It's OK to unfollow your old YouTube faves

Platforms like YouTube, in the grand scheme of things, haven't been around that long. Nearly 20 years is a long time, however, and many of the creators who began uploading videos early on in the platform's history either aren't doing so anymore or have significantly changed the scope of content they create.

One thing that is often difficult to comprehend -- especially for those of us who were kids or teens when YouTube was still very new and quite small -- is that just as many of the creators we used to follow borderline obsessively have changed, we too have changed.

I recently went through the list of people I was still following online and not only realized that I still followed a few once-favorite creators -- but even more surprising than that was the realization that I didn't necessarily want to be following them anymore.

And a sense of guilt washed over me in that moment. I used to watch their videos all the time. I interacted with their content, I liked their posts, I felt connected to them. It's been years since I've sat down to watch their new uploads. Yet that sense of loyalty still felt so important to me. I didn't need to still be following them, but hitting that unfollow button felt strange.

To grow on the internet is to come to an understanding that you may not enjoy the things you used to, and that does not mean you are somehow a worse version of yourself. You are simply different. The things online that used to appeal to you perhaps no longer do. The people who used to make you laugh and think and feel maybe don't have that same effect on you anymore.

It's OK. You can unfollow them. It may be comforting to know that as genuinely kind as they may be in person, they probably won't miss you when you're gone.