At some point in the past decade, normal people started idolizing other normal people for doing shit that normal people do. Namely playing video games, talking about playing video games, and recording themselves watching other people talking about video games. This is where we are now.
I get the appeal of watching people stream video games. Especially if it’s a game I’m curious about, or if I want to see how other people tackle a specific challenge in a video game. I’m not criticizing the act of streaming or watching others stream. As someone who used to stream myself, and might again if I can ever get a decent enough internet speed, I get the appeal of broadcasting a play session and asking/answer questions with others. It’s a social interaction that can be fun.
What I am criticizing is the act of idolizing and glamorizing specific YouTube or Twitch personalities that have grown massively popular for whatever fucking reason. And as such, putting their actions and opinions on a pedestal for whatever great and/or dumbshit move they happen to perform.
This rant was instigated by some stories that popped up over the weekend about some YouTube guy named Logan Paul. Now, I don’t know who Logan Paul is or why we should give a flipping fuck about what he says or does, but apparently it had something to do with a deceased person and footage he used in a disrespectful manner or some such situation. I’m not gonna give specifics, nor am I going to link to any of that shit because honestly, I think the guy is getting enough publicity and I don’t want to contribute to it anymore than I already am.
Suffice it to say, people are up in arms about this dude doing what he did. He’s facing a ton of backlash and getting a shit ton more popular. The guy says he’s sorry, but I’m willing to bet he knew exactly what he was doing. That other piece of shit YouTuber did the same damn thing, more than once, and each time he stirred up controversy, his viewership increased. I’m not going to drop a name, because fuck that guy, and anyone reading this probably knows who he is anyway.
These incidents of YouTube civil unrest seem to be increasing, but the problem is not them. The problem is us. We are creating these fucktards. We live in the day and age of the almighty YouTube, where anyone can be star. It just so happens that the people becoming the stars are the last people that deserve it.
In the old days, it actually used to mean something to be “a star.” It was something that somebody worked at, day and night, through rejection and hardship. When they finally hit it big, they had agents and publicists and lawyers and all kinds of people following them around saying “Don’t do this,” and “Don’t say that.” Why? Because all eyes were now on them, and they understood that. One bad move could tank a career just as fast as it started.
But now we have YouTube. Now we have young 20-something millionaires that gained fame and fortune by sitting in their bedroom wearing a stupid hat and acting like a fucking simpleton in front of countless other simpletons who adore them. It didn’t require any discipline to attain their success, and they lack the maturity to know what the fuck to do with it.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that showing footage of a recently deceased human being might not be a good idea. Of course, that’s obvious to a normal human being with common sense. But these little shits don’t have a moral compass. They earn their living by being the center of attention, and if shit like this gets them extra clicks, so be it. More clicks equals more money.
Remember, people, that YouTube gave us Justin Bieber. He’s the fucking epitome of undeserved success, and we all know how he’s turning out. Oprah handed him fame overnight; He didn’t put in the work to get there, and I pray to God she sees his stupid antics in the tabloids and shakes her damn head knowing she unleashed that plague onto the world.
People need to earn their success, because they need to have that discipline to tell themselves “I’m not going risk everything I’ve worked for,” when contemplating a stupid fucking action. But these overnight YouTube “personalities” or, as the gaming publishers have dubbed them, “influencers” (fucking groan) don’t have these filters, and worse yet, the internet community rewards them for acting this way. Do something good on the internet and nobody notices. Do something shitty and controversial and you get a million clicks overnight.
Now, I’m not going to be a hypocrite here. I follow my share of internet personalities. I listen to podcasts, and follow certain websites. But I do so because these people either currently work in the industry or have at some point, and they have intricate knowledge and insight of how it works. I find their work informative. I do not, however, follow random YouTube dudes acting like assholes for the sake of acting like assholes.
I also create content for my website that I hope people find entertaining to read, and hopefully one day would have a podcast that people listen to. And I would be beyond grateful if it ever got to a point where it could pay some bills and maybe even allow me some recreational spending. But I’m almost 40. I’ve had my share of successes and failures, and I’ve paid enough dues to appreciate any kind of success I may have.
We as media consumers need to have some integrity in who we give the time of day. Your time is worth something. Don’t waste it on people like Logan Paul.
