You came for an old song. Then stayed for someone’s life story

Music lovers often arrive on YouTube looking for a tune.

Then they find themselves reading about someone’s first love, an ode to a mother or father or about a parent’s unconditional love for their child.

The comment sections under a YouTube video from an old Korean ballad, a 1990s or 2000s pop hit or a nostalgic drama soundtrack often feel less like a place for reveling in the music itself and more like a shared diary where strangers leave their memories of love, grief and moments that certain s ...