divabat at 6:21 AM on September 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by divabat at 6:21 AM on September 2, 2014 [1 favorite]
I think a good way to approach the entertainment value of things like this, is to not think of it as watching other people play games, but rather entertainers using games as a cheap, easily accessible film set or animation studio. Especially things like Stampy and most of the minecraft community of youtubers. (Minecraft is particularly good for this as you can build basically anything you can imagine.)
There are youtubers out there that are more focused on the game-play, but I think those have a different appeal. Those are more similar to watching a skate-boarding video if you're a skateboarder. It's cool to see what other people are doing, or if you can't afford a skateboard but really want to (or if they are just better than you), to live vicariously through them.
But overall, the most successful are the entertainers, and they use videogames as their set.
posted by mayonnaises at 11:57 AM on September 2, 2014
There are youtubers out there that are more focused on the game-play, but I think those have a different appeal. Those are more similar to watching a skate-boarding video if you're a skateboarder. It's cool to see what other people are doing, or if you can't afford a skateboard but really want to (or if they are just better than you), to live vicariously through them.
But overall, the most successful are the entertainers, and they use videogames as their set.
posted by mayonnaises at 11:57 AM on September 2, 2014
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posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 6:20 PM on August 31, 2014