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My Giant Robot Suit

2018-08-10 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:24 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Personal essay

Hank borrows Patrick Rothfuss's metaphor that everyone online wears a robot suit they cannot see: a big one brings reach, money and influence but also makes harm easy and you look invulnerable, so the powerful must see their power in others' reactions, handle criticism without feeling victimized, and step lightly and kindly.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The robot-suit metaphor (credited to Patrick Rothfuss): invisible suits of different sizes and the accidental harm of a big one

  • ★★ Hank credits the robot-suit analogy to Patrick Rothfuss, author of The Name of the Wind. — 00:00:03 · giant robot suit

  • ★★★ In the metaphor everyone on the internet wears a robot suit of different size and abilities; you can't see your own and learn about it only from others' reactions. — 00:00:07 · giant robot suit

    “everyone is wearing a robot suit”

  • ★★★ Hank says if your suit is big but you pretend it isn't real, a shout feels in your face, a stone feels like a rock, and answering with a rock may hurl a boulder. (hedged) — 00:00:32 · giant robot suit

  • ★★ Hank says you may then do more harm than intended or realized, signal bad behavior to many, become a destructive force and hurt yourself. (hedged) — 00:01:07

00:01:18 — The good and bad parts of a giant robot suit; the powerful should be careful with their power

  • ★★ Hank says having a giant robot suit is amazing: you can broadcast to millions, make money, and change lives and culture. — 00:01:18 · giant robot suit
  • ★★ Hank says the bad parts are that people always watch you, you screw up in public, untrue things said about you get believed, and the responsibility is a big weight. — 00:01:26
  • ★★ Hank says people may see you as so powerful that nothing they say can hurt you, and may feel powerful just having any impact on you. (hedged) — 00:01:44
  • ★★★ Hank says you can't have the good parts without the bad: influence, power and money come from the same suit that makes harm easy and makes you look impervious to harm. — 00:01:56 · giant robot suit
  • ★★ Hank grants that the giant robot suit is only perception, but says so is everything on the internet. — 00:02:08 · giant robot suit
  • ★★★ Hank says that while we should ask everyone to be thoughtful and kind, we must also recognize that the powerful have power and should be careful and thoughtful with it. — 00:02:13

00:02:24 — The one-step guide, fractured fame, Hank's own mistakes and sign-off

  • ★★★ Hank's one-step guide: look in the mirror of other people's eyes to see your power, and let it give you confidence to handle criticism without feeling victimized, even unkind criticism. — 00:02:24

    “Look in the mirror of other people's eyes and see your power for what it is.”

  • ★★ Hank says seeing your power should remind you to be more careful: not to stop engaging, but to step lightly, take care and be kind. — 00:02:40

  • ★★ Hank says that as fame has fractured and more people get their own robot suits, this is important to discuss; the metaphor may help people understand this very new world. (hedged) — 00:02:48 · celebrity, giant robot suit
  • ★★ Hank says he is still learning these lessons: he has made mistakes and lives with the harm his missteps caused and the weight of his influence's responsibility. — 00:03:07
  • ★★ Hank says if that is the price for a very cool life, he is happy to pay it. — 00:03:18

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says having an internet following doesn't mean never engaging or defending yourself, but you must behave differently than without one. (hedged) — video description
  • ★★★ Hank writes that the internet can collapse the distance between people chatting among themselves and a mainstream celebrity; celebrities feel like ordinary people, so reacting to hearing terrible things is understandable, but those people see the robot suit, not the person. — video description · celebrity, giant robot suit
  • ★★★ Hank writes that we all wear robot suits now and are more powerful than we think, so it is easy to go too hard, whether you have built your suit for a decade or just have a Twitter account. (hedged) — video description · giant robot suit, Twitter

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: giant robot suit

Also: celebrity

Only in the description or credits: Patrick Rothfuss · The Name of the Wind · Twitter

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