April 2023: Mr Beast, Emojis and Kidfluencers
Like The Killers once sang — are we humans or are we content creators?
What is a Mr Beast?
Earlier this month, Mr Beast (the most subscribed Youtuber on the planet), released a video stating he had given away 200,000 pairs of shoes to children in Africa. This follows a video last year, in which he “helped 1,000 people see for the first time” by paying for cataract surgery. So of course the internet had a COMPLETELY NORMAL REACTION.
On one hand — people celebrated. Yay, kids are getting new shoes…and he is showered in god-like praise. To others he’s a demonic streamer who uses philanthropic acts as clout chasing. Those heartwarming tales lead to some sweet sweet views that lead him to make ad money. So boo to the rich man using his money to ‘help’ people AND make more money by doing the good.
Because yes these videos make you feel weird, but is that really his fault? I am not here to justify his actions, because it is exploitative. But aren’t so a lot of ‘feel good’ narratives we are served on the internet too? “Courageous boy raises $3000 for the mailmans new heart surgery by sacrificing his pocket money for 12 years and skipping his breakfast”. This time it’s just more in your face. And algorithmically appealing.
Because in reality, all he has done is make things which get views on a platform he neither built nor can single handedly resolve.
Do we really expect a guy called Mr Beast, a 24 year old who has only ever seen success through the world of the algorithm, to be reflective of how individual moments of charity won’t solve the wide systemic issues which cause this issue in the first place?
More importantly to him, is that what his viewers want? No it’s not. Because he is here to make fun, feel good videos which are entertaining. We can’t be mad at the guy who has sussed out the secret to Youtube content for not fixing the inequality. More strikingly, people who are so outraged at this forget that people watch this content, removing any agency from his audience and labeling them as being too simple to understand anything more.
I’m not saying it’s wrong to want more from lusciously rich people, but to solely focus on one person and to channel our hate towards him feels redundant. We are repeating the same mistakes, and focusing on a grown teenager rather than what is the larger work to be done.
‘Generate’ emoji’s 👀🙊☠️
Would you consider Alexa a family member? Or have you gossiped with Chat GPT? When it comes to how we communicate AI, there is a hot debate about how much we humanise our virtual assistants. According to ethicist Carissa Véliz, we should be concerned when AI uses emojis and other human traits. She argues that as it’s a slippery slope which can lead us to project emotions onto the AI, leaving us vulnerable to manipulation or more susceptible to misinformation. This discussion lends itself to another popular discussion — should children be polite to Alexa? On the surface, teaching children to be poltie feels like a noble aim we can get behind. But some see it as a dangerous route in which politeness is enforced by computers, and teaches children that an AI emotes, therefore we must be respectful of its feelings.
We are family
Thanks to heteronormativity the rise of influencer couples has inevitably led to the influencer families. Children born today are the most surveilled generation — photos of them are snapped and shared across socials before they are even born. Imagine this: relationships your family have built with strangers on the internet dictate your life and financial safety. What clothes you wear is decided by engagement rates and toys you play with are decided by your fans. Teen Vouge did a bit of a deep dive into a few stories of influencer children, including a number of new legislations protecting children.
