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MrBeast: Why has YouTuber faced criticism for blind surgery video?

13 points by O__________O 4y ago

O__________O 4y ago
Surreal to me that people have nothing better to do than complain about how this is toxic, exploitative, sets unrealistic expectations for life, etc — instead of actually finding it inspiring that for less than $25 of medical products, surgery room, 10-mins of surgical time, and post-operation care — someone is able to see. Jimmy is not prefect and I have even seen him do some questionable things — but the idea that he’s not sincerely trying to help people to me does not fit. Making positive change in someone else’s life is never easy; if you think it is, feel free to share, especially if it’s possible to generalize and scale to any significant degree.
- mytailorisrich 4y ago
  Controversy is the raison d'etre of social media. They've discovered perpetual motion.
- nix23 4y ago
  >someone is able to see And not just that, but also able to care for himself and family. That kind of stuff is the best one can do to fight poverty.
  - O__________O 4y ago
    Agree. Pretty obvious that Jimmy’s learning more and more about having meaningful positive impact on world and actively trying to learn from what he’s tried in the past. Worth noting that his first sponsored video was him trying to help a homeless stranger: https://youtube.com/watch?v=N_GMakKf7G4 https://youtube.com/watch?v=N_GMakKf7G4
poulpy123 4y ago
I didn't follow and I don't really know him or his channel (I just saw the news few month ago he was the most successful YT personality) but I did saw the announcement this video (a screenshot actually). To me it didn't look as someone who did a charity by helping people having a surgery, and also not someone who organised a charity to raise money to pay for people surgery, but it was looking like someone who used blind people to gain more fame and supporters. I may be wrong and I didn't care enough to investigate more, but that the first thing I noticed and I'm probably not alone
- O__________O 4y ago
  To you, what would an alternative video title, thumbnail, video, and video description look like? MrBeast content is basically a mirror of what viewers want to see with a concept that to him makes sense. In this case, the concept was how to share that millions of people are unable to see even though it’s a completely treatable and affordable medical condition. He clearly got something right, since video within days has 2x views of his average views per video and likely be in top 10 of the 734 videos he’s posted within the next year; all of his top 10 videos are year or more old. It’s already got 3x the views of top video on his philanthropy channel: - https://youtube.com/@BeastPhilanthropy/videos https://youtube.com/@BeastPhilanthropy/videos In the process, he actually helped 1000+ people see and likely helped that nonprofit raise millions; impact on nonprofit’s financials will likely be easy to see after a year or so, since their 990s have been public for years: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34567094 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34567094
  - poulpy123 4y ago
    As I wrote I didn't look further and don't know if I was right or not, I just wanted to share how I felt when I saw it since OP is asking
    - O__________O 4y ago
      Understand, just don’t understand how to bridge the gap you experienced, and responded in case you had any additional thoughts that might resolve experiences like one you had.
- Zetobal 4y ago
  It's funny that you judge someone's character because he adheres to YouTube algorithms on his thumbnails. You should be more educated while working in tech.
  - O__________O 4y ago
    Little harsh, guessing average person watching videos on YouTube has no idea how it works, what viewers want, etc; even if they’re in tech, marketing, etc. I would even argue that most YouTubers don’t even understand either.
skilled 4y ago
I managed to quit all social media over the last couple of months. It was hard. I had to figure out where I am going to put all the “extra” time but I eventually did. I don’t miss the noise, the stupid opinions or every 3rd person trying to market their idea to me. All the big social networks have become cesspools of fakeness and ignorance, and I imagine that the majority of people now scroll their timelines for exactly this type of content. Some kind of outrage or drama to comment on or voice a useless opinion.
- O__________O 4y ago
  Yes, ignorance is bliss, but it doesn’t help change the world either. Social media is just an amplified and easy to access way of understanding that people generally want to watch or broadcast their existing opinions about the world — instead of having meaningful discussion about how to make progress improving the world, make change happen, etc.
- klondike_klive 4y ago
  Here's my reaction video on why you're wrong...
- ChuckNorris89 4y ago
  >I managed to quit all social media over the last couple of months. Almost the same for me. Turned off all notifications on my phone for all apps except the instant messaging ones and the caller app. Stopped browsing social media like Reddit which only optimize for engagement. Still keep some of the apps though as that's the only way I can reach out to some people I don't talk to that often. Dumped my smartwatch for my old trusty Casio. It feels so liberating not being hunted down for my attention anymore.
- jazzyjackson 4y ago
  why do you not consider hackernews as "social media" ?
  - skilled 4y ago
    Because it’s interesting and makes me use critical thinking.
oaktrout 4y ago
Who cares if he did it to make himself more famous? He helped 1000 blind people see. Celebrities who get famous from sex tapes get less flack. Imagine if we encouraged this sort of behavior and Instagram was full of people helping others instead of people showing their ass.
- O__________O 4y ago
  There have been apps in past that focused on getting people to actually take action doing good. If for some reason someone is interested in working on platform like that or knows of a one, feel free to comment.
- rospaya 4y ago
  > Imagine if we encouraged this sort of behavior and Instagram was full of people helping others instead of people showing their ass. Instagram is full of people filming themselves helping poor people. Mostly in public, mostly not asking for permission to film and I hate it. It's charity porn, it's demeaning, degrading, patronising and most of all attention-grabbing. They're using other people for their own benefit (views, likes, subscribes).
  - O__________O 4y ago
    Related existing thread on “poverty porn” topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34626033 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34626033
  - oaktrout 4y ago
    I would argue the video in question is none of those things (not demeaning, not in public, not without permission, etc).
xen2xen1 4y ago
Exploitative? Probably, but I have trouble being very unhappy with what he did. Nothing was destructive, and he was upfront about it. Dunno, blame the game, not the player?
- O__________O 4y ago
  If finding an existing cause to amplify impact and sustain yourself is exploitative, then what nonprofit isn’t exploitative? To you, what would be best example of how he is exploiting the viewers, cause, nonprofit, any of people he helped, their families, public, media, donors, etc?
  - burnished 4y ago
    He is gaining direct benefit from this yes? And their direct benefit does not really tie into his - he would still benefit from the appearance of charity right? And there is a huge power imbalance here right? I think that is what would lend this situation to an analysis of exploitation. Nothing to do with outcomes, which is what you are focused on, because exploiting something/some one doesnt depend on outcomes. Think of how we talk about natural resources - whether you are a careful custodian bringing prosperity to your region or some shit heel, it still starts with exploiting some resource.
    - O__________O 4y ago
      Generally speaking, any action of significance for a cause that helps others requires key individuals within it to benefit in some way. Further, Jimmy’s making no claims of being a nonprofit entity, nor in my opinion is there any non-consensual aspect or for that matter abuse of power. The related non-profit is legitimate, the agreed to help, there’s no way he would have been able to accomplish this without them, and they & the people helped are clearly grateful too. If there’s an alternative approach that might generalized and scale, please let me know.
      - burnished 4y ago
4gotunameagain 4y ago
if anything, it is a sad exposé of the state of affairs in the US. instead of having freely available healthcare for all, the money is pooled through middlemen: influencers, tech giants, advertising companies.
- O__________O 4y ago
  Actually, most the people he helped were not US and majority of those in need are in countries without significant medical infrastructure.
  - 4gotunameagain 4y ago
    you seem to be strangely supportive of this influencer, also having posted that video a couple of days ago. how come ? why are you so passionate about this ?
    - O__________O 4y ago
      It’s fair question, though as noted in another comment, I neither think Jimmy’s prefect, nor do I think everything he does is something I would be supportive of. As for why I posted prior link, I could tell it was both significant to his development and also thought it was inspiring. I would hope anyone would be able to relate to value of being able to see, or imagine how hard it would be to not be able to see. As for being a fan, I would not go that far, but I for sure would not mind having him as a friend since we both happen to have a lot of shared interests and believe some of the things he’s personally been impacted by I am able to relate to. Shared interest include: Youtube, craftsmanship, showmanship, research & analytics, business, mass communication, positive impact on world, making friends, helping peers learn, nonprofits, helping strangers, learning, etc.
    - jazzyjackson 4y ago
      it doesn't take passion to post your opinion in a web forum.
      - 4y ago
willcipriano 4y ago
A lot of minor celebrities, influencer types and top few percent of income folks could've sponsored a few of these types of surgeries but they didn't, they prioritized themselves as always, and that makes them feel bad so they lash out at the person who hurt them. A story as old as human beings really.
aestetix 4y ago
I think it is the best video he has ever made, and shows all the good you can do if you have lots of money. The fact that anyone aimed negative reactions at Mr Beast rather than the broken health care industry only exposes how toxic the discourse on "social" media (and formerly respectable news outlets) is.
- O__________O 4y ago
  Doing good requires no money, just intent to do so and time; for example: https://www.google.com/search?q=list+of+daily+ways+to+have+positive+impact+on+others https://www.google.com/search?q=list+of+daily+ways+to+have+p...
captainbland 4y ago
Irrespective of it being "charity porn" or whatever I'd still say it's a net benefit. If there's any problem, it's that there's the opportunity to do this in the first place as people's health needs weren't otherwise being met.
- O__________O 4y ago
  Who’s he exploiting and how? Related description and background on “poverty porn” which by definition requires non-consensual exploitation: - https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_porn https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_porn
ReactiveJelly 4y ago
People are mad because of Copenhagen ethics https://blog.jaibot.com/the-copenhagen-interpretation-of-ethics/ https://blog.jaibot.com/the-copenhagen-interpretation-of-eth...
- O__________O 4y ago
  Notable prior HN thread on topic: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31720356 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31720356 And link to new thread in case anyone interested in discussing it from a new perspective: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34626545 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34626545
exabrial 4y ago
Cry me a giant, wide, long, river. The same people are probably also whining that Jeff Bezos has too much money. The same people probably also sit in their living room, and do nothing to help others; he makes them feel bad. I don’t care if his motivation is YouTube views, and neither should you. Would it be my personal style? No. But that’s irrelevant.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
0xAFFFF 4y ago
Two things can be true at the same time: - I'd rather be in a world where an internet celebrity cured blindness in 1000 people than a world where they did nothing. - I'd rather be in a world where having your vision fixed didn't depend on charity, which is a deeply flawed and unethical way to fight inequality.
- O__________O 4y ago
  Regardless of how hard world tries to make world equitable, fair, justice, etc — there will always be those who are lucky or unlucky, which in turn means there will always be an opportunity either as a society or individual to here others.
mcv 4y ago
Is it possible that Twitter is not the best source to go to for ethical guidance? I kinda get it. My son watches lots of videos from MrBeast and tells about how much money he gave away to completely random people, and I've often wondered what to think of that. He has a successful Youtube channel that apparently revolves around involving random strangers in mad schemes that make MrBeast look good. Is he an attention seeker? A narcissist even? Or has he found a way to help people and monetise it in a way that enables him to keep helping people? No matter how much I turn this around in my head and search for some nefarious explanation, the end result is always that MrBeast helps a lot of people. Sometimes random people who might not really need it, but often people who really do need it. And in this particular case, 1000 people who were blind can suddenly see again. People have been worshipped for less. Let's reserve our criticism for people who hurt others for attention, not for those who help others. I think it's reasonable to assume MrBeast has found a way to help people in such a way that he can continue helping as many people as possible, which is great. But even if he's doing it for different reasons, it's better to do good for the wrong reasons than not to do good at all. (I feel like that's a Bible quote, but I can't find it.)

13 points by O__________O 4y ago

Surreal to me that people have nothing better to do than complain about how this is toxic, exploitative, sets unrealistic expectations for life, etc — instead of actually finding it inspiring that for less than $25 of medical products, surgery room, 10-mins of surgical time, and post-operation care — someone is able to see. Jimmy is not prefect and I have even seen him do some questionable things — but the idea that he’s not sincerely trying to help people to me does not fit. Making positive change in someone else’s life is never easy; if you think it is, feel free to share, especially if it’s possible to generalize and scale to any significant degree.

mytailorisrich 4y ago
Controversy is the raison d'etre of social media. They've discovered perpetual motion.
nix23 4y ago
>someone is able to see And not just that, but also able to care for himself and family. That kind of stuff is the best one can do to fight poverty.
- O__________O 4y ago
  Agree. Pretty obvious that Jimmy’s learning more and more about having meaningful positive impact on world and actively trying to learn from what he’s tried in the past. Worth noting that his first sponsored video was him trying to help a homeless stranger: https://youtube.com/watch?v=N_GMakKf7G4 https://youtube.com/watch?v=N_GMakKf7G4

poulpy123 4y ago

I didn't follow and I don't really know him or his channel (I just saw the news few month ago he was the most successful YT personality) but I did saw the announcement this video (a screenshot actually). To me it didn't look as someone who did a charity by helping people having a surgery, and also not someone who organised a charity to raise money to pay for people surgery, but it was looking like someone who used blind people to gain more fame and supporters. I may be wrong and I didn't care enough to investigate more, but that the first thing I noticed and I'm probably not alone

O__________O 4y ago
To you, what would an alternative video title, thumbnail, video, and video description look like? MrBeast content is basically a mirror of what viewers want to see with a concept that to him makes sense. In this case, the concept was how to share that millions of people are unable to see even though it’s a completely treatable and affordable medical condition. He clearly got something right, since video within days has 2x views of his average views per video and likely be in top 10 of the 734 videos he’s posted within the next year; all of his top 10 videos are year or more old. It’s already got 3x the views of top video on his philanthropy channel: - https://youtube.com/@BeastPhilanthropy/videos https://youtube.com/@BeastPhilanthropy/videos In the process, he actually helped 1000+ people see and likely helped that nonprofit raise millions; impact on nonprofit’s financials will likely be easy to see after a year or so, since their 990s have been public for years: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34567094 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34567094
- poulpy123 4y ago
  As I wrote I didn't look further and don't know if I was right or not, I just wanted to share how I felt when I saw it since OP is asking
  - O__________O 4y ago
    Understand, just don’t understand how to bridge the gap you experienced, and responded in case you had any additional thoughts that might resolve experiences like one you had.
Zetobal 4y ago
It's funny that you judge someone's character because he adheres to YouTube algorithms on his thumbnails. You should be more educated while working in tech.
- O__________O 4y ago
  Little harsh, guessing average person watching videos on YouTube has no idea how it works, what viewers want, etc; even if they’re in tech, marketing, etc. I would even argue that most YouTubers don’t even understand either.

skilled 4y ago

I managed to quit all social media over the last couple of months. It was hard. I had to figure out where I am going to put all the “extra” time but I eventually did. I don’t miss the noise, the stupid opinions or every 3rd person trying to market their idea to me. All the big social networks have become cesspools of fakeness and ignorance, and I imagine that the majority of people now scroll their timelines for exactly this type of content. Some kind of outrage or drama to comment on or voice a useless opinion.

O__________O 4y ago
Yes, ignorance is bliss, but it doesn’t help change the world either. Social media is just an amplified and easy to access way of understanding that people generally want to watch or broadcast their existing opinions about the world — instead of having meaningful discussion about how to make progress improving the world, make change happen, etc.
klondike_klive 4y ago
Here's my reaction video on why you're wrong...
ChuckNorris89 4y ago
>I managed to quit all social media over the last couple of months. Almost the same for me. Turned off all notifications on my phone for all apps except the instant messaging ones and the caller app. Stopped browsing social media like Reddit which only optimize for engagement. Still keep some of the apps though as that's the only way I can reach out to some people I don't talk to that often. Dumped my smartwatch for my old trusty Casio. It feels so liberating not being hunted down for my attention anymore.
jazzyjackson 4y ago
why do you not consider hackernews as "social media" ?
- skilled 4y ago
  Because it’s interesting and makes me use critical thinking.

oaktrout 4y ago

Who cares if he did it to make himself more famous? He helped 1000 blind people see. Celebrities who get famous from sex tapes get less flack. Imagine if we encouraged this sort of behavior and Instagram was full of people helping others instead of people showing their ass.

O__________O 4y ago
There have been apps in past that focused on getting people to actually take action doing good. If for some reason someone is interested in working on platform like that or knows of a one, feel free to comment.
rospaya 4y ago
> Imagine if we encouraged this sort of behavior and Instagram was full of people helping others instead of people showing their ass. Instagram is full of people filming themselves helping poor people. Mostly in public, mostly not asking for permission to film and I hate it. It's charity porn, it's demeaning, degrading, patronising and most of all attention-grabbing. They're using other people for their own benefit (views, likes, subscribes).
- O__________O 4y ago
  Related existing thread on “poverty porn” topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34626033 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34626033
- oaktrout 4y ago
  I would argue the video in question is none of those things (not demeaning, not in public, not without permission, etc).

xen2xen1 4y ago

Exploitative? Probably, but I have trouble being very unhappy with what he did. Nothing was destructive, and he was upfront about it. Dunno, blame the game, not the player?

O__________O 4y ago
If finding an existing cause to amplify impact and sustain yourself is exploitative, then what nonprofit isn’t exploitative? To you, what would be best example of how he is exploiting the viewers, cause, nonprofit, any of people he helped, their families, public, media, donors, etc?
- burnished 4y ago
  He is gaining direct benefit from this yes? And their direct benefit does not really tie into his - he would still benefit from the appearance of charity right? And there is a huge power imbalance here right? I think that is what would lend this situation to an analysis of exploitation. Nothing to do with outcomes, which is what you are focused on, because exploiting something/some one doesnt depend on outcomes. Think of how we talk about natural resources - whether you are a careful custodian bringing prosperity to your region or some shit heel, it still starts with exploiting some resource.
  - O__________O 4y ago
    Generally speaking, any action of significance for a cause that helps others requires key individuals within it to benefit in some way. Further, Jimmy’s making no claims of being a nonprofit entity, nor in my opinion is there any non-consensual aspect or for that matter abuse of power. The related non-profit is legitimate, the agreed to help, there’s no way he would have been able to accomplish this without them, and they & the people helped are clearly grateful too. If there’s an alternative approach that might generalized and scale, please let me know.
    - burnished 4y ago

4gotunameagain 4y ago

if anything, it is a sad exposé of the state of affairs in the US. instead of having freely available healthcare for all, the money is pooled through middlemen: influencers, tech giants, advertising companies.

O__________O 4y ago
Actually, most the people he helped were not US and majority of those in need are in countries without significant medical infrastructure.
- 4gotunameagain 4y ago
  you seem to be strangely supportive of this influencer, also having posted that video a couple of days ago. how come ? why are you so passionate about this ?
  - O__________O 4y ago
    It’s fair question, though as noted in another comment, I neither think Jimmy’s prefect, nor do I think everything he does is something I would be supportive of. As for why I posted prior link, I could tell it was both significant to his development and also thought it was inspiring. I would hope anyone would be able to relate to value of being able to see, or imagine how hard it would be to not be able to see. As for being a fan, I would not go that far, but I for sure would not mind having him as a friend since we both happen to have a lot of shared interests and believe some of the things he’s personally been impacted by I am able to relate to. Shared interest include: Youtube, craftsmanship, showmanship, research & analytics, business, mass communication, positive impact on world, making friends, helping peers learn, nonprofits, helping strangers, learning, etc.
  - jazzyjackson 4y ago
    it doesn't take passion to post your opinion in a web forum.
    - 4y ago

willcipriano 4y ago

A lot of minor celebrities, influencer types and top few percent of income folks could've sponsored a few of these types of surgeries but they didn't, they prioritized themselves as always, and that makes them feel bad so they lash out at the person who hurt them. A story as old as human beings really.

aestetix 4y ago

I think it is the best video he has ever made, and shows all the good you can do if you have lots of money. The fact that anyone aimed negative reactions at Mr Beast rather than the broken health care industry only exposes how toxic the discourse on "social" media (and formerly respectable news outlets) is.

O__________O 4y ago
Doing good requires no money, just intent to do so and time; for example: https://www.google.com/search?q=list+of+daily+ways+to+have+positive+impact+on+others https://www.google.com/search?q=list+of+daily+ways+to+have+p...

captainbland 4y ago

Irrespective of it being "charity porn" or whatever I'd still say it's a net benefit. If there's any problem, it's that there's the opportunity to do this in the first place as people's health needs weren't otherwise being met.

O__________O 4y ago
Who’s he exploiting and how? Related description and background on “poverty porn” which by definition requires non-consensual exploitation: - https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_porn https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_porn

ReactiveJelly 4y ago

People are mad because of Copenhagen ethics https://blog.jaibot.com/the-copenhagen-interpretation-of-ethics/ https://blog.jaibot.com/the-copenhagen-interpretation-of-eth...

O__________O 4y ago
Notable prior HN thread on topic: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31720356 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31720356 And link to new thread in case anyone interested in discussing it from a new perspective: - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34626545 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34626545

exabrial 4y ago

Cry me a giant, wide, long, river. The same people are probably also whining that Jeff Bezos has too much money. The same people probably also sit in their living room, and do nothing to help others; he makes them feel bad. I don’t care if his motivation is YouTube views, and neither should you. Would it be my personal style? No. But that’s irrelevant.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

0xAFFFF 4y ago

Two things can be true at the same time: - I'd rather be in a world where an internet celebrity cured blindness in 1000 people than a world where they did nothing. - I'd rather be in a world where having your vision fixed didn't depend on charity, which is a deeply flawed and unethical way to fight inequality.

O__________O 4y ago
Regardless of how hard world tries to make world equitable, fair, justice, etc — there will always be those who are lucky or unlucky, which in turn means there will always be an opportunity either as a society or individual to here others.

mcv 4y ago

Is it possible that Twitter is not the best source to go to for ethical guidance? I kinda get it. My son watches lots of videos from MrBeast and tells about how much money he gave away to completely random people, and I've often wondered what to think of that. He has a successful Youtube channel that apparently revolves around involving random strangers in mad schemes that make MrBeast look good. Is he an attention seeker? A narcissist even? Or has he found a way to help people and monetise it in a way that enables him to keep helping people? No matter how much I turn this around in my head and search for some nefarious explanation, the end result is always that MrBeast helps a lot of people. Sometimes random people who might not really need it, but often people who really do need it. And in this particular case, 1000 people who were blind can suddenly see again. People have been worshipped for less. Let's reserve our criticism for people who hurt others for attention, not for those who help others. I think it's reasonable to assume MrBeast has found a way to help people in such a way that he can continue helping as many people as possible, which is great. But even if he's doing it for different reasons, it's better to do good for the wrong reasons than not to do good at all. (I feel like that's a Bible quote, but I can't find it.)