"589 likes, 70 shares, and 1k plus comments? Oh shit, it gained this much attention? No wonder I became the talk of the school!"
I looked at the comments and instantly felt happy because people were praising the edits I had spent hours making.
I clicked the comment section.
The first thing I saw made me laugh.
"The father chasing him was the best part HAHAHAHAHA. If that were my father, he would beat me without mercy."
Another one.
"Your mom looks so done with you. You shouldn't distract your father while cooking for once in his life hahaha."
Then another.
"This editing style is so funny. How did you make this? Show us the tutorial!!"
I scrolled further.
"Upload more!"
"Why is this kid more entertaining than the vloggers I watch? This is the first time I've seen something like this!!"
"Hehehehehe." I couldn't stop grinning while reading.
Then suddenly
"Who edited this? This doesn't feel like a normal vlog."
I froze for a second.
Right.
That's because most of the editing styles I used shouldn't even exist yet during this time.
Reaction inserts. Random sound effects. Zoom-ins during funny moments. These would become common in the future. However, videos today still looked plain, usually with only hyping music in the background.
I quickly calmed myself down and looked at the time. It was still early. I would open the shop at 5:30. Practice had ended early today, and I also took a tricycle on the way home, so I managed to arrive earlier than usual.
I continued scrolling.
Some comments came from my classmates.
Jomarie: "PROUD TO BE PART OF HONEST RANGERS."
"Delete this shit immediately," I whispered in disgust before deleting the comment.
"This idiot even advertised our embarrassing group name!"
Then another one.
Kyle: "I SAW THIS GUY IN PERSON. HE IS MORE ANNOYING IN REAL LIFE."
"Fuck you!"
Then another.
Raven: "The cameraman should get slapped."
"I'll slap you and your dog when I see you."
And then
Madam Louise: "Very creative editing. But don't forget your homework."
I stared at the screen in horror.
"HEY!! What the hell, ma'am? That shouldn't be said publicly!"
Then I realized something even worse.
The comment section had turned into a huge group chat.
"Fuck…"
I refreshed the page again.
The notifications kept increasing every few seconds.
1.2k comments.
1.3k comments.
A lot of people were adding me as a friend. I immediately accepted them all, which made my hand numb from clicking nonstop.
My inbox also exploded.
Most of them were classmates from other sections.
Others were random people asking:
"What editing software do you use?"
"Can you teach me how to edit?"
"Upload more videos!"
Then I looked back at the numbers again.
589 likes.
70 shares.
By future standards, this would look normal. However, in 2013? This was already huge. Not everyone had easy access to Facebook. Most people used computer cafés just to surf the internet, so getting this much attention was already a massive accomplishment.
This was especially true for a random student from a province. Most students here were poor and rarely went online, unlike in urban areas where people had more spare money.
This was massive.
I leaned back in the computer chair while staring at the screen.
My heart started beating faster.
This feeling…
It was addicting.
Seeing the notifications increase while people pay attention to you.
I hadn't even felt this in my previous life. I knew I had achieved a lot back then, but if I walked around a place like my old school, nobody would recognize me.
No wonder people in the future became obsessed with social media.
I finally understood it firsthand.
"Hehehe…"
I covered my face while laughing quietly.
"I think… I really can make this work."
---
After enjoying the moment and finally calming down, I decided to advertise my YouTube channel.
I posted the link on Facebook and created a Facebook page as well. Accepting every friend request individually was exhausting, so the page would solve that problem. Of course, I would still accept all the requests so more people could see my posts.
After doing all that, I started feeling tired. I had gotten way too excited today. My heartbeat was still fast, and it drained me quickly.
However, knowing that people were already waiting for the next video motivated me to edit another one.
This time, it became easier because I already had the files saved on the PC from the previous video. Most of the materials I used were already there, so I only needed to download a few more things.
You might be wondering about privacy. People could access my videos if I left them on the shop computer.
Well, there was a technique we used to hide things on a PC.
We created a folder inside another folder, then another folder inside that one. The process continued until around the eleventh folder.
How did we remember it?
We used our cellphone number as a guide. For example, if the first number was 9, the file would be inside the ninth folder. If the next number was 5, then it would be inside the fifth folder within that one.
Something like that.
A few minutes later, the editing was done.
The video took about thirty minutes to make, which was half the time compared to the previous one.
Looking at the raw footage, which was around an hour and a half long, only thirty minutes were actually exciting. I had to remove almost an entire hour of boring parts.
I also managed to make two more short videos from the leftover clips, each around eight minutes long.
I posted them on my Facebook page, shared them through my personal account, and uploaded them to my YouTube channel as well.
The more attention they gained, the better.
After finishing everything, I went back home and started my business.
Even the neighbors had already seen my video, which positively affected my sales. More customers meant more money.
This gave me a new idea for my next vlog.
I could record myself cutting hair and make a before-and-after video.
That would hit two birds with one stone.
I'd have content while also advertising my business.
I could even bring my camera to school and record our practice sessions. That way, more people would know about our group.
"Wait… that sounds tempting. However, it could backfire if we perform badly."
I paused for a moment.
"I think we should take things step by step. My groupmates might feel pressured if they know they're being recorded, and that would be counterproductive."
Ayyy, I'm getting too excited.
It was clouding my judgment.
Time passed, and I decided to close the shop later than usual because I needed more money now.
My next goal was buying a secondhand PC.
Doing things at home was far more relaxing than working inside an internet café filled with noisy children.
There were even moments when I wanted to beat some of them up.
They wouldn't stop pestering me with questions about what I was doing. I even wore headphones. Which I rarely used because they smelled terrible but they still bothered me by peeking over my shoulder.
"I should really buy a computer," I muttered as I entered the house.
Inside, I saw my father staring at me like I was a criminal.
"Here comes my ungrateful brat."
Sweat immediately started pouring down my neck.
I guess today wasn't going to be all good news after all.