Capitalism promotes destructive behaviour to an overwhelming degree - not just kids, but our entire bloody planet. People like this should be made harsh examples of.
Yes!!! The fact that we define value with money is the problem. Imagine if we defined companies and people's value based on how they actually benefit society? The system has to change but how 😭
Great post! I'm on YouTube regularly for my brand channel, but I pay for no ads. Guys like Mr Beast cleverly build their ads into their content, which makes it difficult to manage. So, I removed YouTube app from our televisions so my kids are not on it until they are older. I also blocked certain YouTube Channels so I'm not delivered any of their content. I don't see any regulation that will help make this any better coming soon.
Yeah, and even then it's shady. I've seen the one with the bar that works it's way around the edge of the video to indicate how far through the ad you are - some of his now speed up super fast at the start, then slow to a crawl at the end to keep you hanging on that last bit.
The other problem that people miss is that kids trust these people. They see them giving away huge amounts of money and their on-screen personas are lighthearted and friendly. They present themselves as being good people that are your friend, the products they're shilling are good for you, and that you can trust their judgement. Kids don't have the ability to recognise when people are being disingenuous and will be overly trusting of them. These parasocial relationships are damaging to adults, I can't even imagine how much worse it is for children. It's so powerful because, in order to convince someone that the product is awful, you also need to show them that the person they trust is actually a scumbag. Difficult to do when they already love that person.
Mid-roll ads in YouTube content came about because of problems with AdSense and lower payouts. We've become used to it despite it allowing for more predatory behaviour than ever. I don't have children yet but every day gives me more and more reasons to keep them as far from the internet as possible until they're older! Thanks for the story, I had no clue they put lead and mercury in the bloody drinks!!
It's scary. Seeing it through my nieces and realising how different they are in some senses compared to when I was a kid, the only explanation is that they were born with the technology.
I didn't have a laptop till early teens (and it was shit) and didn't get a phone till I was 13 (again it was shit). Sure, we had a playstation, but if anything, that seemed to bring us together then as friends - not isolate the way it does now. It was all more innocent, not as connected, not as corrupt and not as influential.
Yeah I see the differences myself and, while there are other things that have changed, they're nothing compared to the paradigm shift of tech in the last 10/15 years! I really feel for parents that are aware that this is all unhealthy but don't want to make their children social outcasts at school, as everything revolves around tech now. Unfortunately I can't see any of this changing without research and serious legislation to keep kids off the internet until they're much, much older! Legislation would bring other problems though, like how can we identify who's using the internet without some form of ID system? Is it even possible to uphold internet privacy with such a system?
I think gaming brought people together back then because you had to be in the same room to play together. Games often revolved around that "couch experience" but that's mostly gone away now, sadly! It's examples like that which make me still believe that it is possible for society to have a positive relationship with technology though! The critical problem is that the incentive for tech companies is constant and ever-growing profit and market share; not the health and wellbeing of society at large. Until we can shift their incentives towards the wellbeing of the userbase, I don't see much changing unfortunately!
I guess this is one downside to everyone having the ability to cultivate an audience. I think it is good that almost anyone can create a platform but it certainly appears to have pretty big drawbacks especially when children are part of the target audience.
In a weird way I admire what he did. I certainly wouldn't have the time or energy to basically crack the code as to what makes a youtube video work. Since I don't have kids and I'm not his target audience, I hadn't really heard of Mr Beast until his thing where he did eye surgery on a bunch of people. Which is certainly good...but the whole charity as a way of getting clicks just rubbed me the wrong way.
Oh it’s certainly an achievement. And you can’t fault the endless hours he’s put into it, and the endless tweaking to perfect the formula. But at the end of the day, it’s all kinda soulless…
As soon as I saw that Mr Beast was partnering with one of the Paul bros on a lunchable competitor I knew it would be crap. I can't believe they have the audacity to talk about it as an healthier alternative to anything.
Again, no regulations in place on Google’s dominance of every fucking facet of reality. If Kamala Harris gets in and fires Jennifer Lada because of Harris’ relationship with the Uber goon squad I’m gonna be furious.
There are cracks showing with the recent cases against them. But finding them guilty is one thing - forcing action, breakups or change is another thing (and seems very unlikely.) More likely is a fine than Google will earn back in a day, and a slap on the wrist.
Ugh it’s so awful. The only YouTube we watch is The Austrian Brick Fanboys, who does Lego speed builds. He introduces the set and then goes to speed build with music. And only when grandma is here. I’m so creeped out by my son’s friends mainlining YouTube. Why do these Scottish kids have a vaguely American accent and unboxing their Christmas presents?
Right? Because he’s snuggled up on the sofa with grandma and grandma’s iPad (after they complete wordle and strands, naturally) and if he were to click into anything else, she’d notice and shut it down. Mum and dad are running around making dinner so we just have a blanket no small screens rule and don’t do tv on weeknights.
The point you make about reaching an audience that doesn't understand the difference between choice and influence is absolutely spot on. We're currently trying to educate our eldest child this, explaining that doom scrolling is not a habit to get into as it wastes time. I'm all for the proliferation of tech if it is used to create or educate. Mindless gorging on "inauthentic authentic" content seems such a waste.
It's so hard to explain though. Even those of us who were there to see all this rise, growth and then take control, many of us don't understand - or refuse to believe - how deep it all runs, and how much influence it wields. Explaining it to children who just want to see 'the next shiny thing' is almost impossible.
My niece once told me she'd die without her iPad. That's what we're working with.
I've basically had to be teaching my son intense media literacy skills since he was about 4 (he's now 11). So far it seems to have worked, but it's a constant battle.
He thinks MrBeast is a scumbag, so I must be doing something right. And he actually brought up DanTDM's response to me just before I read your article - DanTDM has always seemed like one of the good guys.
It's interesting to compare: DanTDM accidentally ended up with that audience of 8 year olds, but when he had kids of his own and then tired of endless Minecraft silliness, he talked to his audience, explained he was going to be doing different things, even if it harmed his algorithmic popularity, and that's where he's at. As such my 11 year old rarely watches him anymore, but - critically - has proper respect for him as a person.
So glad my kids aren't into YouTube as it's insane the how some "influencers" have decided to weild their influence. Killer image as always and writing.
Makes more sense now why you were working on the imagery earlier today!
I honestly don't know all that much about Mr. Beast and what he does behind the scenes but if this is indeed whats happening, better to made aware, and I have a feeling that these allegations will catch up to him sooner than later. I went and looked at the links to see if I could learn more about this - just an fyi it looks like one of them is broken (healthier choice link).
The above being said, the type of content he proliferates is definitely of concern to me though. My kids watch his content, and they eat up the explosions, bags of cash and the ridiculousness of it all and it seems like whenever I glance at whats on their youtube feed, his face is usually is there.
His name is literally “Mr Beast”, he’s telling you what he is. Thankfully my kids don’t watch him, but I caught part of a video where one of his main sidekicks is in the act of transitioning in real time, so all the kids can see…he’s the sicko that left his wife and is a pedo among other things.
I was going to make a reference to his name, but in the UK 'beast' is a term held for men who target younger girls. I think that's a little past the line here.
As JSR said, Mr Beast is literally telling us who he is. Some time ago, we donated a small sum to help his ocean plastics cleanup effort bc my daughter was doing an art exhibit on that theme, and while that’s a worthy cause, we’ve learned more about his little empire and will never donate again. Thanks Stephen for shining a light on this. Grifters abound !
You’re absolutely right. It’s one thing for capitalism to work its shitty powers of influence over adults who should (and do) know better - but something else entirely to use these predatory tactics on kids. And to build a whole business on it? Creepy and gross. If not worse.
Thank you for shining a light on this. We can do better.
This is just reason to not let kids watch YouTube. The content is designed with hooks and made to be addictive. Maybe DVDs of works like Wizard of Oz or <insert anything not harmful to kids> would be better.
My kids aren't addicted to crack because I haven't given it to them.
Capitalism promotes destructive behaviour to an overwhelming degree - not just kids, but our entire bloody planet. People like this should be made harsh examples of.
They are, when they fuck up. But until they do, or until the fuck up surfaces, they get free rein to do as they please and bleed the system dry.
Yes!!! The fact that we define value with money is the problem. Imagine if we defined companies and people's value based on how they actually benefit society? The system has to change but how 😭
Great post! I'm on YouTube regularly for my brand channel, but I pay for no ads. Guys like Mr Beast cleverly build their ads into their content, which makes it difficult to manage. So, I removed YouTube app from our televisions so my kids are not on it until they are older. I also blocked certain YouTube Channels so I'm not delivered any of their content. I don't see any regulation that will help make this any better coming soon.
Yeah, and even then it's shady. I've seen the one with the bar that works it's way around the edge of the video to indicate how far through the ad you are - some of his now speed up super fast at the start, then slow to a crawl at the end to keep you hanging on that last bit.
The other problem that people miss is that kids trust these people. They see them giving away huge amounts of money and their on-screen personas are lighthearted and friendly. They present themselves as being good people that are your friend, the products they're shilling are good for you, and that you can trust their judgement. Kids don't have the ability to recognise when people are being disingenuous and will be overly trusting of them. These parasocial relationships are damaging to adults, I can't even imagine how much worse it is for children. It's so powerful because, in order to convince someone that the product is awful, you also need to show them that the person they trust is actually a scumbag. Difficult to do when they already love that person.
Mid-roll ads in YouTube content came about because of problems with AdSense and lower payouts. We've become used to it despite it allowing for more predatory behaviour than ever. I don't have children yet but every day gives me more and more reasons to keep them as far from the internet as possible until they're older! Thanks for the story, I had no clue they put lead and mercury in the bloody drinks!!
It's scary. Seeing it through my nieces and realising how different they are in some senses compared to when I was a kid, the only explanation is that they were born with the technology.
I didn't have a laptop till early teens (and it was shit) and didn't get a phone till I was 13 (again it was shit). Sure, we had a playstation, but if anything, that seemed to bring us together then as friends - not isolate the way it does now. It was all more innocent, not as connected, not as corrupt and not as influential.
Yeah I see the differences myself and, while there are other things that have changed, they're nothing compared to the paradigm shift of tech in the last 10/15 years! I really feel for parents that are aware that this is all unhealthy but don't want to make their children social outcasts at school, as everything revolves around tech now. Unfortunately I can't see any of this changing without research and serious legislation to keep kids off the internet until they're much, much older! Legislation would bring other problems though, like how can we identify who's using the internet without some form of ID system? Is it even possible to uphold internet privacy with such a system?
I think gaming brought people together back then because you had to be in the same room to play together. Games often revolved around that "couch experience" but that's mostly gone away now, sadly! It's examples like that which make me still believe that it is possible for society to have a positive relationship with technology though! The critical problem is that the incentive for tech companies is constant and ever-growing profit and market share; not the health and wellbeing of society at large. Until we can shift their incentives towards the wellbeing of the userbase, I don't see much changing unfortunately!
I just read through that whole leaked MrBeast document. His company must be the most toxic work environment in the world.
"No doesn't mean no" explains the whole thing in four words.
Informative article, I’ve blissfully enjoyed some Mr. Beast videos without investigating the (dark?) wizardry behind the curtain.
I guess this is one downside to everyone having the ability to cultivate an audience. I think it is good that almost anyone can create a platform but it certainly appears to have pretty big drawbacks especially when children are part of the target audience.
He's got a such a punchable face.
In a weird way I admire what he did. I certainly wouldn't have the time or energy to basically crack the code as to what makes a youtube video work. Since I don't have kids and I'm not his target audience, I hadn't really heard of Mr Beast until his thing where he did eye surgery on a bunch of people. Which is certainly good...but the whole charity as a way of getting clicks just rubbed me the wrong way.
Oh it’s certainly an achievement. And you can’t fault the endless hours he’s put into it, and the endless tweaking to perfect the formula. But at the end of the day, it’s all kinda soulless…
As soon as I saw that Mr Beast was partnering with one of the Paul bros on a lunchable competitor I knew it would be crap. I can't believe they have the audacity to talk about it as an healthier alternative to anything.
Again, no regulations in place on Google’s dominance of every fucking facet of reality. If Kamala Harris gets in and fires Jennifer Lada because of Harris’ relationship with the Uber goon squad I’m gonna be furious.
There are cracks showing with the recent cases against them. But finding them guilty is one thing - forcing action, breakups or change is another thing (and seems very unlikely.) More likely is a fine than Google will earn back in a day, and a slap on the wrist.
You're probably correct. Depressing. Shows us who is actually running the country.
Ugh it’s so awful. The only YouTube we watch is The Austrian Brick Fanboys, who does Lego speed builds. He introduces the set and then goes to speed build with music. And only when grandma is here. I’m so creeped out by my son’s friends mainlining YouTube. Why do these Scottish kids have a vaguely American accent and unboxing their Christmas presents?
"Only when Grandma is here."
What a great rule. Perhaps that would be the universal fix.
Right? Because he’s snuggled up on the sofa with grandma and grandma’s iPad (after they complete wordle and strands, naturally) and if he were to click into anything else, she’d notice and shut it down. Mum and dad are running around making dinner so we just have a blanket no small screens rule and don’t do tv on weeknights.
The point you make about reaching an audience that doesn't understand the difference between choice and influence is absolutely spot on. We're currently trying to educate our eldest child this, explaining that doom scrolling is not a habit to get into as it wastes time. I'm all for the proliferation of tech if it is used to create or educate. Mindless gorging on "inauthentic authentic" content seems such a waste.
It's so hard to explain though. Even those of us who were there to see all this rise, growth and then take control, many of us don't understand - or refuse to believe - how deep it all runs, and how much influence it wields. Explaining it to children who just want to see 'the next shiny thing' is almost impossible.
My niece once told me she'd die without her iPad. That's what we're working with.
Yikes.
I've basically had to be teaching my son intense media literacy skills since he was about 4 (he's now 11). So far it seems to have worked, but it's a constant battle.
He thinks MrBeast is a scumbag, so I must be doing something right. And he actually brought up DanTDM's response to me just before I read your article - DanTDM has always seemed like one of the good guys.
It's interesting to compare: DanTDM accidentally ended up with that audience of 8 year olds, but when he had kids of his own and then tired of endless Minecraft silliness, he talked to his audience, explained he was going to be doing different things, even if it harmed his algorithmic popularity, and that's where he's at. As such my 11 year old rarely watches him anymore, but - critically - has proper respect for him as a person.
So glad my kids aren't into YouTube as it's insane the how some "influencers" have decided to weild their influence. Killer image as always and writing.
Makes more sense now why you were working on the imagery earlier today!
I honestly don't know all that much about Mr. Beast and what he does behind the scenes but if this is indeed whats happening, better to made aware, and I have a feeling that these allegations will catch up to him sooner than later. I went and looked at the links to see if I could learn more about this - just an fyi it looks like one of them is broken (healthier choice link).
The above being said, the type of content he proliferates is definitely of concern to me though. My kids watch his content, and they eat up the explosions, bags of cash and the ridiculousness of it all and it seems like whenever I glance at whats on their youtube feed, his face is usually is there.
It's all by design. Just wait till they start telling you they want this shit for their lunches...
His name is literally “Mr Beast”, he’s telling you what he is. Thankfully my kids don’t watch him, but I caught part of a video where one of his main sidekicks is in the act of transitioning in real time, so all the kids can see…he’s the sicko that left his wife and is a pedo among other things.
https://open.substack.com/pub/fandompulse/p/former-employee-says-mrbeast-going?r=u16ew&utm_medium=ios
I was going to make a reference to his name, but in the UK 'beast' is a term held for men who target younger girls. I think that's a little past the line here.
As JSR said, Mr Beast is literally telling us who he is. Some time ago, we donated a small sum to help his ocean plastics cleanup effort bc my daughter was doing an art exhibit on that theme, and while that’s a worthy cause, we’ve learned more about his little empire and will never donate again. Thanks Stephen for shining a light on this. Grifters abound !
Grifters gonna grift.
You’re absolutely right. It’s one thing for capitalism to work its shitty powers of influence over adults who should (and do) know better - but something else entirely to use these predatory tactics on kids. And to build a whole business on it? Creepy and gross. If not worse.
Thank you for shining a light on this. We can do better.
This is just reason to not let kids watch YouTube. The content is designed with hooks and made to be addictive. Maybe DVDs of works like Wizard of Oz or <insert anything not harmful to kids> would be better.
My kids aren't addicted to crack because I haven't given it to them.