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MrBeast has become a viral sensation for his acts of altruism

nytimes.com

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

#511

Post by frumper »

garte wrote: post #445
Aunche wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you get to be the arbiter of what's demeaning? Are "poors" too stupid to determine their own limits? Playing silly games is hardly comparable to peeing your pants in public.

It's not about being stupid, it's about dependency and power. The offer alone is morally corrupted. If they'd all get their equal share of money and could compete out of their own volition and quit anytime they'd want then this would be morally ok. But then nobody would watch it. And that there's exactly why this whole thing is morally wrong.

Why do they need to get equal share? This doesn't sound much different than game shows to me. People make money off of other people competing against each other to earn less money than the people organizing it. The difference is we view the contestants on Wheel of Fortune as earning it by playing a few minutes worth of games instead of whatever Mr Beast does. I don't watch his videos, I'm just piecing what it sounds like from the comments. It sounds like it could be a crude version of Survivor, Fear Factor, or Tough as Nails. People do unpleasant things, voluntarily, in the hopes of earning money.

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

#512

Post by brightlancer »

goodpoint wrote: post #406
wnkrshm wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MrBeast is exactly the media phenomenon a broken system would come up with in some 80s cyberpunk movie, as a bandaid to give people the illusion of hope: the 'happy hour' show in a boring dystopia. That is not MrBeasts fault, it's the environment's. Say you see MrBeast give thousands of people help, and you have the same problem as these people - sure, you're happy for the other people but why didn't you get any help…

> MrBeast is exactly the media phenomenon a broken system would come up with in some 80s cyberpunk movie, as a bandaid to give people the illusion of hope: the 'happy hour' show in a boring dystopia. Nicely put. Some people claim that MrBeast's actions are better than nothing, but the money he's using are not growing on trees. The same money could have been used to fund a fair health system, where people receive trea…

> The same money could have been used to fund a fair health system...

Yes! How dare people choose where to spend their time and money? We should take it from them at the barrel of a gun and spend it for them! Stupid people are always spending their time and money on frivolities when there are smart people willing to spend it on purely benevolent things which never experience abuse or corruption.

Personally, I want someone to threaten me with violence if I don't give them money. It's how I know I'm doing my part.

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

#513

Post by DirkH »

Kbelicius wrote: post #388
DirkH wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd much rather perform my acts of charity publicly for the same reason I like open source coding: to get feedback so I can do it better. Anonymous charity is more often than not even more a road towards satisfying a selfish need. It elevates the sense that what you're doing is more just because it is anonymous so "surely I can't be doing it to make a show of it" except this perverse thinking often leads to elevating…

> I'd much rather perform my acts of charity publicly for the same reason I like open source coding: to get feedback so I can do it better. What kind of feedback can you get when the donation is not anonymous that you can't otherwise? I really can't think of anything. > Anonymous charity is more often than not even more a road towards satisfying a selfish need. It elevates the sense that what you're doing is more jus…

> What kind of feedback can you get when the donation is not anonymous that you can't get otherwise? I really can't think of anything

I don't even know where to begin... This is like saying "what kind of feedback can you get when the products you buy are not anonymous." When I buy a phone or some set of products it's usually public in the sense that I go to forums to talk about it, or my friends see the products I use, etc etc and people see what I use and I get feedback of the "hey, there is this product that might do this thing you care about better"

Likewise, if what you care about is x and you just go and donate to some charity, nobody can tell you something of the form "hey, there is this charity that might do this thing you care about better"

Just like with products, de-anonymizing also increases trust when you see a positive review. Same goes with charities. It opens up a more worthwhile place where discussions can be held.

> yea, one can know if charity works without putting their name to it...

Totally true. Except you still run the risk of fooling yourself more if you keep it to yourself. I don't trust myself and prefer to defer to those who research charities for a living. I talk with these people a lot, tell them what my values are, and then get charity recommendations.

I suppose a counter-argument you might make is you can still engage with people anonymously and learn what you need. That I also totally agree with.

I think you and I might be using the word "anonymous" differently.

What I'm arguing against is a kind of charity that is anonymous where the person doing this charity is an island and doesn't talk to or engage with anyone or anything about it out of principle. I think a lot of people think this is a good principle to hold. I am completely opposed to it. Is there even one good reason to do charity in complete secrecy? Even if you prefer to be anonymous (which is completely understandable), it is still better to engage with people to learn why a charity is a "good buy."

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

#514

Post by red-iron-pine »

rozap wrote: post #82
prepend wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s shady because he puts his name on crap and doesn’t care because everything is BS. Would you start a burger business without quality control? Would you let random companies put your name on crap? That’s shady.

How is this any different from Kirkland brand stuff from Costco? They just happen to have a reasonably high bar because they're playing the long game. It's not the practice that you likely have an issue with, it's the individual.

Kirkland Brand isn't Ghost Kitchens, it's usually reputable brands who slap a label on their product to build additional sales channels.

The most common example is that Kirkland Vodka is widely reported to be Grey Goose, and it's speculated that Kirkland Mac & Cheese is just repackaged Kraft.

No Brand or Quality Control needed; mostly contract and supply chain control since you're dealing with brands that already do good QC.

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

#515

Post by em-bee »

memefrog wrote: post #192
freddie_mercury wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> One downside is that it competes for the same “feel-good” feeling which much more effective charities compete for. [...] Later they walk by a food shelter in need of volunteers and thinks “I already did my part.” The exact same argument is made against government programs. And there's a long history of research showing just how much government grants crowd out charitable giving because tax payers feel like "I alrea…

That's not an argument in favour of Mr Beast. It's an argument against government programmes. And it is a good argument against government programmes.

no it's not a good argument against government programs.

really the best way to improve everyones lives is by everyone paying their taxes and allow those taxes to be used to help anyone in need and fund infrastructure and improvements for everyone in society.

if we pool our resources we can create a better life for everyone. charities that rely on donations can only go so far, and they allow people to opt out of contributing their share. the betterment of our lives is not the responsibility of individuals who feel inclined to donate, but they are the responsibility of all of us as a community.

this is not about allowing people to say that by paying taxes they did their part and so they don't feel the need to donate, but rather, as a society it is our responsibility to ensure that everyones needs are met such that there is no need for any individual to keep making donations.

if our social net relies on donations then we have a social net that is not properly funded.

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

#516

Post by red-iron-pine »

scaredginger wrote: post #50
xrd wrote: post #4

My kids love Mr Beast. I'm uncomfortable with it and can't put my finger on it. It feels like he makes life look like you stand a good chance of having someone walk in and give you $100,000. Maybe there is no harm in thinking that? But it feels like the same thing as buying a lottery ticket. I guess YouTube is free? But is the time spent on that channel worth it over doing other things? I admire the approach he takes…

For me, the discomfort is that Mr Beast's content relies on exploiting people's desperation due to the lack of social safety net. It's not his fault that they're in such dire straits to begin with, but he's nonetheless behaving opportunistically and his actions have no chance of changing the system that landed these people in such tough situations

Or put simply, he's not lobbying for improvements to minimum wage, or housing, or healthcare, or transportation -- he's schleppin for views. It's poverty-porn.

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

#517

Post by ardkf »

prepend wrote: post #431
ardkf wrote: post #137

I'm surprised at the negative view here. He had a very interesting interview with Joe Rogan a while back where he explains his business model. He does crazy expensive stuff on the main channel that might break even but often loses money. But this funnels viewers into the other Mr. Beast channels, like gaming or reacts, that are much cheaper to produce and do make money. The flywheel turns and he makes more money whic…

> crazy expensive stuff on the main channel that might break even but often loses money I remember him bringing this up in the interview and it’s an odd statement. “Often loses money.” It makes more money than it loses, obviously. So it’s weird to call out how some videos lose money. Yes, that’s how the world works. And some make make money. More make than lose, that’s just how everything works. And then he donates s…

I'm not sure why either. My understanding is that the main channel videos are big and flashy but expensive, basically acting as a loss leader that increases the population that watch the rest of his channels. So they make money indirectly I guess.

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

#518

Post by paintman252 »

xrd wrote: post #4

My kids love Mr Beast. I'm uncomfortable with it and can't put my finger on it. It feels like he makes life look like you stand a good chance of having someone walk in and give you $100,000. Maybe there is no harm in thinking that? But it feels like the same thing as buying a lottery ticket. I guess YouTube is free? But is the time spent on that channel worth it over doing other things? I admire the approach he takes…

>But is the time spent on that channel worth it over doing other things?

Now apply same standard to literally any other Youtube channel

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

#519

Post by em-bee »

HDThoreaun wrote: post #492
em-bee wrote: post #449

Earlier quoted context omitted.

is he really? how much good is a one-time payment of a lump of money helping? sure, it may allow someone to afford something they could not before, but unless they are able to invest that money into something that will improve their live for the long term, then such a payment doesn't really do anyhing to actually change their situation. one time payments need to be used strategically, and we know from lottery winners…

I think he’s doing more good than you will in your life. I donate half my income to the global poor and I think he’s doing more good than I will. Keep on working on fixing our system, but it doesn’t make sense to complain that others aren’t when you are extremely unlikely to succeed.

i have no qualms with MrBeast's business model. using his youtube videos to raise money to help people in whichever way is certainly not a problem. most of the entertainment industry is doing a lot worse (by keeping the profits to themselves).

the question is not, who is doing more, but whether what anyone of us is doing has any lasting effects. so it matters how the money is used. most of what i have seen from MrBeast is giving random amounts of money to individuals, which sometimes can be helpful, but often only provides short term relief. his recent examples of paying for eye surgery or funding an orphanage are an improvement over that, and if that is where MrBeast's philanthropy is heading, then i am all for it.

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

#520

Post by dharmab »

0x0203 wrote: post #233
dharmab wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do it because it measurably improves viewership. Linus Tech Tips made a video about why they started doing it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DzRGBAUz5mA&pp=ygUMbHR0IHRodW5...

I suspect that so many do it because it's so often repeated and taught that it works; but they figured out it works when looking at the whole of youtube videos, which percentage wise, is mostly targeted to a younger, less mature audience, and the content is made to match. When a channel's target audience is a similar demographic to the "average youtube viewer," it works very well. But I'd wager it doesn't work very w…

The video I linked specifically refutes much of your speculation. LTT included their data showing that the clickbait thumbnails improved viewership among their older-skewed audience.
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