The Darker Side of YouTube and the Dangers of Social Media: What Are We Getting Ourselves Into and Who On The Platform Exploits These Toxic Behaviors

For so long we have allowed the creators on the platform to have free reign of their content with no regard for the audience. We need to remember that we are the ones that chose our influencers and we could just as easily choose new ones.

There is no need to sugar coat the facts. We have long since seen the depravity of what this platform is capable of when it comes to the level of respect the creators have for anything or anyone else. This is not meant to be aimed at ALL creators. There are just a myriad of examples at the top and this is meant to show what we should be watching out for and what our young people are seeing on this platform.

This is for the creator that lost their way thinking that it is okay to do so simply because that is what the world allows. The problem has many folds and is buried into many years of cases. It is almost too much at times to dig through and it is harder on your mental health the further you go.

So why even research the topic?

Because we all want to see a change for the better. Within the last year we have seen the world come together, families get closer, minorities speaking out, and the world being willing to listen. We want to continue that change.

Listen to any of the voices of young adults who remember what it was like to live life in high school where the stigma of self-care was looked at as abnormal, talk to the child that felt they had no voice when the parents got divorced and the only thing people saw was the fight between the parents, look at any child who felt as if their ability to understand and comprehend the world was invalid because of age, listen to any person over 50 who tries to tell you what it was like to be in the work force when many thought they should have retired.

The list goes on and on.

We can stay in that time period and be complacent or we can rise above. Young adults are seeing the change and impact they can have right now and choose to make the world better.

We are met with resistance by those who have not had to fear nor experience that. The kids and teens who are just beneath us. They lived through and after the changes. They reap the benefits of the fight that we had to live through.

Each generation has its struggles and those who are kids and teens now by no means have it easy seeing the effects of this global pandemic. But they are seeing the results that change can bring and they do not remember and/or were too young to remember the examples listed above.

Do not get me wrong we are not perfect now. Far from. Yet we have made steady steps in progress and we cannot discount that as we look at the world we are in.

I am lucky to live in a world where I feel as if I have been raised with the ideals of the past and the outlook of the progressive future. I have lived in an era where technology was reaching its peak. Where the real boom hit was when I was more than likely in fourth grade.

Before then technology was something that was considered rich if you could afford it. It was not the norm for those anywhere under the age of a fourth grader and it was not overly involved in our lives. Now you can see toddlers who are upping their parents in technology knowledge.

It is not that far-fetched to believe that a child now will get to master the phone before anything else. Technology is something we rely heavily on and lose our minds if we go a second without.

Here was the shift I saw.

My classmates started diving further and further into it. Each trying to outdo the other in latest models and information. Once they started it was never enough for them.

It controlled them.

That is where I saw the line being drawn in the sand. Each age range was never the same afterwards. The further they pursued the high of riding the wave of technology earning praise from people they did not know over something that would be gone in an instant, the more I saw how technology consumed.

I thought it was poison. In a way, that opinion has not changed.

Many of the creators shown in the picture above (yes, there is a bit of sarcastic dry humor involved) are considered 'the golden standard' of YouTubers. They have large audiences of young people. An audience who is very impressionable and are still learning from the social environment on what is appropriate.

These are the first people I came across and there were a few issues I saw the second that I started to research who they were to go beyond what the world would define as drama. No, there was a promotion of some deep-rooted issues: victim mentality and entitlement.

The more I saw the behavioral pattern play out the more I saw how toxic it became. The act of posting this content and therefore 'getting away with it' made them feel enabled to continue the pattern without fear of repercussion.

Then as I dove further I met the people in the picture below.

Here I witnessed a new problem with YouTubers at the top. There were many who were dealing with a lot of mental and physical health issues. Now that in itself is not a bad thing.

I think it is great and inspirational when someone who is in the midst of struggle or coming out of it is willing to come online and share their story. I think not only is it inspiring but informative for those who may not be going through this but would be able to help someone who they may know or at least know how to react should the conversation ever come up.

That is not my issue.

My problem is when they exploit their eating disorders and gain monetarily from that. The further we go into this deep dive research of everything that is wrong with the creative world that is no longer drama-related.

There were multiple issues with these creators as well: monetization of addiction, gas lighting, and mental health.

Okay now that we have the basics of what I will be focusing on, I will also be saying that some of the videos on the channel will be talking about the drama. Just a fair warning!

Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to read this article. If you want more sarcastically blunt opinions than you should check out my channel where I post mostly daily (it will make sense if you check it out)!

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