“We believe these YouTube channels have helped us come closer to people who live on the other side of the border and share the same roots,” said a Pakistani YouTuber
A reaction video on Indian rapper Emiway’s song ‘Machayenge’ got 29 lakh views on Namkeen Sach, a Pakistani YouTube channel, recently. Apart from cultural discoveries, the channel has also become a platform for commentary against divisive politics.
The reaction video forms a sub-culture unto itself. A host watches a video, which viewers see in-screen. The trend started in the late 2000s, when YouTube culture itself was coming into its own, as a form of vicarious viewing experience. There is usually nothing extraordinary about the content, except the inexplicable popularity of the sub-genre. Now, away from the chest-thumping rhetoric of social media, twice removed Pakistani reaction video channels are making an effort to keep conversations about Indian culture alive within the country. And people are tuning in.
The reaction video forms a sub-culture unto itself. A host watches a video, which viewers see in-screen. The trend started in the late 2000s, when YouTube culture itself was coming into its own, as a form of vicarious viewing experience. There is usually nothing extraordinary about the content, except the inexplicable popularity of the sub-genre. Now, away from the chest-thumping rhetoric of social media, twice removed Pakistani reaction video channels are making an effort to keep conversations about Indian culture alive within the country. And people are tuning in.