Every month, I share a kids’ media roundup of all the articles, announcements, and new reviews. I don’t think I need to explain to parents or educators why September is so busy that I had to combine two month’s worth of news, so let’s jump in.
Influencers Gonna Influence
Kamala Harris HQ pulled off one of the most theatrical Democratic National Conventions (DNC) probably ever, in large part by showcasing how a decentralized but focused message reaches neglected voters.
With over 200 influencers or content creators attending, egos and entitlement from traditional media outlets became more of a story than the DNC itself. Reporters in legacy media questioned the creators’ objectivity, even as many of those streamers never hid their beliefs. Many were invited specifically because of their point-of-view, like abortion activist Deja Foxx.
Media Fights Over Legitimacy Like it’s 2008
Shira Lazar, host of What’s Trending and OG YouTuber legend, wrapped up the nuance that most coverage on influencers lacked quite nicely:
Creators are not just individuals who left their jobs to pursue TikTok trends or people who couldn’t make it doing something else—they represent a variety of industries and backgrounds, addressing gaps that traditional media has failed to cover.
I honestly sat back with popcorn while the media who fought for credentials fifteen years ago tried to call influencers/content creators illegitimate. They don’t all want to work for the New York Times or even aspire to be “real journalists.”
How we ingest news changes almost daily, so it’s important that families learn Media Literacy skills, together if possible. Start dialogues on how to analyze a headline and use inquiry to model critical thinking, as my guest Emily Popek describes here.
MrBeast Can’t Hype His Way Out of Trouble This Time
I have a storied history with MrBeast, at least in my parasocial way. At first, I didn’t get him. Then, I respected him as a creative businessperson amidst many young adults with fame but no concept of turning themselves into a brand. I didn’t even think much when the initial allegations of cheating in his challenges arose because I never thought his games were real to begin with. What he faces now, though, might not bode well for expansion.
In no particular order, here are the troubles that Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, has seen lately:
- His big break on Amazon Prime Video was pumped up to set the gold standard for YouTubers leaping to traditional media. He is caught up in a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment, unsafe working conditions, and general unprofessionalism behind the scenes.
- Longtime friend and collaborator Ava Kris Tyson has been accused of grooming and improperly using her position in the MrBeast enterprise as a means of harassment. Two of MrBeast’s Discord moderators, who were underage at the time, admit to inappropriate talk but say that nothing happened. A former executive assistant of Tyson’s detailed more allegations, and Tyson has since been removed from Donaldson’s team. The Rolling Stone article details more.
- Donaldson has mostly held an “all are welcome” approach to collabs, but throwing your reputation in the ring with Logan Paul/KSI’s Prime energy drink? And worse, it’s just a dumb Lunchables rip-off?
Please note that Dr. Mike is generally a good source for balanced information, but he allegedly sometimes ventures into fatphobic content. As I didn’t see that tendency in this video, I am comfortable sharing. -Editor CMJ
Never mind the balanced takedowns of their nutritional content claims, Donaldson must decide what kind of creator and role model he wants to be. Can he maintain loyalty to idols like Elon Musk while trying to convince young people that philanthropy is cool? In fairness, I think that Musk’s attempt to get MrBeast to go X-first for his videos went sour, with Donaldson using data to hypothesize that his views and payments were artificially inflated.
The optimist in me wants to believe in the upward ethical trajectory of such a high-profile role model, especially for young men. After Taylor Swift endorsed the Harris/Walz ticket, a conversation on Threads asked if there is a male celebrity equivalent with such star power. Of course, many people mentioned Jimmy Donaldson, and no one can deny his influence.
Donaldson’s influence, though, isn’t the kind that Swift built, and he can thank the YouTube platform itself for that. Swift brings people together through sincere storytelling mixed with spectacle. Donaldson adds stories to the spectacle, training his audience to always want more, never feeling they are getting enough, getting their due.
Donaldson may still be riding high on the wave of maximalist reality videos that he perfected, but he’s approaching a breaking point. He has expressed that he’d like YouTubers to stop all the yelling and all the manic edits, and internally, he’s tried shifting toward that change.
But Donaldson himself created this beast of a genre, and he did it so well that now he can’t pull it back.
OutThink’s Nimble News
Musk admits he should probably follow Brazilian law if he wants to do business there – YouTube tries supervised teen accounts linked to a Family Group — Meta/Instagram gives parents more illusions of control – The Surgeon General says streaming’s like smoking — Congress passes the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), so now what?
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Read more: 7 Ways to Show Your Kids the Power of YouTube Influencers Over Their Brains
Photo/Image Credit: DNC, Canva, & Shutterstock
Sources:
- Lazar, Shira, “Journalists vs influencers at the DNC,” LinkedIn, 26 August 2024, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/journalists-vs-influencers-dnc-shira-lazar-ykslc/
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All the smoking comparisons from health people:
* Sitting
* Loneliness [is like smoking 15 cigarettes a day]
* the one you talked about – Streaming!
Also it was great how you showed that influencers come to the job from all sorts of different places and backgrounds.
There are really so many gaps in traditional media.