vlogmas + a heightened parasocial relationship for christmas
as someone who grew up in the era of the brit crew + longs to visit Brighton exclusively because it’s Zoella’s stomping grounds, I have about a decade of experience with vlogmas.
vlogmas: a 24-day tradition where YouTubers post daily vlogs, edited in real time from the start of December until Christmas day. sort of like an advent calendar, but you get to watch a new video from your favorite YouTuber instead of having a chocolate each day.
there are some variations on vlogmas now for creators who don’t have the time, energy, or will to film + post videos every day, but initially, the point of vlogmas was to increase the real-time feel of vlog style videos. watching your favorite YouTuber’s day in my life videos is always fun, but for the month of December, it feels more like you’re on FaceTime with them.
because of the short turnaround time, vlogmas videos are often less edited + include more raw footage, including pauses, stumbles, + mistakes that would have been edited out or corrected on screen if it was a typical vlog. not only does vlogmas have a sense of urgency viewers love, it has a more authentic feel than more heavily edited videos that are full of jump cuts to remove pauses + on screen text to correct slips of the tongue.
plus, with the heavy posting schedule, viewers have something new to watch + look forward to every single day. instead of just once, twice, or even thrice a week, vlogmas participants post all seven days of the week, giving viewers hours of extra content. although it’s a lot of work, the extra hours might pay off. vlogmas is a great way to reengage viewers, keep them coming back, + put yourself in a good position to be found by new viewers.
as a big reader (my YouTube recap said my top interest this year was “reading adventures”), I’m also a big fan of a newer variation on this tradition – bookmas. for bookmas, book content creators will increase their posting schedule for the same time period, giving their viewers more bookish content leading up to Christmas.
I’ve seen creators go about it a few different ways:
- 12 videos, one a day either from December 1-12 or December 13-24
- 12 videos, one every other day from December 1-24
- for the truly dedicated, 24 videos, one every day December 1-24
the main difference between vlogmas + bookmas, besides the fact that the videos are often sit-down, chatty videos about books instead of daily vlogs, is that many (if not all) the videos are pre-filmed. mostly, this is because instead of sharing their daily life, these creators are posting recommendations, reading vlogs, week or 24-hour long challenges, + other videos that require more than one day to make. you can’t really talk about a ton of books if you haven’t taken the time to read them.
now, don’t get me wrong, I love bookmas. but it’s not the same as vlogmas. the temporal element is lost. it doesn’t give the same feeling of experiencing someone’s life as they’re living it. + yes, I know it’s not a livestream, but it maintains its real-time feel while also still being a sort of highlight reel of the most interesting parts of the day.
in an era where we crave authenticity + connection from the creators we follow, vlogmas is a way to for vloggers to maintain boundaries while giving the people what they want – plus, it’s a healthy dose of holiday spirit, both for the creator doing the holiday things + the viewer watching them do it all.
another favorite part of vlogmas (at least for the Zoella method) is that at the end of each day/vlog the creator will answer a question that a viewer left on the previous video. it’s another way for creators to connect with their audience + make their vlogs feel more collaborative + less one-sided, building a stronger bond between creator + audience.
does it sound a little parasocial? maybe, but I firmly believe you can enjoy someone’s content, watch it regularly (even daily) + still maintain your grasp on reality. while I might say these daily vlogs *feel* like being on FaceTime with the creator, I know that I am not, in fact, actually on FaceTime with them.
disregarding having plenty of content to watch every night as I sit at home enjoying my rent, my other favorite part of vlogmas + bookmas is talking to my (real life) friend about the new videos every day since we watch the same YouTubers. the content isn’t just consumed + forgotten, it sparks conversation + acts as an excuse to reach out to someone I wouldn’t necessarily otherwise get to talk to that consistently.
so here’s to stronger connections this Christmas season, both real + virtual.
