IN South Asia, many villages and communities have Youtube or Facebook channels, and residents are actively involved in making them a success.
Through traditional cooking tutorials, villagers show the world their culture and their daily life. But it's not just about recording scenes for posterity; such channels often tally up considerable views on these platforms and generate enough money to finance various projects for the village concerned.
Once isolated, these "Youtube Villages" are now sharing their daily routines with viewers around the planet.
A group of women are cooking for the whole village, that is, for nearly 400 people. In this video, 15 women are seen cutting the heads off mackerel, dipping the fish in boiling oil and preparing a curry sauce for a dish which they then serve to the village's entire population. This is how to make mackerel curry the "Bengali" way.
This is one of the latest videos from the AroundMeBD youtube channel, released a few days ago and on which you can find many vlog 'episodes' like this one. A virtual dive into the traditional cuisine of Shimulia in Bangladesh.
Created in 2016 by Liton Ali Khan, owner of a cybercafe, the channel highlights the village's cooks, who demonstrate in front of the camera the different ways of cutting giant fish or show viewers how to cook a meat recipe, that of the favorite dish of the village: buffalo intestine curry.
While the content is simple, consisting of affordable cooking tutorials, this channel reveals the daily life of this community living in the west of Bangladesh.
With the ensemble together racking up approximately 1.3 billion views, the videos have quickly become a business model in their own right. "All villagers -- irrespective of their financial condition, creeds, religions -- can come here and eat the food [that's cooked for the videos]," Delwar Hussain, who helps run the channel, told the magazine Rest of World.
While the meals prepared for the videos help feed part of the village, the revenue generated by the millions of views accumulated is used to support the village and finance new projects.
The AroundMeBD channel employs about 50 people in the village, including 17 women. The team have done on the job training to operate cameras, edit, and direct the shoots.
As the channel's success has grown, the company has installed games for children and rehabilitated damaged houses. It even covers the medical expenses of the villagers employed.
'Village Youtube': a trend in South Asia
In South Asia, this idea of a "YouTube village," as Shimulia is labeled, is a growing trend. "As the internet reaches villages, rural societies are finding ways to showcase and monetize their unique food cultures to audiences across the world, using platforms like YouTube and Facebook," says Rest of World.
According to the media outlet , culinary channels in India and Pakistan are also successful, while in Indonesia, a mechanic named Siswanto has reached 2 million subscribers on his channel, according to France 24.
ETX Studio
Sun May 22 2022
Fruits and spices prepared by 15 women of the village during Ramadan. - ETX Studio
Biden kekal tidak sokong pencerobohan di Rafah
Mesej itu disampaikan menerusi perbualan telefon dengan Perdana Menteri Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu pada Ahad.
Biden kekal tidak sokong pencerobohan di Rafah
Presiden Amerika Syarikat, Joe Biden bercakap dengan Perdana Menteri Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, pada Ahad.
Tiga perkara perlu dilakukan bagi elak kemusnahan di Gaza
Presiden Palestin Mahmoud Abbas menyuarakan tiga perkara yang perlu diberikan pertimbangan masyarakat dunia dan mengiktiraf Palestin sebagai negara merdeka termasuk ahli penuh Persatuan Bangsa Bangsa Bersatu (PBB). Beliau berkata demikian di Mesyuarat Khas Forum Ekonomi Dunia (WEF) di Riyadh hari ini.
Delegasi Hamas ke Kaherah bincang gencatan senjata
Satu delegasi Hamas akan melawat Kaherah untuk rundingan yang bertujuan untuk mendapatkan gencatan senjata, pada Isnin.
37 juta tan serpihan runtuhan di Gaza - UNMAS
Pusingan konflik Palestin-Israel yang bermula pada Oktober 2023 telah meninggalkan kira-kira 37 juta tan serpihan runtuhan di Semenanjung Gaza.
WCK sambung misi bantuan di Gaza
World Central Kitchen (WCK) menyambung semula operasi di Semenanjung Gaza, pada Isnin.
Protes di universiti A.S tidak tunjuk tanda perlahan
Protes di universiti Amerika Syarikat tidak menunjukkan tanda perlahan pada hujung minggu dengan lebih banyak tangkapan di kampus dan pertempuran singkat antara penunjuk perasaan pro-Israel dan pro-Palestin di UCLA California.
Banjir ragut 76 nyawa di seluruh Kenya
Daerah Nairobi terjejas teruk akibat banjir dengan hampir 17,000 isi rumah dipindahkan.
Nahas skuter elektrik meningkat di Jepun selepas peraturan dilonggar
Dalam tempoh enam bulan sejak Julai lepas, 85 nahas lalu lintas melibatkan skuter elektrik dicatatkan dan mengakibatkan 86 kecederaan.
Mohamed Khaled tiba di Indonesia untuk lawatan rasmi, dijadual bertemu Prabowo
Menteri Pertahanan tiba di Jakarta pada Ahad untuk lawatan kerja rasmi sulung beliau ke Indonesia sejak memegang jawatan itu.