So what I’m asking here is not what your specific favourite videos are, but what your favourite TYPE of videos might be?
Mrs. RickJay and I simply can’t get enough of videos where reporters get mugged by animals. Seeing someone trying to maintain composure but failing to do so while being attacked by a pissed off animal leaves us in tears of laughter. The best of course are when the animal is a comical one, like a turkey or a small cat. (Things that could actually seriously injure you aren’t funny.) If they can get the reporter to yell obscenities, bonus points.
Example:
I could watch these all day. If Youtube put out 25 hours of fresh animals vs. reporters videos tomorrow I’d watch every minute of it by the weekend.
I enjoy watching BTS videos of old movies or TV shows, and interviews of movie and TV stars from long ago. My favorite YouTube video was a 6 part interview with Sid Caesar talking about making live TV in the 1950s.
I don’t know that I have a favorite so much as a preference to music; especially odd-ball groups like the Red Hot Chili Pipers and the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Music in general is the majority of my YT time by a slight advantage and one of the few categories I rewatch postings from.
Math videos, especially Numberphile and Vi Hart. Though I also watch a fair bit of maker videos, with things like guys who build a bronze foundry in their backyards.
This is something kids do, but I like to watch people play video games.
It’s an old habit formed in my college years. My roommates and friends liked games but they weren’t very good at them. If I played with them I’d absolutely destroy them, which was no fun for anyone, so I would just sit back and hang out while they played. I like to watch multiplayer games like Dead By Daylight or Friday the 13th or even people just fucking around in GTA Online.
Then there’s short time-killing videos about dumb shit like taste-testing Japanese Kit-Kats or whatever from Buzzfeed or Facts (which is basically Irish Buzzfeed minus the “serious” stuff).
My favorite types are science/tech videos and political videos, especially international political videos (China, Russia, Middle East, etc). I also enjoy military tech videos.
I like videos of people from one country trying common (but to them exotic) foods of another country. Americans try fish flavored Japanese snacks, Swedes try Lucky Charms, that sort of thing.
I’m an old crank so I never had much use for “watching” YouTube (versus just finding clips of things to illustrate a point) but I redid my computer recently and got into the habit of watching various videos benchmarking things or discussing upgrades when then spiraled into happily watching nonsense like testing a solid-state drive made out of a bunch of phone memory cards.
I’ve been watching a lot of old school pro wrestling shoot interviews lately. I haven’t been a fan of the business for 25 years at least, but it’s interesting to hear the real life details behind the shows we used to enjoy so much.