Just in the last few months, it seems like everyone who is doing content creation on youtube (etc.) is holding a tiny mic up, in the frame of the camera.
I get that mics are needed, but a good desk mic or a headset or whatever else you might imagine is just as good acoustically, and far less distracting. And they were all in use up until a few months ago.
Is this just a fashion trend?
It started with the Rode Go mics which for $200 you get 2 mics and a receiver with some crazy good noise rejection and gain control. 40 hr battery life and easy to work with. There’s now several copies from dji and the like that are even cheaper.
YouTubers didn’t mind the blocky look as it let them get great quantity sound in not ideal locations, without messing with traditional lapel mics(boxy clips, cables and tape). The closer you can get to the mic the more background noise you can deal with.
It then became a trend. Just as Rode have come out with a new version that’s 1/3rd the size
This. Any time you’re not sitting at a desk/studio you need some kind of mic. And these new wireless mics work well. Now people are opting to not buy/use the big studio mics because the wireless ones work good enough and go anywhere.