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I don't want to tar an entire generation with the same brush, but I have noticed that younger people seem to be really taken in with these very shallow like-far

I don't want to tar an entire generation with the same brush, but I have noticed that younger people seem to be really taken in with these very shallow like-farming operations on YouTube and TikTok. Mr Beast is incredibly successful at this, in that his stunts produce massive numbers for very little outlay. A friend's kid in his teens was telling me about how he's the most generous person he's ever seen and it make me wince a little as I really don't want to be that guy and wade into it with a "well, actually". Social media has made the world an incredibly vapid place.

YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago
I don't think it's a generational thing, but a social media thing, and I think it looks like it's representative of "everybody" when in truth it's representative of the people who are more active on social media, which should be a small proportion of the general population. I hope anyway.
Nextgrid 4y ago
This has also decreased the quality of content online in general since everything appears to be optimized for idiots with a 5-second attention span. Whether it’s TikTok videos with that awful TTS voiceover reading the caption (I can read it myself, thanks) or YouTube videos that now always start with a ~5 seconds extract which spoils the entire video, or gaming videos with insufferable personalities. Oh and don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell!
- gnubison 4y ago
  > YouTube videos that now always start with a ~5 seconds extract which spoils the entire video I vastly prefer this to the kind of “informational” video that’s designed to keep you watching a 10 minute video for the 10 second answer
Graffur 4y ago
What is your opinion on Mr Beast? I just watched a video of his for the first time and he gave away over $500,000.
- slillibri 4y ago
  Mr Beast is a game show host. He’s not giving away his own money yet everything is framed as the giant act of generosity on his part. He’s giving away money much like Bob Barker gave away kitchen sets.
  - maest 4y ago
    Honest question - how does he fund these giveaways?
    - chrisseaton 4y ago
      YouTube has advertising, as his videos have sponsorship. His audience is like double the level of an episode of Friends at its peak, so I guess the slots are worth a lot.
    - onion2k 4y ago
      He made $24m in advertising and sponsorship in 2020.
    - CPLX 4y ago
      The same way Bob Barker did.
  - epups 4y ago
    But he owns his channel, no? So any money not spent in giving reverts back to him.
    - tipsytoad 4y ago
      No. A sponsorship would give a clear budget, if blizzard gives him 500k for video expenses the rest would go back to blizzard, not him. Blizzard would probably require him to spend all the money though, as more money = more clicks.
  - highwaylights 4y ago
    I’m stealing this comparison. It’s mine now. I came up with it.
jodrellblank 4y ago
> "I really don't want to be that guy and wade into it with a "well, actually"." Be that guy; what's your criticism about Mr Beast's generosity? He does a lot of content which could be fake; like giving his friends $20,000, but ones which look more serious and genuine and costly include: - Opened a "free bank" where he loaned money into six figures to local people, then surprise! it's not a loan, they can keep it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORUX1lHbOa8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORUX1lHbOa8 - Bought everything in a supermarket and donated it to a food bank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha4tRQwKIUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha4tRQwKIUg - Donated $100k to plant trees, and organised a fundraiser which raised $21M to plant 20M trees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPJKxAhLw5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPJKxAhLw5I - Ran a contest of TV show style challenges (endurance, falling into goop) with some of his viewers as contestents, with a million dollar prize at the end that one of them won: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ4m4zD7BBA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ4m4zD7BBA - Gave away three houses or free rent for a year in them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJH28ICkCdU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJH28ICkCdU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfv1QaRzJg8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfv1QaRzJg8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cCpZl8euLI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cCpZl8euLI - Bought every car in a car dealership and gave them away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LLnjRLrvLU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LLnjRLrvLU - Gives his credit card to people, encouraging them to spend tens thousands of dollars on things they get to keep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYVjOfoU3uI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYVjOfoU3uI What's vapid or not generous enough about these for your liking?
- Zachsa999 4y ago
  This is important because Mr Beast doesn't actually spend a lot of time self aggrandising. He approaches philanthropy similarly to how many ultra wealthy people do; giving in public, only he makes more from it.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- gambiting 4y ago
  I don't know how to explain it - if you make your living by being charitable, then the whole act of charity is somewhat lessened, no? It's like when nestle announces they are going to plant 1 million trees - like yeah, it's very generous of you, no doubt - but you are doing it as a marketing exercise. Mr Beast is making money this way. I am extremely far from saying that there's anything wrong with it - but it's not charity in my mind. It's just a business that happens to benefit random bystanders from time to time.
antiterra 4y ago
It’s definitely a commercial generosity, but I think it differs. Mr. Beast’s brand, and presumably identity, centers around a Calvinist ethic that hard work is a virtue even when exerted to meaningless ends. There’s a ‘don’t act too big for your britches’ undercurrent as well, flashy cars are props returned at the end of the day, not the spoils. He trades a lot of the mawkish sentimentality for self-deprecation. Another practical difference is that giving strangers money provides more actual utility vs a bouquet of flowers. His targets for interaction are usually more appropriate, often people he has a reason to interact with or where he asks for participation.
mattgreenrocks 4y ago
> I don't want to tar an entire generation with the same brush, but I have noticed that younger people seem to be really taken in with these very shallow like-farming operations on YouTube and TikTok. I don't fault them. They're only responding the world that we, the older generation, are implicitly condoning. Fact is, our culture does not teach the benefits of generosity much, and the few instances we see are often highly public: "$FAMOUS_PERSON donates $LARGE_SUM to $NONPROFIT!" Anonymous donors are never trumpeted the same way. There is a marketplace for virtues, and people need role models.
- tsol 4y ago
  >There is a marketplace for virtues, and people need role models. Good luck convincing people of this. One of the primary purposes of religion was to provide that role model figure, but society has thrown out that concept altogether. Nowadays I see more of a "everyone is flawed and whoever you think is a role model is probably a secret pervert or something" philosophy as common. So what does anyone expect? If we decide the theological/moral foundation of society is false without replacing it, then obviously morality will change as a result. It's like throwing out the bath water, and then complaining that there's no baby for some mysterious reason.

YeGoblynQueenne 4y ago

I don't think it's a generational thing, but a social media thing, and I think it looks like it's representative of "everybody" when in truth it's representative of the people who are more active on social media, which should be a small proportion of the general population. I hope anyway.

Nextgrid 4y ago

This has also decreased the quality of content online in general since everything appears to be optimized for idiots with a 5-second attention span. Whether it’s TikTok videos with that awful TTS voiceover reading the caption (I can read it myself, thanks) or YouTube videos that now always start with a ~5 seconds extract which spoils the entire video, or gaming videos with insufferable personalities. Oh and don’t forget to subscribe and hit the notification bell!

gnubison 4y ago
> YouTube videos that now always start with a ~5 seconds extract which spoils the entire video I vastly prefer this to the kind of “informational” video that’s designed to keep you watching a 10 minute video for the 10 second answer

Graffur 4y ago

What is your opinion on Mr Beast? I just watched a video of his for the first time and he gave away over $500,000.

slillibri 4y ago
Mr Beast is a game show host. He’s not giving away his own money yet everything is framed as the giant act of generosity on his part. He’s giving away money much like Bob Barker gave away kitchen sets.
- maest 4y ago
  Honest question - how does he fund these giveaways?
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    YouTube has advertising, as his videos have sponsorship. His audience is like double the level of an episode of Friends at its peak, so I guess the slots are worth a lot.
  - onion2k 4y ago
    He made $24m in advertising and sponsorship in 2020.
  - CPLX 4y ago
    The same way Bob Barker did.
- epups 4y ago
  But he owns his channel, no? So any money not spent in giving reverts back to him.
  - tipsytoad 4y ago
    No. A sponsorship would give a clear budget, if blizzard gives him 500k for video expenses the rest would go back to blizzard, not him. Blizzard would probably require him to spend all the money though, as more money = more clicks.
- highwaylights 4y ago
  I’m stealing this comparison. It’s mine now. I came up with it.

jodrellblank 4y ago

> "I really don't want to be that guy and wade into it with a "well, actually"." Be that guy; what's your criticism about Mr Beast's generosity? He does a lot of content which could be fake; like giving his friends $20,000, but ones which look more serious and genuine and costly include: - Opened a "free bank" where he loaned money into six figures to local people, then surprise! it's not a loan, they can keep it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORUX1lHbOa8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORUX1lHbOa8 - Bought everything in a supermarket and donated it to a food bank: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha4tRQwKIUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha4tRQwKIUg - Donated $100k to plant trees, and organised a fundraiser which raised $21M to plant 20M trees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPJKxAhLw5I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPJKxAhLw5I - Ran a contest of TV show style challenges (endurance, falling into goop) with some of his viewers as contestents, with a million dollar prize at the end that one of them won: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ4m4zD7BBA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ4m4zD7BBA - Gave away three houses or free rent for a year in them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJH28ICkCdU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJH28ICkCdU and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfv1QaRzJg8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfv1QaRzJg8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cCpZl8euLI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cCpZl8euLI - Bought every car in a car dealership and gave them away: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LLnjRLrvLU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LLnjRLrvLU - Gives his credit card to people, encouraging them to spend tens thousands of dollars on things they get to keep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYVjOfoU3uI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYVjOfoU3uI What's vapid or not generous enough about these for your liking?

Zachsa999 4y ago
This is important because Mr Beast doesn't actually spend a lot of time self aggrandising. He approaches philanthropy similarly to how many ultra wealthy people do; giving in public, only he makes more from it.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
gambiting 4y ago
I don't know how to explain it - if you make your living by being charitable, then the whole act of charity is somewhat lessened, no? It's like when nestle announces they are going to plant 1 million trees - like yeah, it's very generous of you, no doubt - but you are doing it as a marketing exercise. Mr Beast is making money this way. I am extremely far from saying that there's anything wrong with it - but it's not charity in my mind. It's just a business that happens to benefit random bystanders from time to time.

antiterra 4y ago

It’s definitely a commercial generosity, but I think it differs. Mr. Beast’s brand, and presumably identity, centers around a Calvinist ethic that hard work is a virtue even when exerted to meaningless ends. There’s a ‘don’t act too big for your britches’ undercurrent as well, flashy cars are props returned at the end of the day, not the spoils. He trades a lot of the mawkish sentimentality for self-deprecation. Another practical difference is that giving strangers money provides more actual utility vs a bouquet of flowers. His targets for interaction are usually more appropriate, often people he has a reason to interact with or where he asks for participation.

mattgreenrocks 4y ago

> I don't want to tar an entire generation with the same brush, but I have noticed that younger people seem to be really taken in with these very shallow like-farming operations on YouTube and TikTok. I don't fault them. They're only responding the world that we, the older generation, are implicitly condoning. Fact is, our culture does not teach the benefits of generosity much, and the few instances we see are often highly public: "$FAMOUS_PERSON donates $LARGE_SUM to $NONPROFIT!" Anonymous donors are never trumpeted the same way. There is a marketplace for virtues, and people need role models.

tsol 4y ago
>There is a marketplace for virtues, and people need role models. Good luck convincing people of this. One of the primary purposes of religion was to provide that role model figure, but society has thrown out that concept altogether. Nowadays I see more of a "everyone is flawed and whoever you think is a role model is probably a secret pervert or something" philosophy as common. So what does anyone expect? If we decide the theological/moral foundation of society is false without replacing it, then obviously morality will change as a result. It's like throwing out the bath water, and then complaining that there's no baby for some mysterious reason.