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[ClosingADoor]

Is Sterling like the only video game personality (as far as ones big on video) to actually have a decent take on this? Hell, most just don't say a damn thing. Boogie and Totalibiscuit's attempt to spin it as "the evil media attacking the underdog youtubers" were ridiculous.

Most of the traditional media won't find if relevant to report about, outside of some earlier reports that started it. There might be reporting about him being removed I guess. But most don't run opinion pieces about these kind of things.

Why is google monetizing this stuff?
Do advertisers know?
If google would actually replace algorithms with humans they might see start to grow a spine and be more picky about how they dole out cash for views and then the worst of it wouldn't thrive.

Google is actually in some hot water right now about showing ads before extremist videos. Mostly even worse stuff then this. But some companies pulled their advertising from it over the last days because they showed ads before extremist videos.

PewDiePie was removed from their preferred ad program, so he would now get lower rates and less access to premium advertisers.

 

[Tathanen]

Every time this is posted unironically I die a little bit more on the inside. In the movie he is being told he is on the air and since he's an ignoramus he says "I don't believe you." Learn the context of the gifs you use, people!!!

 

[Bad7667]

He is honestly rather tame (his channel I mean) among things I have seen kids into these days. Kids LOVE edgy and vulgar stuff now

I'd argue kids have always loved edgy and vulgar stuff. As a 10 year old, it DEFININTLY wasn't Kid Rock's talent that I was drawn too. It was because it was the complete opposite of what was on the radio. And he said fuck.

 

[Fat4all]

Is Sterling like the only video game personality (as far as ones big on video) to actually have a decent take on this? Hell, most just don't say a damn thing. Boogie and Totalibiscuit's attempt to spin it as "the evil media attacking the underdog youtubers" were ridiculous.

I'd keep an eye out for Hbomberguy's take on this.

He usually takes his time and does maximum damage.

 

[Mega]

I must be out of touch with what's trendy nowadays. Kinda absurd and amusing that Jon had such a following among the youth. He's too vulgar as an individual.

Kids nowadays, younger than OP's cousin, know about YouTubers... all of them. I could look up a random clip of someone playing Pikmin, Yokai Watch, etc. and my little nephews and cousins recognize SuperBillyRyan or whatever random YouTuber with 70k followers that I've never heard of and will forget in the next 5 minutes. Dozens of them. It's remarkable that they're so tuned in to this stuff that most of us are completely oblivious about.

 

[Miles Quaritch]

This is probably a good psa for parents to occasionally check what their kids are watching on the internet. My littlest nephew loves all these youtube oersonalities and luckily sticks to shrieking mine craft and roblox people instead of people like jontro

I mean, Jon Tron slipped up. Had he not gone on that show and said the shit he did, people would still be worshipping him and hanging on his every word.

Nothing to say that the people your littlest nephew isn't watching people who harbour similar views to JT and slip shit in ever so subtly you might not even notice unless you're watching religiously. .

 

[Pop-O-Matic]

I'd keep an eye out for Hbomberguy's take on this.

He usually takes his time and does maximum damage.

He already took some shots at him in his Sargon video a month or so before all this madness went down, and they were vicious. Can't wait to see what a whole video would be like.

 

[sir_kevith]

My stepson watches all this peanut butter gamer, game theory, and pewdiepie stuff. My nephews are only around 5-6 years old and they love watching all kinds of unboxing videos and other people (usually adults) playing with popular toys. It's crazy how good they are at catering to children and can even be a bit creepy. It's easy for me to dismiss these youtubers because they look/act fucking ridiculous but they are nonetheless influential to kids. In the case of jontron it's important because look how fucking stupid he turned out to be! You don't want him influencing anybody.

 

[Mesoian]

He already took some shots at him in his Sargon video a month or so before all this madness went down, and they were vicious. Can't wait to see what a whole video would be like.

I fucking hate the fact that Sargon still shows up in my recommended feed because I watched Anita Sarkeesian's videos.

 

[arigato]

Your 'heroes' will always let you down, it's better she learnt this lesson now rather than later.

Although to have reached 15 years old and not be jaded or cynical is in itself a damn good achievement.

Agreed, at 15 I had already seen so many terrifying horrors that completely crushed any hope or happy beliefs my me had.
Still deeply traumatized and scarred from what happened. Knowing what I know is a hell in itself. But I honestly prefer to know the truth rather than to still be ignorant, no matter how soul crushing or depressing said truth is..

 

[BatDan]

I feel this is a story that needs to be passed around.
And all this is a lesson on who your kids watch on YouTube, and you should keep an eye on them.

My stepson watches all this peanut butter gamer, game theory, and pewdiepie stuff. My nephews are only around 5-6 years old and they love watching all kinds of unboxing videos and other people (usually adults) playing with popular toys. It's crazy how good they are at catering to children and can even be a bit creepy. It's easy for me to dismiss these youtubers because they look/act fucking ridiculous but they are nonetheless influential to kids. In the case of jontron it's important because look how fucking stupid he turned out to be! You don't want him influencing anybody.

Another good example to watch out for is someone called "Minecraft Puppet Steve". He's a puppet version of the Minecraft player character and his videos are just him playing with various toys (mostly Five Nights at Freddy's). But in reality he's Chris Bores, AKA The Irate Gamer, a known plagiarist and thin-skinned moron, but he's also a conspiracy theorist and deep Trump supporter

If anyone's kids here are watching Puppet Steve, try to shift them away from it.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

This is sad. But when I first saw the thread title I thought he had made your cousin into a racist as well, so in the end I'm relieved that that's not where this was going

 

[jellies_two]

Kids nowadays, younger than OP's cousin, know about YouTubers... all of them. I could look up a random clip of someone playing Pikmin, Yokai Watch, etc. and my little nephews and cousins recognize SuperBillyRyan or whatever random YouTuber with 70k followers that I've never heard of and will forget in the next 5 minutes. Dozens of them. It's remarkable that they're so tuned in to this stuff that most of us are completely oblivious about.

When tv was a thing shows for kids where structured by early learning experts and supervised by adults and for all their faults (boredom was the main one) they succeeded in not appealing to the worst parts of human nature and now unless parents heavily supervise what their 12 year old is doing on YouTube they are seeing all kinds of crazy stuff that is mainly designed to increase views and subscribers and not show any tits (because that might run afoul of the few rules). It's a giant psychological experiment and think it's a dangerous one.

I asked my kid who is 8 what he and his friends watch and he said Tobuscus Dantdm and stampycat. His school friends however know a whole stable of stars because their parents bought them their own tablets and don't limit time. The ones that are swearing like a pro - at aged 8 - watch a lot of pewdiepie.

 

[Cindres]

I'll be honest, I was actually a little relieved after reading your story.

I came in expecting a story about how a young family member had their mind warped by a racist YouTuber they loved and now your 15 year old cousin was sharing his disgusting views.

It's really sad that her hero has been tarnished like this, I'm sure we've all had our share of similar disappointments over our years, but in another odd sense I'm happy you were able to get across what was wrong with what's happened, that she's been able to understand why it's wrong and that she already recognised that it wasn't exactly great in the first place.

It's something I've been concerned about as I have a 9 year old brother who, like most kids his age, shares that love of Minecraft, YouTubers, etc, and I've just worried with stuff like this coming out that maybe he'd end up getting pulled into that way of thinking. Though I guess in the bigger picture MOST YouTubers aren't like this, they're just people that play games and yell a lot on camera

I'm sure your cousin will come around, you're also a great cousin for being able to sit down and be open and honest with them about this.

 

[Shaanyboi]

There's an article by Patrick Klepek basically about a very similar notion here - basically the fear of JonTron's fanbase being exposed to this shit, and the fear that goes along with that when you're a parent.

https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/what-should-parents-do-when-their-kids-favorite-youtuber-gets-racist

Good on you OP for explaining this to your cousin.

 

[AlphaDump]

Thank you OP, you are highlighting a serious issue that most people do not consider about the internet's influence on youth. Your English is also excellent.


I missed the boat on these personalities impacting me directly. Ive often made the mistake of assuming the majority of people would see through the "jokes" and rhetoric. By basically boiling it down to numbers, and the millions of people that follow, the most affected, and possibly largest subset of their audience, is children.

You are spot on about the comparison to cable tv viewership and how it translates to the internet.

The onus is on us to educate and bring awareness. Twitter, facebook, and reddit, among others, have basically turned and looked away. It is really unfortunate.

 

[Ogodei]

I was afraid this story would be about somebody's young cousin getting turned racist by following JonTron. This is more hopeful, at least, though it's still sad (more about reaching that age where you realize that funny, cool-seeming people can also be terrible people).

 

[Pau]

I thought this was going to be about how your cousin internalized his shitty views the way my cousin has with online gamer culture in general. :/ I'm glad she recognized this shit as disappointing as it must be to no longer be able to enjoy his work.

 

[ClosingADoor]

When tv was a thing shows for kids where structured by early learning experts and supervised by adults and for all their faults (boredom was the main one) they succeeded in not appealing to the worst parts of human nature and now unless parents heavily supervise what their 12 year old is doing on YouTube they are seeing all kinds of crazy stuff that is mainly designed to increase views and subscribers and not show any tits (because that might run afoul of the few rules). It's a giant psychological experiment and think it's a dangerous one.

Technology has evolved into something that can really fuck up a lot of kids. From cyber bullying that can continue 24/7 now to being exposed to toxic views without parents realizing it. Companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, etc, wave this stuff away, but some responsibility needs to be taken. Better parental controls for content, built in stuff in Windows, iOS and other devices.

There is a lack of checks on content, coupled with parents not knowing how all this stuff works and what their kids are consuming, is a dangerous combination.

Put something on tv, radio, magazines, etc, targeted at kids? There are a ton of rules. But online it is a free for all.

 

[Waddle Dee]

A lot of people are oblivious to how influential and popular these youtubers are. Many of them are practically household names. Sure, most of them provide garbage-level entertainment and aren't appropriate for kids but neither was Doom, Mortal Kombat, or many other things I'm sure a lot of us grew up on. The difference is that Aliens and Baywatch weren't actual people who expressed shitty "beliefs" that bring down entire races and genders.

Anyways, good job comforting your cousin, OP.

 

[Goldenroad]

I remember when I was a kid in the 80s and everyone thought Donald Trump was such an awesome guy with all his money and famous friends and his name all over everything, but then we all realized what a racist, sexist, piece of garbage he was and he just kind of disappeared in obscurity...or wait...god dammit.

The problem becomes that people like JonTron are given a platform to spread their hate speech, and it needs to be stopped. I'm not talking about throwing people like him in jail or anything, but Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and these type of companies need to step up and say, "Parents aren't going to let their kids use any of these type of services going forward if we allow this kind of hate speech on our platform, so it is in OUR best interests to not allow their voices to be heard through our service". I agree that parents need to be aware of what kind of crap their kids are watching, but there needs to be some level of corporate responsibility as well. I guess the answer is stop watching Youtube, stop using Twitter, and make it clear to these companies that until they ban racist, sexist, or homophobic content creators from posting things on their services (the same as they do with pornographic content creators), that they won't have the support of the rest of us. (Also, good luck with that).

 

[sphagnum]

"Why he doesn't like people different to him"
"Why he hates people from his own country"
"Why he hates black people"

Your English is great, but this part stuck out at me. Just for reference, it should be "Why doesn't he like people different from him?" and "Why does he hate...?".

Sorry to hear about the situation though.

 

[Not]

Plus 1 about the good English OP

I'm sorry to hear she was let down that hard. I guess the American political climate is shining a light on everyone.

 

[Wandering Robot]

That's just awful. I'm so sorry for her.

You guys apparently have a great grip on the language, so I hope she finds a YouTuber she can enjoy without them being an asshole. Good on you for being there for her.

 

[Dai101]

I'll be honest, I was actually a little relieved after reading your story.

I came in expecting a story about how a young family member had their mind warped by a racist YouTuber they loved and now your 15 year old cousin was sharing his disgusting views.

Yep. Same here. It's a relief that OP is a good guy and that his/her cousin understand what racism is and at that young age she can fight it.

Good on you OP.

 

[kess]

Curiously, Youtube just sent me an automated email plugging PewDiePie.

America is a society where copyright violation is more serious than casual racism.

 

[Linkura]

Well at least your cousin is smart enough not to be brainwashed by someone she basically idolized. She has a good head on her shoulders and good support with you to help her through this. She'll be fine even if it takes her a while to sort it out.

 

[Brazil]

This is the most important perspective on this entire debacle.

And it's also one that, obviously, JonTron's entitled, privileged fanbase will completely disregard.

Thank you for the thread, OP. And thanks for being there for your cousin.

 

[LucidMomentum]

Finding out a hero you admire is an awful person at the core is rough.

Learning about racism is equally so.

Both in one go must be awful.

With that being said, thank you for explaining it to her at least.

Has she watched stuff like Easy Allies? There's a lot of great, (so far) not racist YouTube channels about gaming for people to enjoy.

 

[Parahan]

Sure, most of them provide garbage-level entertainment and aren't appropriate for kids but neither was Doom, Mortal Kombat, or many other things I'm sure a lot of us grew up on. The difference is that Aliens and Baywatch weren't actual people who expressed shitty "beliefs" that bring down entire races and genders.

Agreed. Imagine if OP wasn't there for his cousin. She would have been so conflicted and probably heavily influenced by YouTube comments which are mostly garbage. I am sure there are tons of kids out there being turned into mysogynists and racists.

I think a limited digital diet of Saturday cartoons and MTV with an occasional movie gave us more time and headspace to meet people and develop our own non judgemental opinions about them.

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Wow..that's shitty. Poor kid. Your English is better than most, huevón!

 

[robotrock]

This is the most important perspective on this entire debacle.

And it's also one that, obviously, JonTron's entitled, privileged fanbase will completely disregard.

Thank you for the thread, OP. And thanks for being there for your cousin.

I thought most of the fans turned on him? This was his subreddit when it was all happening

 

[rpmurphy]

I feel this is a story that needs to be passed around.
And all this is a lesson on who your kids watch on YouTube, and you should keep an eye on them.



Another good example to watch out for is someone called "Minecraft Puppet Steve". He's a puppet version of the Minecraft player character and his videos are just him playing with various toys (mostly Five Nights at Freddy's). But in reality he's Chris Bores, AKA The Irate Gamer, a known plagiarist and thin-skinned moron, but he's also a conspiracy theorist and deep Trump supporter

If anyone's kids here are watching Puppet Steve, try to shift them away from it.

Haha oh wow, that guy is still around? Guess being a poor AVGN copycat didn't work out for him so he latched on to the next popular gaming thing. lmao

 

[sooperkool]

Which is curious really.

It isn't actually


Gaming skews young, both the "personalities" and the players. these YouTubers are seeking views and they're young-ish themselves(yes, you're young in your 20s). Almost all younger people are still in the rebellious stage and that involves "shocking" behavior. Some of the easiest ways to shock people is being offensive or racist so they try it out with the light simple things like calling people "cuck" or "fag". After awhile this gets to be old hat so they ramp up the scale and on and on. Their fans want to be just like them so they talk and act like them and the cycle continues. "If my fans are acting like this and I keep getting more fans then I might be doing the right think and these beliefs are correct", this is the logic that follows until someone from outside of the circle calls them out and they reap the consequences of their behavior.

 

[Flux]

Ah yes the axis of gaming , Colin Moriarty, TB, Pewdiepie, John Tron.

 

[Dai101]

Curiously, Youtube just sent me an automated email plugging PewDiePie.

America is a society where copyright violation is more serious than casual racism.

I already feel dirty for a nu simpsns gif, PLEASE don't remind me.

 

[Velocity:Design:Comfort]

OP, I hate that people in other countries, like beautiful Chile, associate Americans with people like that. Of course I understand why. My condolences, there really just aren't that many youtubers who feel comfortable being liberal or not right wing because if not they are labeled "SJWs" and lose a big audience.

 

[rhandino]

My stepson watches all this peanut butter gamer.

On the bright side PBG already clocked JonTron ass a few months prior to this whole mess.

And people got MAD at him for coming after JonTron because "he is mean to him" or "he was talking about illegal aliens, not syrian refugees" and my favorite "he is just in the post-bromance break-up phase"

 

[Mega]

When tv was a thing shows for kids where structured by early learning experts and supervised by adults and for all their faults (boredom was the main one) they succeeded in not appealing to the worst parts of human nature and now unless parents heavily supervise what their 12 year old is doing on YouTube they are seeing all kinds of crazy stuff that is mainly designed to increase views and subscribers and not show any tits (because that might run afoul of the few rules). It's a giant psychological experiment and think it's a dangerous one.

I asked my kid who is 8 what he and his friends watch and he said Tobuscus Dantdm and stampycat. His school friends however know a whole stable of stars because their parents bought them their own tablets and don't limit time. The ones that are swearing like a pro - at aged 8 - watch a lot of pewdiepie.

To be fair, practically every kid swears like a sailor by the time they're that age. I went from never swearing at age 7 to cursing daily in school by the time I was 8. Mass media played little or no role.

Chances are high your kid knows about all those bad Youtubers too. Maybe you don't let him watch them at home, but his friends have probably shown him, assuming they carry around their own devices. My nephews know there are certain Youtubers they can't watch (child inappropriate, cursing, etc) but there's no foolproof way of stopping them if they really want to see those.

 

[Messofanego]

There's an article by Patrick Klepek basically about a very similar notion here - basically the fear of JonTron's fanbase being exposed to this shit, and the fear that goes along with that when you're a parent.

https://waypoint.vice.com/en_us/article/what-should-parents-do-when-their-kids-favorite-youtuber-gets-racist

Good on you OP for explaining this to your cousin.

That comment in the article, man that's just so bloody sad.

 

[Not]

Curiously, Youtube just sent me an automated email plugging PewDiePie.

America is a society where copyright violation is more serious than casual racism.

And boobs are more destructive to the young mind than decapitations, and that the real people that need government assistance are billionaires, while the poor should learn to use the resources that they have.

Not to mention the whole "economy built on enslaving all people who were even partially African" thing

Yup, the positive mythology around the US really is being demolished right now. Might be a good thing.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Love it when people on here put a disclaimer on their posts about their lack of English skills then write a long form post with eloquence our fucking president couldn't hope to achieve.

Nice story. Really was worried it would end differently.

 

[Poor GRIMES]

This is why I think it's so important that he and others like him get called out. His fanbase is mostly children and teens that will likely not know better than to believe in the things he says. Thanks for posting this OP.

 

[LQX]

My 12 year old nephew spends more time watching these YouTube personalities than he does playing games and I would hate to think he is picking up on some of the casual bigotry and racism from these guys.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

I am old this will never understand how YouTube "stars" have legions of fans. Even some action figures wtf?!

Heck I'm sill in shock that there are "instagram models" who make a living off of it.

Internet and patreon changed the world.

 

[Sanjuro]

I still can't believe we are in a world where kids are holding these people to a standard or higher level of recognition. Blows my mind when I go to PAX every time.

 

[WillyFive]

I still can't believe we are in a world where kids are holding these people to a standard or higher level of recognition. Blows my mind when I go to PAX every time.

Think of being a kid again, it's like watching a funny show about video games.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

Think of being a kid again, it's like watching a funny show about video games.

While I don't understand it, I know I'd love it if I was kid during all this.

 

[Corpekata]

I still can't believe we are in a world where kids are holding these people to a standard or higher level of recognition. Blows my mind when I go to PAX every time.

Yeah. I thought it was overblown too until my nieces hit around 5-7. They are on youtube an absurd amount of time and get into certain people early on, in the same way kids in my time were into saturday morning cartoons or w/e.

I hope cupquake (?) is a decent person lol because one niece will not shut up about her.

 

[akira28]

makes me remember my own first exposures to racism and its definitely a loss of innocence, especially when you're a young child and everyone is so nice to you and you try to be so nice to everyone. it's sad, and I can relate, the disappointment is real.