This post is regarding the many
If you have been following the crimes, because you are like me and am very bored with your own life, then you would know that many YouTubers have been called out for the sexual manipulation of girls they have met through YouTube. These girls who were previously, probably, fans of these people and were excited by the prospect of being friends with these YouTubers and then somehow or another, found themselves in a situation where they feel emotionally confused by actions done by the YouTubers and then find themselves abused sexually.
Let me get this straight: This is wrong. Guy or girl, sexually abusing them - heck, ANY SORT of abuse in general is wrong. This is a bad thing.
So back to the main point. I am getting frustrated with this issue because I feel very disappointed in the fact that they were doing all of this because of the fame they were getting from YouTube. See, the thing is, the appealing factor of YouTube was that these bunch of people were making videos seated in their own bedroom, talking to a camera. The appeal was that these were people you could relate to. They made entertaining short videos regularly which you could enjoy. Of course, as more people shared their videos, the more popular they got. The more popular they got, the more elaborate their videos became, which was honestly quite a turn off to me but I guess for some people, it got more entertaining. But see, the point was that these people were your friends. They were people you could totally picture being a friend to.
That brings us to the next issue: when they do become your actual friends.
Some fans were lucky, see. They got to meet them and I guess managed to become friends with these YouTubers. Then came the problem of these YouTubers manipulating these girls into doing sexual actions with them.
This ruins every image you have put on the Internet.
Some people have argued that you don't know the real YouTuber because the things you see on YouTube are just a persona they have put on to entertain people. BUT here's where the problem lies: No one knows that. The appeal was that everyone could trust these people you see on the little screen. These are the people you could totally picture your BFF. Then when you tell them that these are just 'personas' when every time you have been watching their videos, these YouTubers are always 'honest with you'. See where the hypocrisy lies?
YouTubers want to 'be your friend' because 'we love you' because 'you are our fans' but when the going gets tough, it becomes 'you don't know the real me' because 'all you see are what I show you from my videos'.
F R U S T R A T I O N.
Another point: YouTubers are not celebrities. Again, when I say the appeal factor was that these people were your friends. It means that they are not celebrities. Celebrities are always these people portrayed from Hollywood. Totally unaccessible and from a whole new world.
YouTubers bridge that gap by being someone you can relate to on a certain level but at the same time, not fully unaccessible. They hold meet ups, they have concerts, bla bla bla. However, it has gotten to a point where fans view these YouTubers as complete celebrities. People to be idolised and worshipped and then when a problem arises, like let's say they are found to have sexually abused others, people get totally confused: who do we look up to now?
See, what I'm trying to say here is that. No matter how much you don't wish to be looked up to, or how much you don't want to be role model to people, you will end up being one. Why? Because you are a public figure. Like it or not, you have thousands of people watching you and some of these thousands of people are bound to start to want to dress like you, act like you, be like you.
No, you didn't ask for that and I'm sorry but you have chosen to do this as a living and this is eventually bound to happen. In the beginning, you start to enjoy the fame. Hey, more people are paying attention to what I'm saying and I can cause people to argue in the comments! Yippee! People like me!
Then when your actions become a problem, you begin to blame people for looking up to you.
"I didn't ask to be a role model."
NEWS FLASH: GANDHI DIDN'T ASK TO BE A ROLE MODEL AS WELL BUT LOOK AT HIM!
The point is that you have the ability to control a crowd of people now. It is inevitable. I am sorry that you didn't ask for this but since you have already gone to this and there is nothing to do about it, why not try your best to mould yourself into someone that people can look up to?
It's not that hard. I'm not asking you to be perfect because no one is perfect. It is, however, the simplest things that I don't understand why you can't do.
Don't abuse people. Don't commit crimes. Don't do anything that could land you in prison or in the headlines for the wrong reason.
You MUST have some sense of morality, no?
Well, apparently not to some people.
ANOTHER NEWSFLASH: ABUSE. IS. A. CRIME.
AGAIN: F R U S T R A T I O N.
And if your argument is that 'I didn't know I was manipulating people into doing things they didn't want to do.'......
If you are convincing somebody to do something and they are hesitant about it but end up doing it, that is manipulation. IT'S NOT THAT HARD TO RECOGNISE.
You just choose to ignore it because you've gotten your way!
Manipulation is thing that the manipulator is very aware of. They just choose not to call it manipulation because duh it sounds bad doesn't it?
They don't realise that the manipulatee is under a lot of pressure of having to impress these people. It is, in a way, a psychological need to have to please people.
It's not a very nice thing and to take advantage of that is cruel.
I know because I have that problem and the thought of people rejecting you, isolating you, because you didn't please them or do what they want you to do, it pains you. I feel literal pain in my head at the thought of people being displeased with me.
Once the manipulator recognises that, they take advantage of it and then the problems start to arise.
I really want to end my rant.
All in all, I just want to say that I have been very disappointed. I have been watching YouTube videos for more than 4 years now and some people I have followed right from the beginning. To know that while I was enjoying their videos, they were out there terrorising these innocent people makes me very frustrated and lost. Like I mentioned before, they somehow or another have made an impact of my life and in a way, I did find myself start to look up to them and I do feel slightly lost now that I have found out they are like this. It is a very disappointing thing to find out and I am very upset. I have recommended some of these YouTubers to people to watch and now I very horribly regret it all.
I also mentioned that I am upset that all of this frustrates me. It really does because it's not even my life but then again, these are my fellow video watchers. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into and trust me, the thought of becoming friends with YouTubers can be so exciting and enticing. I can only imagine that if it was me, what other viewers would do. They would also be there to support me and protect me. There would inevitably have a group of people who naturally feel supportive of one another because of the common factor of us watching these YouTubers.
These girls have been very brave to step up and admit to all these horrible events because let's face it, if they didn't then they would continue doing this and more injustice would be happening to this world. As if the world weren't facing enough injustice already.
Okay, I'm ending my rant. Goodbye folks. These have been my thoughts on this horrible situation.
Update: MORE YouTubers have been discovered doing the same thing. That's it, I've officially given up on humanity.
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