commit: ea1b0a3fd2f3e280289280b225120c71bda93b72
parent c0c5de90c0e520198e1efacc3516c1110133001c
Author: Drew DeVault <sir@cmpwn.com>
Date: Sun, 3 Jul 2022 20:43:33 +0200
Update Mark Rober Gemini article
Diffstat:
1 file changed, 7 insertions(+), 5 deletions(-)
diff --git a/content/blog/Mark-Rober-and-capitalist-manipulation.gmi b/content/blog/Mark-Rober-and-capitalist-manipulation.gmi
@@ -18,12 +18,14 @@ However, shifting your target audience to children also comes with a shift in pr
The latest video is sponsored by Draft Kings, which is a gambling platform. A hard-to-see footnote on the video states "Eligibility restrictions apply", but nowhere is the nature of the platform disclosed, nor the risks of gambling. Instead of any responsible disclosure, Mark glorifies the activity by talking about how he participates in it with his friends, portraying it as a great time free of consequences and risk. Remember: he is talking to children in this video.
-This is the most egregious flaw, and if it weren't for that, I probably would have forgiven the more subtle issues and skipped this blog post. But, since we're here, I can enumerate two other problems I noticed in this video. First, he glorifies wealth and consumerism: the children are coached into excitement over riding in a Tesla car or on a private jet. Another problem comes from the collaboration with MrBeast. MrBeast is an even more popular YouTube personality, with nearly 70 million subscribers and over 12 billion views, who is also popular with children.
+This is the most egregious flaw, and if it weren't for that, I probably would have forgiven the more subtle issues and skipped this blog post. But, since we're here, I can enumerate two other problems I noticed in this video. First, he glorifies wealth and consumerism: the children are coached into excitement over riding in a Tesla car or on a private jet. Another problem comes from [redacted]
-I have no complaints about how their collaboration appears to the children in their audience. However, MrBeast was recently the subject of allegations of workplace abuse, which sets off my personal ethical barometer in a broader context than the surface-level content of their videos.
+I have no complaints about how their collaboration appears to the children in their audience. [redacted]
-=> https://www.insider.com/mrbeast-former-employees-allege-youtuber-berated-staff-used-slur-2021-5 Former employees of YouTuber MrBeast alleged the star created a toxic work environment where he berated and belittled staff, report says
-
-I would have expected Mark, being a popular YouTube personality himself, to be aware of these issues and to distance himself from MrBeast. Perhaps I'm asking too much, though, or perhaps Mark knows these allegations to be false, or overstated.
+I would have expected Mark, being a popular YouTube personality himself, to be aware of these issues. Perhaps I'm asking too much, though, or perhaps Mark knows these allegations to be false, or overstated.
All of these things said, the problems I've pointed out are all reasonably forgivable. The outcome of this is that I feel uncomfortable with his videos, but not that I think Mark is a bad person. 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. But, I might hold myself to higher standards if I were in his shoes.
+
+## Update 2022-07-03
+
+A previous version of this article spoke critically of Mark Rober's relationship with another YouTube personality. I have since learned that the allegations against this YouTube personality are not well-substantiated. I have removed related criticisms and the name of this person from this article.
