[ethbro]

I spent a while on word choice, as nothing seemed to fit.

The best I can describe the alternative is (most of this via conversations w/ kids in the 12 and 18 age ranges) essentially as you've said: "adhoc" or "reality" (in the post-Instagram, staged-but-effecting-effortless sense).

Perhaps a better dialectic basis is "desire" vs lack of same.

It seems innocuous to say you can have more and less edited media creation styles. But the distinction I'm groping for is more in intent of the creator.

What do they want? What is your average YouTuber trying to get across via their creative choices?

It feels like democratization of publishing has resulted in Facebook for the arts: consumption driven primarily by catering to baser human neurological ticks, rather than via an author's studied intention. And the latter being drowned out by an infinite mass of the former.

And worst of all, audience / consumers being re-baselined with the expectation that creators aren't actually exercising intent in their choices, and so lose the ability to recognize it when it does exist.