Unus Annus - Post Mortem

My son... is gloriously weird and I love him for it.

Like most kids his age, he's a big fan of certain YouTube 'celebrities' and though some parents might find that cringy, I think it can be neat. There are certainly some creeps to watch out for and avoid, but I've found that Sam is pretty good about knowing what to watch out for. And sometimes, when something is really interesting, Sam comes and tells me about it.

This past week, Sam brought me a video suggestion for a channel called Unus Annus, which means "one year" in Latin. This was a special collaborative project between two prominent YouTubers; Markiplier (who I had heard of) and Ethan Nestor (who I had not heard of). The plan for the channel's project was an interesting experiment in impermenance. The team behind the channel made a plan to make one video a day, every day for one year. An interesting or profound high-concept content video, every single day of the year for one entire year.

And then, on the last day of the year, while livestreaming their final video, they would delete their entire channel.

And the countdown to the end of the channel --and the mortality analogy-- would be openly discussed from the beginning. Here is Markiplier giving a post-mortem from his perspective.

Here is Ethan's video on the same subject.

And ...I'd love to share one of the Unus Annus videos. They were produced well with each of the hosts wearing tailored suits in contrasting white or black. The videos usually featured the group going through with some sort of "bucket list" experience, like getting pepper-sprayed or being brutally honest or hosting a sleepover. They also discussed legal stuff and just did a bunch of weird mortality issue discussions. A bizarre metaphor for death. What would you do, if you only had one year? Living life to the fullest.

Yes, some of it was downright creepy. Like I said, it was interesting and I'd love to share it with you. But, they made good on their promise. And when the clock reached it's countdown, with over 1.5 million people watching the livestream, they deleted the entire channel.

Poof. Amazing. Super weird and morbid. But also amazing. #MementoMori

In case you are worried at this point, yes I did have a lengthy parental chat with Sam about his interest in the channel and what he thought of it all. I was worried about his feelings and if he was going to be super-upset when the channel was over. Or if the discussions about death scared him. And he's just fine. He just thought the whole idea was super interesting.

More Information

• Unus Annus | Wikitubia
• Markiplier, Ethan Nestor Bid Farewell To High-Concept ‘Unus Annus’ Channel — A Metaphor For Death
• The true meaning of Unus Annus: Why the channel is being deleted
• Memento Mori: A Final Farewell to Unus Annus

Featured below are a few screenshots that some fans captured, some only a few minutes before the end.

And it is already a sure thing that some fans of the channel have downloaded and archived the videos. And some will subvert the point of the channel by trying to reupload or reshare their copies. They will likely get taken down in due time after copyright strikes. In time, even these digital memories will fade.

And doesn't that seem like the right lesson here? Each of us only has a finite amount of time. No regrets. Give everything that you have left to give. The clock is always ticking. #UnusAnnus #MementoMori