Cancel Them All---The World Would Do Just Fine With Fewer "Influencers"

[caulfield12]

https://medium.com/curious/cancel-them-all-the-world-would-do-just-fine-with-fewer-influencers-22bcb8ac99b8

 

For the Millennials on the board to read/discuss.

Those of us in the over 50 crowd (albeit barely) are not quite getting this whole self-absorbed phenomenon which grows by the day.

How long before they add this major at credible universities?   Or it's considered a legitimate career aspiration to proudly announce to one's parents?

[CentralChamps21]

Millenials are older than 25 so many of these influencers are younger. I have grown up having a smartphone and apps that can reach millions of people from your own home. That's something anybody over 30 didn't have as kids. I never got into influencing. I have a cousin who started on that path when she was about 15 but ended up getting stalked and it was terrifying. As a result, I'm more cautious (even though I'm much less likely to be stalked). Facebook is the only thing I really use, because it's a lot easier to control who can see your content. I have instagram but I'm not a big picture-taker so I don't post there much. I have a twitter account because I like to follow other people's content and get information but I never tweet myself. I never got into Tik-Tok. Still, I get why kids do it because traditional kids jobs are minimum wage, super-boring working at McDonald's or something like that, and are never going to lead to bigger things. "Influencing" (I hate that term) is something you can do on your own, while you're still in school, and nobody has to hire you for it.

It's a lot like TV--if you have content that a lot of people want to watch, advertisers will pay to attach their commercials to it. This just cuts out the network execs making the decisions. Your advertising take is directly related to views.

 

[Iwritecode]

11 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

https://medium.com/curious/cancel-them-all-the-world-would-do-just-fine-with-fewer-influencers-22bcb8ac99b8

 

For the Millennials on the board to read/discuss.

Those of us in the over 50 crowd (albeit barely) are not quite getting this whole self-absorbed phenomenon which grows by the day.

How long before they add this major at credible universities?   Or it's considered a legitimate career aspiration to proudly announce to one's parents?

I don't know if they'd ever make a major, or even a class, on "how to become an influencer" but they do have film schools or acting classes which are basically all the kids need anymore. A decent personality, the ability to edit and post videos and that's about it.

 

Reading the article, I've never heard of the few that he mentions. But there are definitely some decent ones out there that do try to put out positive messages out in the world. I don't think it's fair to paint all of them with such a broad brush or judge them all based on the behavior of the worst of them.

There are a handful of Youtubers (which is basically the same thing) that I like to watch that make some pretty good content without being assholes about it. 

Markaplier

Anthony Padilla

Smoshcast (which is where Anthony got his start)

Dudedad

jacksepticeye

Kitboga (he makes hilarious videos where he wastes hours and sometimes days frustrating scammers)

Jessica Kent (who I just recently discovered and talks a lot about time she spent in prison and how she's turned her life around)

 

That's not to mention the many that I've found over the years that mostly make content for specific games like Kingdom Hearts, or Red Dead Redemption or MLB the Show.

[Quin]

12 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

https://medium.com/curious/cancel-them-all-the-world-would-do-just-fine-with-fewer-influencers-22bcb8ac99b8

 

For the Millennials on the board to read/discuss.

Those of us in the over 50 crowd (albeit barely) are not quite getting this whole self-absorbed phenomenon which grows by the day.

How long before they add this major at credible universities?   Or it's considered a legitimate career aspiration to proudly announce to one's parents?

Ah yes, because this 100% just started in the past few years and not the entirety of human history.

[he gone.]

hahah i was going to say.. it's not like human nature has changed. The amount of self-absorbed ego maniacs remain the same. The platform has just changed.

 

in the same light generations blaming other generations and pointing out their differences as flaws won't change either. Boomers to millennials and millennials to boomers. it's a tale as old as time. 

[Quin]

Just now, BrianAnderson said:

hahah i was going to say.. it's not like human nature has changed. The amount of self-absorbed ego maniacs remain the same. The platform has just changed.

 

in the same light generations blaming other generations and pointing out their differences as flaws won't change either. Boomers to millennials and millennials to boomers. it's a tale as old as time. 

It's kind of like that whole thing where it's like those stories that popped up that were all

"Hey Millennials, Gen Z thinks you're lame cause you use ? to represent laughter. They use ?."

I was just like, aw, damn. Guess I'm still lame.

[caulfield12]

Actually, Generation X that grew up in the 70’s and 80’s will be the first to be blamed for the so-called “downfall” of America, lol.

Although the Millennials might go down as the first to do worse than the preceding generation...health care costs, rising housing costs and tuition exploding being three key reasons.

 

The crazy thing to me is how so many are convinced that Bitcoin, Coinbase, Dogecoin, Ethereum...I have a friend I taught with in China now back in the States and all about something called Hedera.

Seems like the same irrational exuberance in the late 1990’s over Enron, WorldCom, AIG...and all those high tech stocks like JDSU, Nortel, Lucent, Juniper, Cisco, etc.

For example, that Ryan’s Toy Review kid and his younger twin sisters that aren’t even ten and worth $250 million.  
 

It’s almost like aspirations to retire with just a million don’t exist.  We’ve skipped along with the Kardashians directly into the billions if you want to be considered a success today.  So many want the fastest and easiest shortcut to riches...but so few can actually achieve it.   Then you have the whole FIRE movement, as well.  Seems something has to give.  I remember a time when I could confidently invest in tangible and intangible goods and services, not so called “financial products” that don’t really contribute much to make the world a better place.  In fact, they might be destroying the environment even more rapidly...as increasing amounts of electricity are chasing diminishing Bitcoins, which means more and more coal burning plants here in Asia are supplying power to the feeding frenzy.

[CentralChamps21]

4 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

The crazy thing to me is how so many are convinced that Bitcoin, Coinbase, Dogecoin, Ethereum...I have a friend I taught with in China now back in the States and all about something called Hedera.

When I was 13 I had $2000 saved up from mowing lawns/shoveling snow. Through my Dad, I invested half of that in bitcoin. He threw in a grand of his own. Cashed out 2 1/2 years later, each with over $35k. I'm going to graduate from college debt free with a paid off car.

[caulfield12]

4 hours ago, WhiteSoxFan1993 said:

When I was 13 I had $2000 saved up from mowing lawns/shoveling snow. Through my Dad, I invested half of that in bitcoin. He threw in a grand of his own. Cashed out 2 1/2 years later, each with over $35k. I'm going to graduate from college debt free with a paid off car.

I just wonder how many who got in these last 12 months will share similar stories in the end?  It’s one thing for Musk to put $1.5 billion or whatever in, that’s pocket money to him, basically.

 

There's a new term for me, "YouTube Millionaire," it used to be "influencer" or social media influencer.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/youtube-celebrity-jeffree-star-recovering-033110600.html

Can one even qualify if one is only in the single digits of millions and not a decamillionaire?

Edited April 19, 2021 by caulfield12

[he gone.]

23 hours ago, caulfield12 said:

Actually, Generation X that grew up in the 70’s and 80’s will be the first to be blamed for the so-called “downfall” of America, lol.

Although the Millennials might go down as the first to do worse than the preceding generation...health care costs, rising housing costs and tuition exploding being three key reasons.

 

The crazy thing to me is how so many are convinced that Bitcoin, Coinbase, Dogecoin, Ethereum...I have a friend I taught with in China now back in the States and all about something called Hedera.

Seems like the same irrational exuberance in the late 1990’s over Enron, WorldCom, AIG...and all those high tech stocks like JDSU, Nortel, Lucent, Juniper, Cisco, etc.

For example, that Ryan’s Toy Review kid and his younger twin sisters that aren’t even ten and worth $250 million.  
 

It’s almost like aspirations to retire with just a million don’t exist.  We’ve skipped along with the Kardashians directly into the billions if you want to be considered a success today.  So many want the fastest and easiest shortcut to riches...but so few can actually achieve it.   Then you have the whole FIRE movement, as well.  Seems something has to give.  I remember a time when I could confidently invest in tangible and intangible goods and services, not so called “financial products” that don’t really contribute much to make the world a better place.  In fact, they might be destroying the environment even more rapidly...as increasing amounts of electricity are chasing diminishing Bitcoins, which means more and more coal burning plants here in Asia are supplying power to the feeding frenzy.

There's a lot to unpack there ... but what I'll say is technology is breaking down walls. Breaking down walls to the old guard, breaking down walls to intermediaries, breaking down walls to wealth of knowledge and money. I'm not even sure what Ryan's Toy Review is, but assumption is it's kids reviewing toys. In the old days that goes through broadcast TV, the kid makes $100k an episode, takes home a nice few million dollar pay check, portion goes to his agent, a union, a manager, etc. etc. Now? YouTube gets their cut, but not as big of a cut. Instead of that ad money going into network execs hands, and all the way down an inefficient line of managers and producers, etc. the kids and their families are directly benefitting. 

 

Same with Crypto - sure there's a lot of speculation behind it. But as someone who has put in countless hours researching in the space I can tell you the end goal here isn't funny money. It's rewriting the financial system. All the coins and or exchanges you mention are kind of all over the map in their intents and processes, so it's hard to try and respond to each, but Bitcoin and crypto have the ability to reach the unbanked across the globe and introduce billions to an international monetary system that was previously reserved for the upper quartile of the world. Just as the internet is and has been a global awakening, so can and will be digital currencies. There's a lot of trash in there, but there's also cases like DeFi which are eliminating the needs for giant bank intermediaries, or at least providing options. Just as YouTube offers the elimination (most part) of corporate overhang and allows people to directly get out their message, so does crypto. Think about it nowadays, what does a bank offer you? I know for the most part it's piece of mind. because it's not interest (or not very much). This isn't 1859 or 1956 when banks hold much money. They are a cyber company that exchanges digital numbers between layers. This isn't Wells Fargo with their horse and buggie and safes and guns protecting your dollars. FDIC is the real value there. Outside of that walk into a bank and ask for $25,000 cash. You can't. Banks are an intermediary making money off holding your cash and giving you nothing in return. DeFi offers a way for you to eliminate that. Blockchain offers a way out. But just as the internet in 1995, the system isn't perfect or even close to perfect yet. It's going to take decades for the use cases that are just starting to bubble up to find their way. There will be big gains, big losses, big crashes and big waves. Crypto gets piled on by the general public because the concept is so large and so diverse and just in the infancy of its existence that people just naturally dismiss it. It's a bigger idea than most can wrap their heads around and will change the entire global system.   

 

Also the energy angle is one of the tired angles of bitcoin. its FUD. Also just think about how much energy is wasted chasing an inflationary world. Think about how many goods need to be produced to continue the never ending rat race of consumption. Fix the money supply, you fix a lot of the world and a lot of the waste. 

https://www.coindesk.com/frustrating-maddening-all-consuming-bitcoin-energy-debate

 

[Quin]

On 4/18/2021 at 10:43 AM, caulfield12 said:

Actually, Generation X that grew up in the 70’s and 80’s will be the first to be blamed for the so-called “downfall” of America, lol.

Although the Millennials might go down as the first to do worse than the preceding generation...health care costs, rising housing costs and tuition exploding being three key reasons.

 

The crazy thing to me is how so many are convinced that Bitcoin, Coinbase, Dogecoin, Ethereum...I have a friend I taught with in China now back in the States and all about something called Hedera.

Seems like the same irrational exuberance in the late 1990’s over Enron, WorldCom, AIG...and all those high tech stocks like JDSU, Nortel, Lucent, Juniper, Cisco, etc.

For example, that Ryan’s Toy Review kid and his younger twin sisters that aren’t even ten and worth $250 million.  
 

It’s almost like aspirations to retire with just a million don’t exist.  We’ve skipped along with the Kardashians directly into the billions if you want to be considered a success today.  So many want the fastest and easiest shortcut to riches...but so few can actually achieve it.   Then you have the whole FIRE movement, as well.  Seems something has to give.  I remember a time when I could confidently invest in tangible and intangible goods and services, not so called “financial products” that don’t really contribute much to make the world a better place.  In fact, they might be destroying the environment even more rapidly...as increasing amounts of electricity are chasing diminishing Bitcoins, which means more and more coal burning plants here in Asia are supplying power to the feeding frenzy.

The 2,500-year-old history of adults blaming the younger generation

Considering you jumped from America to China in three lines, I'm just gonna give you this article outlining how this is nothing new.

[caulfield12]

But if $64 billion of Bitcoin is in the hands of just one person or maybe it’s a corporate entity hiding behind a Japanese-sounding name...how can that possibly be a stabilizing force?

Well, at any rate, it will be interesting to see how things evolve.  China wants their own digital currency because not being able to track or control an outside system is anathema to them.

The US is afraid that China’s digital currency will be a threat to the dollar.

Is it a currency, a commodity like gold or silver, a technology platform to hide shady financial transactions from prying eyes?  Everyone’s lining up to attempt to profit off it, but not sure it’s going to be any different from Dutch tulips.

[Quin]

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

But if $64 billion of Bitcoin is in the hands of just one person or maybe it’s a corporate entity hiding behind a Japanese-sounding name...how can that possibly be a stabilizing force?

Well, at any rate, it will be interesting to see how things evolve.  China wants their own digital currency because not being able to track or control an outside system is anathema to them.

The US is afraid that China’s digital currency will be a threat to the dollar.

Is it a currency, a commodity like gold or silver, a technology platform to hide shady financial transactions from prying eyes?  Everyone’s lining up to attempt to profit off it, but not sure it’s going to be any different from Dutch tulips.

The Rockefellers in the past (3% of the US GDP)

Carnegie.

Bezos.

Zuckerberg.

Musk and the fact that Tesla is somehow the most valuable car manufacturer on the planet.

Bitcoin billionaires and a few influencers aren't going to bring it all down like those dudes can.

[caulfield12]

On 4/20/2021 at 1:20 AM, Quin said:

The Rockefellers in the past (3% of the US GDP)

Carnegie.

Bezos.

Zuckerberg.

Musk and the fact that Tesla is somehow the most valuable car manufacturer on the planet.

Bitcoin billionaires and a few influencers aren't going to bring it all down like those dudes can.

China Evergrande (a massive real estate conglomerate) having tens of billions behind their e-vehicles is the scariest indicator in that market...with no realistic plan or technical expertise to actually produce a working car, let alone prototype.  Worth supposedly $87 billion, and another company overextended into areas like professional football that is far outside their core area of competency.

https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3130063/shanghai-auto-show-2021-chinas-evergrande-nev-valued-us87

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-18/china-s-87-billion-electric-car-giant-hasn-t-sold-a-vehicle-yet

 

As far as Tesla goes, there’s plenty of bad news coming from both the US and China right now...

Edited April 20, 2021 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/angry-subscribers-canceling-netflix-over-203728850.html

Over carrying "Hype House" reality show, many members came down with Covid-19, didn't disclose...kept on filming during the lockdown

[Iwritecode]

This is the first I've heard of the show as well as the people in it. Don't care enough about either one to worry about cancelling my subscription.

[Texsox]

I question the worth of many YouTube content creators when YouTube changes their algorithms again and suddenly their views drop. Ryan's Toy at $250 million seems off even with the number of views. Fun channel btw I'm a fan. 

I've posted elsewhere about crypto and if it will act like a currency in trading or more like collectibles like art. Currently it's not be used as an actual currency as much as an investment vehicle. Not many people are converting government backed currencies to crypto to buy groceries. They treat it as a buy and hold.