Live data from Hacker News

MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

nytimes.com

271–280 of 565 posts

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If unselfish means that I can't benefit in addition to you benefiting One doesn't preclude the other. But if my benefit is a pre-requisite for the benefit of others, it changes the dynamic. Would Mr. Beast continue these acts if he weren't also turning it into content? I'm sure everyone has an opinion, but I'm not particularly convinced. I suppose what makes it hard to be skeptical here is there is real "good" bein…

I guess thats what I mean. Of course he wouldn't continue because he wouldn't have the money to continue. I give you 30 grand or cure your blindness or buy you a house and you participate in my video. It seems like a win win. If the argument is that he is making more than they are making off that one video, again, that goes back to me having benefit less than you. Maybe the problem is the framing people have of it be…

> I guess thats what I mean. Of course he wouldn't continue because he wouldn't have the money to continue.

Not exactly what I was saying. Let's say he stopped today. Or when he hit $25M in total wealth. Some figure where he could live a comfortable life while still contributing to these kinds of acts.

Would he still do it? Or is continued profit / brand building / etc a key component? Is this fundamentally a transaction?

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#272
post #190
post #80

It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…

Man this is such a cynical take. I listened to his interview on the Joe Rogan show and was really impressed. Mr. Beast built his channel by taking all profits from each video and plying it into the next video. Using this approach he was able to produce progressively larger and more expensive videos. He has demonstrated his frugal lifestyle, has publicly given away an incredible amount of money to good causes, and has…

Flywheel. He’s a genius.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#273
post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought he was cool until he launched a chocolate line. Really? Is that what we need? Most of his audience is young gen z, and I'm sure the last thing the most obese generation ever needs is someone pushing more sugar on their diets

Would an alcohol, gambling, drug or other line be more acceptable since suns are being compared?

Should’ve started a MrBeast asparagus line.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Mr. Beast built his channel by taking all profits from each video and plying it into the next video" To me this seems like a semi-obvious minmaxing solution to making popular videos: make essentially zero profit, regardless of revenue. At some point you get so much revenue that you can't spend it all so the next logical step is to simply give it away as part of the video. And in this case it's a virtuous cycle - app…

It’s never enough. This guy is throwing millions towards others and helping their lives, but because he’s not suffering enough to do it, or doing it out of your defined pure intentions, it’s hardly good at all? It’s clear you care more about the sacrificial theater of giving than you do about actual impact. What good have you done for anyone but yourself in the last month? Do you even fulfill your own standards? Is a…

Well said.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#275
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man this is such a cynical take. I listened to his interview on the Joe Rogan show and was really impressed. Mr. Beast built his channel by taking all profits from each video and plying it into the next video. Using this approach he was able to produce progressively larger and more expensive videos. He has demonstrated his frugal lifestyle, has publicly given away an incredible amount of money to good causes, and has…

"Mr. Beast built his channel by taking all profits from each video and plying it into the next video" To me this seems like a semi-obvious minmaxing solution to making popular videos: make essentially zero profit, regardless of revenue. At some point you get so much revenue that you can't spend it all so the next logical step is to simply give it away as part of the video. And in this case it's a virtuous cycle - app…

[flagged]

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#276
post #257
post #80

It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…

It's a lot easier to complain about how someone else isn't helping people the way you think they should than to help people yourself.

I don;t complain of anything, let's just call a spade a spade. This is not philanthropy or altruism. It's marketing, a business and entertainment.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#277
post #80

It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…

Terrible fucking take that could only come from HN. How many cataract surgeries have you funded? How many pounds of trash have you cleaned up from the ocean? Let's hear what a big impact you're having if Mr. Beast's impact is 0.

If you give me millions of dollars for it? I could clean tons of trash yes, or fund a lot of cataract surgeries. I can found hundreds of thousands if by the end of the year I'm left with more money than I started. Awesome idea.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#278
post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought he was cool until he launched a chocolate line. Really? Is that what we need? Most of his audience is young gen z, and I'm sure the last thing the most obese generation ever needs is someone pushing more sugar on their diets

Would an alcohol, gambling, drug or other line be more acceptable since suns are being compared?

A line of anything already pegs you as a run-of-the-mill influencer, exploiting the parasocial relationship your victims have with you to peddle them substandard ware at high markup.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason those people don't have access to surgery has nothing to do with mrbeast. Do you think he could actually get a law changed and help more people than he already did? Why wouldn't a "Mr Beast goes to Washington" style video get as many views as his direct support videos got?

"Do you think he could actually get a law changed and help more people than he already did?" The most popular YT video creator could probably start a fairly large lobbying effort although yes, the multi-trillion dollar US for-profit health insurance industry could probably do better. "Why wouldn't a "Mr Beast goes to Washington" style video get as many views as his direct support videos got?" It might, there's only o…

Team Trees and Team Seas weren't enough?

Good lord, y'all are just never satisfied with charity work.

"Mr Beast literally cured blindness for a thousand people and gave them a bunch of money, no strings attached."

"Yeah but he did it for views!"

So what?! He markedly improved 1000 peoples' lives in the process. What have YOU done today?

Get over yourselves.

Re: MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

#280
post #80

It's not altruism if it's your source of income. Sorry but I don't buy this bs. He's doing it to generate income, that's all. Altruism is "unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others" but we have quite the opposite here - a selfish way of milking poor people for emotions in order to generate income. Real altruism is hard and done only by a few. Literally EVERY man/woman/child on this planet will say yes…

Yikes! What a cynical take and I wonder if you bring this degree of skepticism to the world.

From the article: > The end product was an eight-minute video called “1,000 Blind People See for the First Time.”

This is a huge quality of life improvement for 1000 people directly, and imagine the secondary effects - they qualify for jobs which they didn't, they can contribute money to their families, their families are able to use the money to fund education / savings for future generations, etc.

Leaving aside the altruism, he is a master of his craft. He understands the Youtube algorithm, his viewership, and how to grow his brand.

I hope you find some optimism in your life.

Post reply on HN