I have many a guilty pleasure but my worst is perhaps YouTube beauty videos. Although I am very low maintenance with makeup and skincare and hardly ever change the products I use, I find myself spending hours on YouTube looking (mostly listening…this is also the age of mutli-tasking) at product “haul” videos and favourites videos.

I blame it on the culture of voyeurism the internet and perhaps reality tv have created. Wanting a peek into someone else’s life- wanting to see what products other people are using, what they bought, what they are wearing, how they organise it all. We’re a pretty curious generation. But while I’m all for information sharing, I’ve started noticing quite a bit over-sharing.

YouTubers are all real people, with lives, this I know. A little bit of mystery with these lives would not be bad. Instead there are “Get Ready with Me” videos with vloggers in the shower, “What’s in My Shower” videos showing feminine hygiene products and a “join me in the delivery room” video.

We are already invited into homes, we know what whatever part of your house you film in looks like, what you put on you face or do to your hair before you go to bed, but now we’re getting invited into delivery rooms and showers? If there were ever a moment to use or overuse the acronym TMI it would be now.

This over sharing does however speak volumes of how competitive blogging and vlogging have been become. But how far are we willing to go to be the first or best or most original? While I understand that some have made this online life into a career I think there are many who need to take a hard look at their content and determine whether half of what they are doing is necessary. Is using already watered down tags and including irrelevant information or imagery really a good, competitive strategy?