North Texas Daily

If you are anything like me and have absolutely nothing going on in your life, chances are you have been sucked into all the controversies circulating some very popular content creators these last few weeks.

Influencers like David Dobrik and James Charles have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons, and I could write a completely separate piece about how their actions are single-handedly making the internet a seriously dangerous place, but instead, I wanted to take things in a direction some more people can relate to.

Falling in love with a YouTube channel or some sort of internet personality is becoming more commonplace now. If there is one thing that I have learned, choosing to idolize these influencers only ends up with the fans feeling embarrassed down the line. These people on YouTube create things like merchandise and go on tours, only to find out that they are some of the worst human beings ever behind the scenes. 

I feel the most prominent example of this was how David Dobrik’s situation played out. He was a guy who made all of these funny skit videos and seemed to have every sponsor in the world. He seemed almost untouchable because of how famous he was, but when enough people spoke up about his behavior, the past finally started to catch up. If you really want to see how some of these influencers really act, see how they react when their sponsorships get taken away. It shows a lot of people the truth when those true colors are put on full display.

Controversies like this will only continue if we keep giving anyone and everyone a platform. Gaining a following online is easier than ever, and if that does not terrify you, it should. There are people on the internet that use their platforms for good, and I truly believe that not all influencers are terrible people behind the scenes. What I do believe is that we enable a lot of the problems going on in the internet world today simply because we do not hold everyone equally accountable.

I don’t want to try and say who you can and can’t idolize or be a fan of, but I feel at this point we have seen this story pan out a million times. Some scandal pops up from their past, or they mess up bad in the present, and they result to making some terrible apology where they just cry in front of the camera in their kitchen. It is time to stop giving these creators the benefit of the doubt, and assume that someone is paying a greater price for the fame coming the influencer’s way.

What seems to be the most alarming is the fact that a lot of these people give off very offputting characteristics, but we refuse to investigate because we find the videos entertaining. I have seen more denial in the reply threads of Twitter the last few weeks than I have ever in my entire life. I know that I am buying into the drama just like everyone else, but I feel that a lot of these situations would be avoidable if we trusted our gut and held these influencers accountable.

Some of us are getting our only form of entertainment through things like YouTube and TikTok, and while there is nothing wrong with that, walking around and wearing their merch when you only know the bare minimum of what they are like is probably not the best idea.

Featured Illustration by Pooja Patel