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Many/most online personalities are frauds. Being genuine is exceptionally boring and unprofitable. Being hyped so often, always taking things to their extreme,

Many/most online personalities are frauds. Being genuine is exceptionally boring and unprofitable. Being hyped so often, always taking things to their extreme, being exceptionally provocative, etc is exhausting but the meat and potatoes of the digital world. I have seen good creators reach for money and completely invert their messaging, identity, etc. I have seen the money folks drop the facade and become completely normal people. Faking sincerity is big business, and if your core audience is mostly children it's also startlingly easy. The most popular "hot tub" streamer on Twitch, before she went down her current path, was a phenomenal cosplayer, but I assume she makes 100x or 1000x what she did then. On the flipside, there are a few retired pornstars on Twitch who stream themselves gaming to...practically no one. A popular and highly controversial political streamer saw that streamers on the other side of the political spectrum saw more financial success, and inverted his persona to match. And then of course you have the litany of streamers and youtubers (even one of the most popular female streamers) forced into "retirement" because their decade or more of awful behavior comes to light. Do not idolize streamers, and, by God, do not let your children idolize them.

jeffwask 2y ago
This is why I greatly appreciate the handful of content creators I follow who don't just chase the dollar and cultivate a fan based and stay true to their original intent.
JohnFen 2y ago
> Being genuine is exceptionally boring and unprofitable. Well, "boring" is subjective. I personally find hype boring and actual authenticity (or at least an accurate enough simulation of it that I can't tell) to be very interesting. Perhaps because it's so rare. > Do not idolize streamers Do not idolize anybody, actually. Every human is too imperfect to be idolized.
- threatofrain 2y ago
  > Well, "boring" is subjective. And when you aggregate enough individuals you have something approaching objectivity. In other words, statistically speaking, what is the best poise and posture to have as a public figure? Saying that something is subjective and using an anecdote of yourself is as lazy as a cook saying they can't cook good food since everyone is different... so of course this dish should be spicy because they personally prefer it. Or you measure your audience. We can trust people like MrBeast to be measuring the audience.
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    > And when you aggregate enough individuals you have something approaching objectivity. No, you just have a lot of individuals who make a similar subjective call. > In other words, statistically speaking, what is the best poise and posture to have as a public figure? That's an entirely different thing. You're talking about monetization, and even then, you're talking about the sort of monetization that prioritizes maximizing income over all other considerations. That's certain a legit worldview, but it's far from the only one. > is as lazy Expressing an opinion counts as lazy now?
    - threatofrain 2y ago
      A chef saying the same thing you do is abdicating their responsibility as a chef. You counter on Mr Beast's style by saying you like less hype and more authenticity, and aren't we all different people anyway? That opinion can only move the needle when you convince enough people. You go on to elaborate that measuring enough subjective opinion is not the same thing as objectivity on the question of what people like out of people like Mr Beast. There is an objective way to talk about what's happening here, it's not all mired in subjectivity. And the reason why this should even be said is because you are that different from the general population.
      - JohnFen 2y ago
        > A chef saying the same thing you do is abdicating their responsibility as a chef. We disagree on this point. > You counter on Mr Beast's style by saying you like less hype and more authenticity, and aren't we all different people anyway? Yes! This was the underlying point that I was making. That's what underpins my statement that "boring" is subjective. Because it is. (And I wasn't "countering Mr Beast's style". I was just pointing out the fact that authenticity is interesting to some). > That opinion can only move the needle Perhaps this is where we're misunderstanding each other? I'm not trying to move any needle. I suspect we're having two entirely different conversations because I'm genuinely not seeing how your points relate to mine, and when I stop trying to understand your statements as counterarguments to mine, I'm not disagreeing with you. I think we're talking about two different things here.

jeffwask 2y ago

This is why I greatly appreciate the handful of content creators I follow who don't just chase the dollar and cultivate a fan based and stay true to their original intent.

JohnFen 2y ago

> Being genuine is exceptionally boring and unprofitable. Well, "boring" is subjective. I personally find hype boring and actual authenticity (or at least an accurate enough simulation of it that I can't tell) to be very interesting. Perhaps because it's so rare. > Do not idolize streamers Do not idolize anybody, actually. Every human is too imperfect to be idolized.

threatofrain 2y ago
> Well, "boring" is subjective. And when you aggregate enough individuals you have something approaching objectivity. In other words, statistically speaking, what is the best poise and posture to have as a public figure? Saying that something is subjective and using an anecdote of yourself is as lazy as a cook saying they can't cook good food since everyone is different... so of course this dish should be spicy because they personally prefer it. Or you measure your audience. We can trust people like MrBeast to be measuring the audience.
- JohnFen 2y ago
  > And when you aggregate enough individuals you have something approaching objectivity. No, you just have a lot of individuals who make a similar subjective call. > In other words, statistically speaking, what is the best poise and posture to have as a public figure? That's an entirely different thing. You're talking about monetization, and even then, you're talking about the sort of monetization that prioritizes maximizing income over all other considerations. That's certain a legit worldview, but it's far from the only one. > is as lazy Expressing an opinion counts as lazy now?
  - threatofrain 2y ago
    A chef saying the same thing you do is abdicating their responsibility as a chef. You counter on Mr Beast's style by saying you like less hype and more authenticity, and aren't we all different people anyway? That opinion can only move the needle when you convince enough people. You go on to elaborate that measuring enough subjective opinion is not the same thing as objectivity on the question of what people like out of people like Mr Beast. There is an objective way to talk about what's happening here, it's not all mired in subjectivity. And the reason why this should even be said is because you are that different from the general population.
    - JohnFen 2y ago
      > A chef saying the same thing you do is abdicating their responsibility as a chef. We disagree on this point. > You counter on Mr Beast's style by saying you like less hype and more authenticity, and aren't we all different people anyway? Yes! This was the underlying point that I was making. That's what underpins my statement that "boring" is subjective. Because it is. (And I wasn't "countering Mr Beast's style". I was just pointing out the fact that authenticity is interesting to some). > That opinion can only move the needle Perhaps this is where we're misunderstanding each other? I'm not trying to move any needle. I suspect we're having two entirely different conversations because I'm genuinely not seeing how your points relate to mine, and when I stop trying to understand your statements as counterarguments to mine, I'm not disagreeing with you. I think we're talking about two different things here.