The bar is set LOW for influencers

On the 22nd of April, British YouTuber James Marriott uploaded a video where he made fun of the mainstream media's obsession and lack of information on social media platform’s particularly TikTok based on a BBC article. He then turned his attention to the ByteSquad, a new TikTok content house based in London that was the subject of the BBC’s article.

He pokes fun at how much the ByteSquad’s house pales in comparison to the lavish LA mansions of their American counterparts, then suggests some of the group’s gimmicks are outdated. To finish James wishes the England’s newest content the best on their new endeavours.

Despite the video being comedic and light-hearted, there were a few BtyeSquad supporters that insisted that James not critique the house because its members are ‘unproblematic’. 

Comments under Marriott's video that praise
the ByteSquad for being unproblematic.

Unproblematic, a word that is now used regularly on social media when fans explain to others why who they choose to watch and engage with is a better choice than others who have been involved in controversy. 

The term which is used as a badge of honour by followers reveals the low standards and expectations that consumers have for social media influencers. No longer are people expected to be innovative or entertaining, instead they are only asked to keep out of drama.

There have been multiple incidents on YouTube in particular that lead to the creation of this low standard. In 2017 after Logan Paul posted a video of a dead body in Aokigahara, a forest in Japan where many commit suicide, a video that YouTube negligently posted to their trending page, YouTube’s ad-pocalypse was provoked which resulted in large businesses withdrawing their financial support from some of YouTube's content. It also resulted in Google’s video sharing platform now regularly changing the rules that content creators have to abide by in order to be monetised.  

In 2019 YouTube drama took over the mainstream as public fallout between beauty influencers James Charles, Tati Westbrook and Jeffree Star was documented with long form videos on the platform. The beauty side of social media is more than familiar with controversy, many of which surround the two men which were at the centre of what people online coined Dramarmageddon 2.0, the first of which centred around Jeffree Star’s relationship with four other make up artists.

The many instances of influencers letting down their fans has contributed to the dramatically reduced level of expectation of viewers, providing an explanation as to why fans were quick to protect Britain’s latest TikTok stars from Marriott’s commentary.

This coupled with the increasing vicious nature of cancel culture causes consumers to only require the people they support the be uncomplicated, nothing more nothing less. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Rock is the Worst Actor from the WWE

Image
Despite the joint second highest paid actor of 2019 being Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, the question remains if WWE superstars can successfully change paths and become great actors. I originally was going to discuss the idea that Dwayne Johnson’s acting career has been inferior to that of his former WWE colleague Dave Bautista’s , who is appearing in more films as of late, as I have found some of Bautista’s performances in films such as Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) to be much more enjoyable than The Rock’s blockbuster films like Central Intelligence (2016) . However; although Bautista has vocalised his desire to be an actor as opposed to just a movie star, both men are stuck in the roles of the muscular and powerful characters that they were in the WWE. Dave Bautista in his role as Drax, from the  Marvel Universe Johnson and Bautista have upcoming summer releases, Hobbs & Shaw and My Spy respectively, which see them taking on roles of “badass” government op
Read more

The real winner of the Internet's biggest boxing match: Ethan Payne

Image
On November 9th internet juggernauts KSI and Logan Paul fought in six round boxing match in which one point difference made KSI, real name Olajide Olatunji, victorious. Along with an unpredicted result, as both fighters anticipated knockouts, what was also surprising was the way mainstream media embraced the online world. Mainstream media seems to be embracing online content more in terms of entertainment as American late night TV shows have are often on YouTube's trending page. However, the relationship between the social media and mainstream worlds isn't as strong in regards to sport. KSI standing victorious after beating Logan Paul on November 9th. But for #KSIvsLoganPaul2 many mainstream outlets wanted to be a part of it. One of the main platforms that did this was Sky Sports Boxing. Not only was the fight made available on box office but also the London press conference was live streamed and was followed by many interviews from British social media star
Read more

What Sneako is missing…..

Image
  On the 20 th of October commentary YouTubers Aba and Preach uploaded a video in response to recently deplatformed content creator Sneako who criticised the Canadian’s for not making a video speaking out against YouTube’s decision to delete his channels. Earlier this month Sneako‘s two YouTube channels were taken down after the New York based creator received three strikes on his livestreaming channel SHNEAKO where the streamer posted red pill content, talked negatively about women including aggressively simulating sex towards youtuber Chad Chad. Aba and Preach aren’t the first content creators Sneako, real name Nico Kenn De Balinthazy, has expressed discontent with. In late August the 24-year-old had an argument with KSI, Britain’s biggest YouTuber, on Twitter because Sneako was upset that KSI was celebrating Andrew Tate, fellow red pill content creator, being banned on  all popular social media sites. Andrew Tate and Sneako shaking hands. Credit: @sneako What it seems that S
Read more