Influencers and Insurrectionists

2021-01-15 · letter vlog · Hank · 3:59 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: US politics & society) · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, heavy topic

Hank argues that online creators seek affirmation and status, not money, and that the Capitol rioters filming themselves were influencers as well as insurrectionists, caught in a creator-audience feedback loop and an arms race of radicalization; the word influencer names something bigger and scarier than we thought.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Being called influencers; what creators produce; YouTuber as a high-status job; crowded at the bottom

★★ Hank says he and John are, like it or not, what some call social media influencers, a label he hates: like calling a journalist a newspaper subscription salesperson. — 00:00:00 · social media
★★ Creators like them produce value for themselves (affirmation, status, income, creative joy) and hopefully for others (education, insight, connection, entertainment). (hedged) — 00:00:00
★★ When the brothers started, income and status were not part of it; now YouTuber is a high-status job people want, and Hank says it is a good job. — 00:00:29
★★ From the early 2010s it got crowded at the bottom: to get noticed you had to be better and do more, as Epic Meal Time and the Gregory Brothers did. — 00:00:29

00:01:10 — Worse ways to get noticed; new creators want to matter, not money

★★ Easier, worse ways to get noticed followed: prank channels crossing immoral and illegal lines, and ever hotter political takes that were rewarded. — 00:01:10
★★★ When people start creating online it is never about money: they want to feel they matter, and since their attention is on creators, they want to be one. — 00:01:10

00:01:40 — Capitol rioters as influencers; the radicalizing creator-audience feedback loop and arms race

★★ In a society that has done a terrible job of appreciating many if not most humans, Hank says, more people will push toward that feeling of mattering. — 00:01:40
★★★ Seeing phones held up during the siege of the Capitol, Hank sees insurrectionists, terrorists and white supremacists who are also influencers and content creators: the same people. — 00:01:40 · Facebook
★★★ They are both creators and audience: ideas get more radical because that engages, and they consume more such content, a feedback loop that can only radicalize. — 00:02:26
★★ This is not entirely new: it has happened in radio and TV for decades, since people will be more radical if it pays better than spending on quality. — 00:02:26
★★★ With the bottom crowded, people seeking meaning, attention and status the only currencies, and outrage rewarded, we get an arms race of radicalization pulling radio, TV and politicians along. — 00:02:26 · attention economy

00:02:56 — White supremacy and conspiracy beliefs as ways to matter; believing what feels good

★★ Hank worries that understanding can lead to excusing, but says that is not what is happening here. — 00:02:56
★★ Ways to feel you matter often include white supremacy, or believing you help bring down a cabal of child murderers or understand a 5G-COVID link, especially when posts get engagement. — 00:02:56 · COVID-19 pandemic
★★ Hank thinks they do believe these things, because it is easy to believe what makes you feel good (true of them, him and viewers) and hard to abandon ideas you are loved for. — 00:03:25
★★★ Hank's insight: the words social media influencer turn out to represent something much bigger and scarier than we thought. — 00:03:25 · social media

00:03:53 — Sign-off

In the description and comments

★★ The description says Facebook, Fox News and Trump, blamed separately for radicalization, increasingly feel like the same thing: each informs the others in a loop, Trump being the essence of a conservative radio host. — video description · Facebook, Donald Trump
★★ The description says this self-reinforcing loop radicalizes everyone in it every day, on the left too but much less so; Hank is not certain why. — video description
★★★ The description says social media is just media now: we are all influencers, with a responsibility to use our creation and attention in ways that aren't destructive. — video description · social media

Threads in this video

restate · Is the internet, including social media, good for people? — They are both creators and audience: ideas get more radical because that engages, and they consume more such content, a feedback loop that can only radicalize. (00:02:26)
restate · Does having influence (role model, big platform) bring special responsibility? — The description says social media is just media now: we are all influencers, with a responsibility to use our creation and attention in ways that aren't destructive. (video description)
predicted · Hank: more and more people will push toward the feeling of mattering (2021) — In a society that has done a terrible job of appreciating many if not most humans, Hank says, more people will push toward that feeling of mattering. (00:01:40)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Hank: more and more people will push toward the feeling of mattering (2021) — unresolved; last: predicted, 2021-01-15

Mentioned

Central: influencer · January 6 United States Capitol attack · radicalization

Also: Works: Epic Meal Time

Organizations: Facebook

Groups: The Gregory Brothers

Concepts: arms race · attention economy · conspiracy theory · motivated reasoning · practical joke · racism · television · terrorism · vicious circle

Places: United States Capitol

Events: COVID-19 pandemic

Only in the description or credits: Donald Trump · Fox News · social media

Also centred on influencer: An Open Letter to Professional YouTubers · 'Influencer' Must Die.

Also centred on radicalization: November 7: Discussing the Political Situation in Pakistan

← Previous: My 2021 Vision Board · Next → let's go on a parts adventure