Indie Content Creator: ‘Geography Now’ Is The Perfect First Step Toward Learning About A World Bigger Than Your Own
Personal experience and identity drive a great deal of the independent content circulating on YouTube and social media, and this oftentimes simplifies how consumers understand multifaceted subjects. Issues involving race, politics, culture and geography need to be approached from more than one angle, so it is important for vloggers and influencers to step in and create that balance.
Paul Barbato is one such figure who has taken the initiative to give his enormous fanbase a well-rounded perspective on the world and its many entanglements, some positive and others contentious. His YouTube channel, Geography Now, currently boasts over 3 million subscribers. This multidimensional platform is devoted to exploring the layers of the countless cultures across the world that are usually reduced to broad classifications and singular characterizations.
The channel’s focus is to set aside a video for each country on the globe, from A–Z, and provide an overview of how those regions are structured. This involves putting demographics under the microscope and dissecting minority and diaspora groups as well as the larger communities that dictate the area’s dominant cultures. Furthermore, the team investigates the ways in which nations are distinct by contrasting them with the neighbors they are often clumped together with. An emphasis on geographic intricacies makes Barbato’s output riveting and, more importantly, necessary.
He looks into every national section of all seven continents and categorizes them in ways more specific than the bulky categories we are accustomed to. For example, he makes it a point to speak about Central, Western, East and South Asia to stress just how different each of them are, even within these subcategories. The nuance with which he approaches culture is missing from Western vernacular, which makes his output highly valuable to those who haven’t had enough exposure to the world.
Geography Now is a blend of informative videos and travel vlogging designed to give people an unbiased view of things beyond their sight. Aside from the core content which is made up of videos that summarize the essence of different countries, the channel sprinkles in a series of spinoffs that are bundled together as playlists. Most of these, apart from the obligatory Q&A, fan appreciation and updates playlists, feature recurring instalments that are a part of the channel’s established itinerary.
The A–Z videos are broken down into playlists by continent, while some regions such as Oceania are categorized separately to make it easy for viewers to find the countries they are looking for. Based on the subject, Barbato covers a range of topics from urban fusion to “territorial anomalies.” His video on India, for instance, focuses on the latter by addressing the nation’s “strange borders and deliciously complex demarcation lines” (side note: the channel’s scriptwriting is outstanding). In recent videos, he either travels to the countries at hand or has people from there explain their respective cultures. Each video will have some general chapters that can be found in almost every video such as Geography, Languages and Demographic, while others such as Art, Sports and History (among others) are mentioned depending on their relevance.
Geography Now also regularly releases its “Flag/Fan Day” series. As the same suggests, this involves looking into the components of a country’s flag as well as the significance and symbolism behind it. By default, this turns into a brief history lesson. Later in the video, the hosts read and respond to fan mail as well. The series was originally called “Flag Friday,” with a separate video series for fan mail, but the two have now been combined into one.
Between every four videos, the team takes some time off to research new material and make arrangements for future videos. During that time, they have what Barbato refers to as “filler week” where he discusses geographical subjects on the periphery of his core subject matter. This is categorized as “Topics And Questions” and has a diverse scope. The most recent episode, “Some Of The Strangest/Unique Diasporas Around The World,” was made as an afterthought to a recent video on Turkey. In it, they briefly mention the region’s Afro-Turk community, which sparked interest among the outlet’s fans, leading them to make a separate video on “strange, unique diaspora communities across the world that you wouldn’t expect.”
The “Geography More” subsection talks about some of “the extra information that didn’t quite make it into the previous episodes.” This is something Barbato addresses at the start of other videos as well instead of always waiting to do an episode of the series. Given the sheer amount of research material he works with, it’s no surprise that he slips up every now and then. His zero-excuses approach is commendable because he is careful about the information he is putting out to his audience. From inaccurate facts to mispronunciations, he makes sure to leave nothing unaddressed, which exhibits his attention to detail and overall sensitivity toward the people and cultures he covers.
Finally, the “Geography Go!” series is the channel’s branch that is most similar to traditional vlogging. It is a collection of mini documentaries. What makes it special is that Barbato doesn’t focus on luxury while travelling. “We try to get the most or best quality with the least amount of money,” he says while referring to his Korean heritage during an episode on Abu Dhabi. Instead, he focuses on meeting interesting people who provide him raw insight.
Paul Barbato stands out because of how focused he is. His team clearly puts in a great deal of effort to simplify geopolitical wiring and social boundaries for wider consumption, and it deserves a round of applause. With this, Geography Now shoots down the age-old excuse to avoid learning more: “It’s too complicated.”
