In his article, McDaniel (2021) defines reactivity as “an affective response to media that generates further engagement…a quality of media that transforms reception into interaction by provoking a response.” While McDaniel focuses on music videos as the main content of his article, this post will expand to reaction videos in general as I feel like McDaniel’s opening segment on reactivity can be applied to the entire genre.  

One reaction video that will always stand out to me out of all the reaction videos I have watched will always be Maximillian Dood’s reactions to the Final Fantasy VII Remake (above). For context; Max is a Twitch Streamer & YouTuber who is widely known as a Final Fantasy VII super-fan. The video above demonstrates Max and his friends’ elation of the initial announcement. 

I mention this video because, when he was invited to play a demo of the game, the creators of the FFVII Remake who were present told Max that this video (along with other reaction videos) would motivate them whenever they felt down or demoralised, saying that this was the sort of reactions they were aiming to get from people.  (full story from 11:20 in the video below, 12:30 for shortened version)

 I find this to be very interesting as this does intertwine with that McDaniel was saying about reactivity transforming “reception into interaction by provoking a response”: Max’s first reaction to FFVII Remake was a passionate and elated response, to which when the developers watched it, provoked a response (albeit a private response) from them which was motivation which all came into fruition in the form of the Finished product that is the FFVII Remake.

I think this speaks on the importance of the reaction genre. As any reaction, positive or negative, can have the potential to not only reach but to speak to the original creator(s) and to motivate them to work towards creating a great product. If the reaction is passionate and doesn’t cross any major lines (I.e., hate speech) I think reactions and the idea of reactivity hold a very important place in the media industry. 

Daniel Woodburn 33650807- 23/11/2022

References

Maximillian Dood (2015) MAX’S DREAMS COME TRUE – Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trailer: REACTION. Available at: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgklYUdbL-s&t=183s] (Accessed 23/11/2022) 

Maximillian Dood (2019) Max’s Insane FFVII Remake Story (E3 2019). Available at: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OalvWEJCZBA] (Accessed 23/11/2022) 

McDaniel, B. (2021). Popular music reaction videos: Reactivity, creator labor, and the performance of listening online. New Media & Society, 23(6), 1624–1641. Available at: https://doi-org.gold.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/1461444820918549 (Accessed 23/11/2022)