The best comment section on YouTube

... stans a fine art restoration studio?

If I achieved nothing else during the pandemic, at least I perfected my YouTube algorithm. Gone are the days of the platform pushing $10,000 unboxings and engagement videos from couples I’ve never heard in front of my eyeballs. Now, my feed is only “HOW TO DO POTTERY AT HOME,” “TWO reasons your sourdough doesn’t SPRING like this,” and “Retouching for Days; The Restoration of a Jacopo Bassano Painting.”

The latter video is one of many from the channel Baumgartner Restoration. It's run by Julian Baumgartner, who is following in his later father’s footsteps at the Chicago-based studio Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration. Baumgartner’s channel is filled with videos, all around a half-hour long, documenting his efforts restoring damaged and worn old (like, old old) paintings from clients. But what drew me to the channel wasn’t necessarily the videos—which, don’t get me wrong, are the perfect laptop-in-bed content—but the comments, where it turned out a whole Baumgartner community had already assembled, contributing the most wholesome and positive feedback I’ve ever seen on YouTube. 

The comments range from memes that are staples of any comment section with a dash of niche references to restoration tools and materials.

As well as comments about just how great it feels to be part of this unexpected community.

You know a good comment section when you see one. My sister and her friends sing the praises of the community surrounding fitness YouTuber Sydney Cummings. Her approach to working out never mentions weight loss, and the comments are almost entirely people commending everyone else for showing up for themselves today to do the workout, or, as with Baumgartner, making inside jokes. 

Seeing that every single Baumgartner comment is a supportive, creative gas-up increases the appeal of his videos immensely. By watching, I feel like I am really part of something ... nice! Now you can be part of it too—just don’t mention polyurethane (IYKYK). —Kate Lindsay