5 ms·

Mark Rober and the manipulation of children for profit

56 points by sergiotapia 5y ago

discardable_dan 5y ago
My actual issue with Mark Rober isn't his exploitation (that's all of YouTube), it's that he intentionally skirted international travel laws in April 2020 to film his "Can sharks smell blood" video, including being known-positive for Covid and still traveling to another country (via private jet) and interacting with (masked) locals while his entire party was not distancing or taking mask precautions. He did this two months after he made a video explaining how easily the virus spreads. It's clear Rober is in in for the money, and using science as a hook. Everything else in his behavior is utterly unsurprising if viewed through that lens.
- aaron695 5y ago
  This does not seem true. You make two claims 1) "including being known-positive for Covid and still traveling to another country" 2) "intentionally skirted international travel laws" He "teamed up with the Discovery Channel" for this video. I find it unlikely Discovery Channel" would partake in this. All evidence seems he followed the protocols at the time. Do you have a link for these claims?
  - mdonahoe 5y ago
    Mark talks about it in the video https://youtu.be/vePc5V4h_kg?t=110 https://youtu.be/vePc5V4h_kg?t=110 Order of events: 0. Mark tests positive for covid-19 1. He self-isolates 2. Later he tests negative 3. But by then the Bahamas has banned US travelers on commercial flights 4. Mark takes a private jet to get around the ban.
  - discardable_dan 5y ago
    He used a private jet to travel to the Bahamas even though travel was restricted due to COVID. There is video evidence (uploaded by him) of him and his collaborators, all from the US, in the Bahamas and not wearing masks. I'm not going to link the video, because he doesn't deserve the views, but you can find it yourself on Google. He might have recovered from Covid before traveling. Either way, he posting a highly-publicized video in which he used his wealth to skirt international travel restrictions during the first months of a global pandemic. He did this mere months after posting a video about how easily such viruses spread. This is irresponsible at best.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > He used a private jet to travel to the Bahamas even though travel was restricted due to COVID. He had recovered from COVID and was not subject to any personal restrictions on travel. Commercial flights has been suspended at the time, while private ones had not. He didn't skirt any travel restrictions, and AFAIK he didn't use his wealth to do it (it was a Discovery Shark Week project, and Discovery hired the jet.)
      - discardable_dan 5y ago
        So, commercial travel was banned. Instead of being able to fly normally, he had to take a private jet -- because the islands said commercial flights from the US weren't okay. How else would you describe this, if not circumventing restrictions? That's like saying people who fly on private jets aren't circumventing TSA security, because TSA isn't required for private jets. This also doesn't justify his behavior once in the Bahamas, which included no social distancing or masking.
- faraaz98 5y ago
  I liked the squirrel video tho
  - goldenkey 5y ago
    Most people like his videos. That's kind of the point OP is making. That is, behind these innocent cheery videos is somewhat of a fuck-off.. * I don't know enough about Rober to have an informed opinion. Based on his charity drives for autism and other acts, I thought he was a decent guy.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - discardable_dan 5y ago
    Based on the Porch Pirate video, I wouldn't even be surprised to learn those squirrels were trained. :(
counternotions 5y ago
Seems like an unnecessary personal attack and clickbait headline, when Drew is self-aware enough to admit that this is a system-level cultural issue without any real solution proposed here: > I'm picking on Mark today, but he is just one gear in a larger machine which seeks to rear children as participants in a consumerist, capitalist system, a machine which Mark himself was probably raised in and views as normal.
- m0zg 5y ago
  I hate to break it to people, but children _are_ participants in a consumerist, capitalist system. And it is, as the saying goes, the worst system, with the exception of all others. The better adapted they are to this system by the time they are 18, the easier their lives will be. Rober makes world class content and gets kids excited about STEM more effectively than just about any entertainer I could think of. That is extremely valuable, and I will not agree with anyone who whines about his ways of doing things without offering a viable alternative.
yehudalouis 5y ago
Sure, maybe. If your issue is with advertisting-as-propaganda, the Internet is going to seem like post-apocalyptic wasteland. I think the net utility of Rober's channel stands though, as I'd imagine that there are a number of kids who have become actively engaged in engineering/STEM projects/or even moviemaking due to his influence. I know that he also guides an online course where anyone, of any age, can learn engineering concepts and apply them by following along with some of his builds during the course. Hell, I got into programming at a very young age (10 or 11) to figure out how to make a Counter-Strike themed website for me and my friends. Programming now affords me a comfortable life. TL;DR: Exposes kids to engineering in an engaging way, at the cost of advertising to them. There are much darker places on the Internet.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
literallyaduck 5y ago
Not a huge fan of his, the porch pirate fiasco shows the caliber of character. I also got the impression he was sorry he got caught and not sorry he presented his video as truth. Most youtubers advertise which is the way they can continue to make content creation their job. As a parent it is your job to be aware of your children's activities and if you use unregulated content provider as an electronic babysitter you get what you pay for. On the scales I think he is a force for good more than evil, but I still won't be watching his channel.
zozin 5y ago
The problem isn’t that Rober creates content and gets to profit from it, that’s capitalism 101. The problem is that no one is policing or watching over the content makers. Educational channels can quickly turn into infomercials for manufacturers that paid the highest price. Not saying Rober is doing that, but there’s nothing really stopping him.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Advertising is a form of propagand This is true, but then so is polemic blogging, yet here we are.
ddevault 5y ago
Author here. I posted this on Gemini specifically to avoid a larger audience on the WWW. This has happened several times now, so I decided it was time to shut off my web gateway, which breaks this submission. If you want to read this article, you can do so over gemini: gemini://drewdevault.com/2021/09/16/Mark-Rober-and-capitalist-manipulation.gmi You can learn more about Gemini and find a suitable client here: https://gemini.circumlunar.space/ https://gemini.circumlunar.space/
dredmorbius 5y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20210921012502/https://portal.drewdevault.com/2021/09/16/Mark-Rober-and-capitalist-manipulation.gmi https://web.archive.org/web/20210921012502/https://portal.dr...
_hilro 5y ago
> Advertising is a form of propaganda, designed to manipulate people into doing something they normally wouldn't — spending money — in the interests of the corporation which created the ad. Pretty much all content is propaganda. I'm more comfortable with someone advertising a product than subtly advertising what political or cultural or moral views I should have or how i should feel about something. Same goes for pretty much all art. The people creating aren't subject matter experts in what they write/sing/act about. Their art doesn't capture the nuance or realities of a situation. It captures their very limited view which more than likely itself is formed on propaganda of someone else. That aside, I do agree with the criticism of Rober. Indeed, the scammmy/mature advertising on unmoderated youtube videos should be behind an 18+ wall. But youtube is American and doesn't feel any pressure to patrol their product as they'll just claim it's the content creators responsibility. Youtubers like to think they can behave American and use american legal defense but still want to be viewable to the greater world. That will change.

56 points by sergiotapia 5y ago

My actual issue with Mark Rober isn't his exploitation (that's all of YouTube), it's that he intentionally skirted international travel laws in April 2020 to film his "Can sharks smell blood" video, including being known-positive for Covid and still traveling to another country (via private jet) and interacting with (masked) locals while his entire party was not distancing or taking mask precautions. He did this two months after he made a video explaining how easily the virus spreads. It's clear Rober is in in for the money, and using science as a hook. Everything else in his behavior is utterly unsurprising if viewed through that lens.

aaron695 5y ago
This does not seem true. You make two claims 1) "including being known-positive for Covid and still traveling to another country" 2) "intentionally skirted international travel laws" He "teamed up with the Discovery Channel" for this video. I find it unlikely Discovery Channel" would partake in this. All evidence seems he followed the protocols at the time. Do you have a link for these claims?
- mdonahoe 5y ago
  Mark talks about it in the video https://youtu.be/vePc5V4h_kg?t=110 https://youtu.be/vePc5V4h_kg?t=110 Order of events: 0. Mark tests positive for covid-19 1. He self-isolates 2. Later he tests negative 3. But by then the Bahamas has banned US travelers on commercial flights 4. Mark takes a private jet to get around the ban.
- discardable_dan 5y ago
  He used a private jet to travel to the Bahamas even though travel was restricted due to COVID. There is video evidence (uploaded by him) of him and his collaborators, all from the US, in the Bahamas and not wearing masks. I'm not going to link the video, because he doesn't deserve the views, but you can find it yourself on Google. He might have recovered from Covid before traveling. Either way, he posting a highly-publicized video in which he used his wealth to skirt international travel restrictions during the first months of a global pandemic. He did this mere months after posting a video about how easily such viruses spread. This is irresponsible at best.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > He used a private jet to travel to the Bahamas even though travel was restricted due to COVID. He had recovered from COVID and was not subject to any personal restrictions on travel. Commercial flights has been suspended at the time, while private ones had not. He didn't skirt any travel restrictions, and AFAIK he didn't use his wealth to do it (it was a Discovery Shark Week project, and Discovery hired the jet.)
    - discardable_dan 5y ago
      So, commercial travel was banned. Instead of being able to fly normally, he had to take a private jet -- because the islands said commercial flights from the US weren't okay. How else would you describe this, if not circumventing restrictions? That's like saying people who fly on private jets aren't circumventing TSA security, because TSA isn't required for private jets. This also doesn't justify his behavior once in the Bahamas, which included no social distancing or masking.
faraaz98 5y ago
I liked the squirrel video tho
- goldenkey 5y ago
  Most people like his videos. That's kind of the point OP is making. That is, behind these innocent cheery videos is somewhat of a fuck-off.. * I don't know enough about Rober to have an informed opinion. Based on his charity drives for autism and other acts, I thought he was a decent guy.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- discardable_dan 5y ago
  Based on the Porch Pirate video, I wouldn't even be surprised to learn those squirrels were trained. :(

counternotions 5y ago

Seems like an unnecessary personal attack and clickbait headline, when Drew is self-aware enough to admit that this is a system-level cultural issue without any real solution proposed here: > I'm picking on Mark today, but he is just one gear in a larger machine which seeks to rear children as participants in a consumerist, capitalist system, a machine which Mark himself was probably raised in and views as normal.

m0zg 5y ago
I hate to break it to people, but children _are_ participants in a consumerist, capitalist system. And it is, as the saying goes, the worst system, with the exception of all others. The better adapted they are to this system by the time they are 18, the easier their lives will be. Rober makes world class content and gets kids excited about STEM more effectively than just about any entertainer I could think of. That is extremely valuable, and I will not agree with anyone who whines about his ways of doing things without offering a viable alternative.

yehudalouis 5y ago

Sure, maybe. If your issue is with advertisting-as-propaganda, the Internet is going to seem like post-apocalyptic wasteland. I think the net utility of Rober's channel stands though, as I'd imagine that there are a number of kids who have become actively engaged in engineering/STEM projects/or even moviemaking due to his influence. I know that he also guides an online course where anyone, of any age, can learn engineering concepts and apply them by following along with some of his builds during the course. Hell, I got into programming at a very young age (10 or 11) to figure out how to make a Counter-Strike themed website for me and my friends. Programming now affords me a comfortable life. TL;DR: Exposes kids to engineering in an engaging way, at the cost of advertising to them. There are much darker places on the Internet.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

literallyaduck 5y ago

Not a huge fan of his, the porch pirate fiasco shows the caliber of character. I also got the impression he was sorry he got caught and not sorry he presented his video as truth. Most youtubers advertise which is the way they can continue to make content creation their job. As a parent it is your job to be aware of your children's activities and if you use unregulated content provider as an electronic babysitter you get what you pay for. On the scales I think he is a force for good more than evil, but I still won't be watching his channel.

zozin 5y ago

The problem isn’t that Rober creates content and gets to profit from it, that’s capitalism 101. The problem is that no one is policing or watching over the content makers. Educational channels can quickly turn into infomercials for manufacturers that paid the highest price. Not saying Rober is doing that, but there’s nothing really stopping him.

dragonwriter 5y ago

> Advertising is a form of propagand This is true, but then so is polemic blogging, yet here we are.

ddevault 5y ago

Author here. I posted this on Gemini specifically to avoid a larger audience on the WWW. This has happened several times now, so I decided it was time to shut off my web gateway, which breaks this submission. If you want to read this article, you can do so over gemini: gemini://drewdevault.com/2021/09/16/Mark-Rober-and-capitalist-manipulation.gmi You can learn more about Gemini and find a suitable client here: https://gemini.circumlunar.space/ https://gemini.circumlunar.space/

dredmorbius 5y ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20210921012502/https://portal.drewdevault.com/2021/09/16/Mark-Rober-and-capitalist-manipulation.gmi https://web.archive.org/web/20210921012502/https://portal.dr...

_hilro 5y ago

> Advertising is a form of propaganda, designed to manipulate people into doing something they normally wouldn't — spending money — in the interests of the corporation which created the ad. Pretty much all content is propaganda. I'm more comfortable with someone advertising a product than subtly advertising what political or cultural or moral views I should have or how i should feel about something. Same goes for pretty much all art. The people creating aren't subject matter experts in what they write/sing/act about. Their art doesn't capture the nuance or realities of a situation. It captures their very limited view which more than likely itself is formed on propaganda of someone else. That aside, I do agree with the criticism of Rober. Indeed, the scammmy/mature advertising on unmoderated youtube videos should be behind an 18+ wall. But youtube is American and doesn't feel any pressure to patrol their product as they'll just claim it's the content creators responsibility. Youtubers like to think they can behave American and use american legal defense but still want to be viewable to the greater world. That will change.