I've fallen into an odd YouTube rabbit hole lately, listening to videos of random YouTubers "reporting" on the sins of other random YouTubers, with sins ranging from maybe or maybe not publishing autopsy photos without family permission on true crime stations, to ill-treatment and gaslighting of fellow YouTubers and associated staff.
Part of me appreciates the "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?" (Who watches the watchers?) vibe of the whole thing, as I believe any media outlet, or anyone acting as a media outlet, ought to be called on the carpet when they've legitimately screwed up.
But there's a darker undertone here, expressed widely in the comments, that many watching and listening don't really care if the alleged sins were committed or not, but they're there for the drama and to watch the "mighty" fall and flail and flounder. They actively hope they fail and that their kids fail and that they lose everything they cherish in a barn fire, and hope someone records the barn fire and posts it online for them to see.
While there are many who are caught who continue to lie or gaslight or whatever, there are those who appear, at least in my eyes, to offer sincere apologies and work to fix what they're done wrong. That doesn't seem to matter to the sharks swirling in the comments, who seem to consider that once a person has sinned, there's no amount of apology or explanation of whatever from the sinner than can atone for the crime -- and it certainly doesn't seem to matter if the crime was committed or not.
It's just a really weird vibe, is all I'm sayin'.
I guess if you're a creator putting stuff out there, maybe take a journalism class or two (not that the same thing doesn't go on in the journalism world) or have people to advise you on whether you're about to screw up or not.
Yeah, that costs money. But maybe money is less precious than reputation.
And to the sharks: lighten up, man.
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