Still Riding a Big Wave that I Do not and Cannot Know

2020-10-16 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube · mode: Personal essay · tags: calendar ritual, self promotion

At the end of Pizzamas 2020 Hank reflects on the hard-to-name wave his career has ridden, the economy of people making money, connecting and influencing online, which distributes what usually concentrates; he predicts it will grow, carry built-in inequality and be mostly good, and hopes to help others through it.

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 great wave Hank's career rides: too big for one label, from influencers to drill tweets, once called fractured fame

★★★ Hank accepts the adage that it is better to have a great wave than to be a great surfer: he built a career riding several significant waves without knowing how to ride waves. — 00:00:00 · John Green
★★ Hank says the biggest wave always felt like it couldn't get bigger, a huge deal even when no one else thought so, yet too big to put his finger on or put into one box. — 00:00:16
★★ Hank says labels are always artificial: the thing spans influencers, Etsy shops, haunted dolls, fast food reviews, woodworking videos, queer hockey comics and drill tweets. — 00:00:44
★★ Hank says he called it 'fractured fame', since the monolith of celebrity has broken down since the 1950s, but now thinks that was his lens: it is bigger than fame. — 00:00:58 · celebrity

“I was calling it fractured fame”
★★★ Hank says power and wealth concentrate, so any mechanism that distributes making money, connecting with people and influencing people more evenly is interesting. — 00:01:09 · economic inequality

00:01:13 — A mechanism that distributes money and influence; predictions of growth, inequality and mostly good outcomes; Hank's luck

★★ Hank says YouTube revenue sharing, Etsy getting big and Patreon were puzzle pieces that let this long-running thing take off. — 00:01:13 · YouTube
★★ Hank says it has really taken off in the last six months. — 00:01:35
★★★ Hank predicts that part of the economy will become a bigger and bigger deal. — 00:01:35
★★★ Hank predicts it will have a lot of inequality built in, millions of people taking half the money and a handful of billionaires the other half, something we should be aware of. — 00:01:35 · economic inequality
★★ Hank feels extremely lucky to be part of it; it doesn't seem like something that would have happened to him. — 00:01:35
★★ Hank says he and John think about it so much that they do it in a way he is comfortable with and feels is ultimately good. — 00:01:35 · John Green
★★★ Hank predicts much of the stuff in this economy will be awful and destructive, but most of it will be good; he is excited and a little worried. — 00:01:35

00:02:23 — Helping others through it; Pizzamas is over, pizzamas.com open through the weekend; Hank goes off to the music

★★ Having been through it a lot already, Hank wants to help others going through it understand the responsibility, value, perils and joys of being part of it. (hedged) — 00:02:23
★★ Hank says Pizzamas is over, which is wild: there are a bunch of videos he wanted to make and didn't. — 00:02:23 · Pizzamas
★ Hank admits he would a little bit like Pizzamas all year round, but a lot of people in his life don't want that. (playful) — 00:02:23 · Pizzamas
★★ Hank says pizzamas.com stays open through the end of the weekend, so viewers can get their stuff now or in the next days, then never again. — 00:02:23 · Pizzamas
★ Hank hears music start and says it can only mean one thing, so he has to go do this. (playful) — 00:02:23

In the description and comments

★★ The description thanks viewers for another amazing Pizzamas: Hank always thinks it will be too much, but it goes by in a flash, and he is grateful for the community. — video description · Pizzamas, Nerdfighteria

Threads in this video

repeated · Hank: a growing share of people will be able to work as professional creators, thanks to fractured fame and new patronage models (2018) — Hank predicts that part of the economy will become a bigger and bigger deal. (00:01:35)
predicted · Hank: the online creator economy will have a lot of inequality built into it (2020) — Hank predicts it will have a lot of inequality built in, millions of people taking half the money and a handful of billionaires the other half, something we should be aware of. (00:01:35)
predicted · Hank: much of the creator economy will be awful and destructive, but most of it will be good (2020) — Hank predicts much of the stuff in this economy will be awful and destructive, but most of it will be good; he is excited and a little worried. (00:01:35)
restate · Is extreme wealth, and the tax system that protects it, a problem? — Hank says power and wealth concentrate, so any mechanism that distributes making money, connecting with people and influencing people more evenly is interesting. (00:01:09)
restate · Does having influence (role model, big platform) bring special responsibility? — Having been through it a lot already, Hank wants to help others going through it understand the responsibility, value, perils and joys of being part of it. (00:02:23)
outcome · Pizzamas 2020 edition — Hank says Pizzamas is over, which is wild: there are a bunch of videos he wanted to make and didn't. (00:02:23)
reminder · John asks viewers to buy Pizzamas 2020 merch at pizzamas.com before Pizzamas ends (2020) — Hank says pizzamas.com stays open through the end of the weekend, so viewers can get their stuff now or in the next days, then never again. (00:02:23)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Hank: the online creator economy will have a lot of inequality built into it (2020) — unresolved; last: predicted, 2020-10-16
Hank: much of the creator economy will be awful and destructive, but most of it will be good (2020) — unresolved; last: predicted, 2020-10-16

Mentioned

Central: creator economy

Also: celebrity · economic inequality · Etsy · influencer · Patreon · Pizzamas · YouTube

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