Reels & Shorts are “Catching Fire”: The Hunger Games (Part II)
Sad stories: the lesson we learn from them
Josh hailed from a quiet town of Cobourg, Ontario, just over an hour’s drive east of Toronto. His stratospheric rise on social media started in 2017, when he was just 14 years old. Today, with his 40 millions of followers on social media (26 millions on TikTok alone!), he is considered to be the 5th-highest earner on TikTok. For example, in 2021 alone, he landed $5 million worth of sponsorship deals. The magazine Rolling Stone included Josh on its list of most influential digital/content creators of 2023.
Josh Richard’s is one of those success stories in the lives of creators on social media. These are the stories that millions of other creators are dreaming about. And with the Reels of Meta and Shorts of YouTube catching fire, a new batch of would-be successful creators are getting on board. And they would do anything to get their slice of this social media hustle.
But buried under the hype of easy fame and fortune online, are the stories of those suffering from mental illness brought by this modern “The Hunger Games” (aka “monetization”)
In its August 2023 issue, the magazine Toronto Life has Josh Richard as their cover story. He was interviewed in his huge home in L.A., California for the story. That interview offered a glimpse to Josh’s inner self, a rare look of humanity behind an internet sensation persona.
Josh’s honesty
At some point of the interview, he offered that those who rose to fame and fortune via TikTok would posit a hypothetical question. “What happens if TikTok wasn’t here?” Where would they be by now?
Josh’s honest answer to that? “If TikTok wasn’t there, I’d probably have less anxiety, honestly. I’d probably be a happier person.”
A fellow influencer and close friend of Josh, Anthony Reeves, shared some of the intimate conversations he would have with Josh during their downtime at night. “He’s afraid to die.” Anthony said of Josh. “He’s afraid to …almost grow old.”
Josh’s story is just the tip of the so-called iceberg when it comes to the danger of social media controlling the lives of those content and/or digital creators.
More and more YouTubers and Reelers are finding themselves dangerously stressed, desperately lonely, and physically and mentally exhausted. And, sadly, deadly.
Pre-more-powerful AI Algorithm
It was on April 3, 2018 when a social media influencer named Nasim Najafi Aghdam stormed the YouTube headquarters in San Bruno, California. Armed with a semi-automatic pistol, she wounded 3 people before turning her own firearm on herself.
Aghdam was very active on Facebook, Instagram, Telegram and YouTube. She posted contents that would generate significant viral hits. Then suddenly her viewership dropped significantly. She began to make her complaints public. “YouTube filtered my channels to keep them from getting views.” And claimed that YouTube had demonized most of her videos.
Her tragic story was an extreme one. But no less tragic are the stories of those who do not land on the headlines.
There are many more real stories of real people
Matt Lee became a full-time YouTuber when in February 2013 his post got a mother lode of viral hit – watched millions of times within days. By the end of that year his channel’s subscribers grew from 1,000 to 90,000! Matt was euphoric.
Then Matt noticed so many changes in himself. He became pale, lost weight, and seemed to be always tired. He realized he was facing two “enemies”, his subscribers themselves and the Algorithm. “It’s not enough to simply create great things,” he confessed. “The audience expect consistency. They expect frequency. Without these, it’s incredibly easy to slip off the radar and lose favour with the algorithm that gave you your wings.”
Matt worked 20-hours days, but his mental and physical health could no longer sustain it. Soon he would suffer from a thyroid issue and slipped into a bout of depression.
“What started out as being the most fun job imaginable,” he said, “quickly slid into something that felt deeply bleak and lonely.”
And as to the Algorithm? “It’s one of the most toxic things: the point at which you’re breaking down is the point at which the algorithm loves you the most.”
The algorithm has become a monster. You need to feed it more and more, every second of the day, if you want it to favor you.
“Burnt Out At 19”
A YouTube video titled “Burnt Out At 19” was posted online. It was a brutally honest story of Elle Mills, a Filipino-Canadian YouTuber, about her burnout, chronic fatigue and depression.
“This is all I ever wanted,” she said on the video. “And why the f_ck am I so unf___king unhappy? It doesn’t make any sense. You know what I mean? Because, like, this is literally my f_ng dream. And I’m f_king so unf___king happy.”
This video came just 6 months after her other viral hit came out. This one got 3.6 million views, and it catapulted her to stardom, landing on the cover of Diva magazine. She went on to win a Shorty award for “Breakout YouTuber”.
The immense pressure brought about by her social media success had now become her worst nightmare. “It’s not what I expected. I’m always stressed. My anxiety and depression keep getting worse. I’m waiting to hit my breaking point.”
These are just the few examples of human individuals who, through hard work and dedication, were able to reach the pinnacle of social media success. And what they saw there was no heaven at all.
Other names can be mentioned here, too. Ruben Gundersen (once the 3rd most popular YouTuber with 30 million subscribers); Erik Phillips (4 million subscribers); Benjamin Vestergaard (2.8 million subscribers). And many more.
They all shared one thing in common: public announcement they are taking a life-and-death break from their channels as they faced their breaking point.
And all this does not matter to these giant social media companies. To them, we are just pawns. Or Tributes, to the new The Hunger Games. And they upped the ante every now and then.
The rewards in this “The Hunger Games”
There was a time, for example, that when a YouTuber reached 1 million subscribers a gold plaque is presented to memorialize the feat.
It was now about the size of your viewership and number of subscribers (and quantity of posts, despite their claim of quality) that became measurement of internet success.
The “monster” called AI
As I write this piece the more powerful Algorithm behind all the uploads on those social media platforms keeps evolving and becoming more powerful. It is the one pushing forward and pulling backward videos in our feeds. In fact, there is truth to the conspiratorial myth that even the bright engineers behind its creation have little control over it. The AI-powered Algorithm has now become a sentient entity.
It is growing in leaps and bounds
And if the less powerful Algorithm of, say, 5 or 2 years ago had led to many ruined lives of creators, imagine what is happening right now. And, as I mentioned in Part I, all we have to do to see it happening is open our smart phone and open the apps. The things some people do on Shorts and Reels are dangerously worrisome.
I write this piece not to demonize the social media. No, they are not bad by themselves. I am grateful for their existence, in fact. And I am personally happy that many ordinary people have successfully benefitted from the content monetization.
This piece hopefully serves as a warning to all of us – the so-called digital and content creators.
In Part III of this series, I will share more about my own journey with social media. Why I love it, and why I constantly keep that healthy skepticism. And the signs and symptoms that creators need to watch out – the path leading to mental, physical, social and psychological destruction.
Meanwhile, let us continue to express our artistic potential and freedom. Enjoy the wonderful world of being creators. Just do not forget that – whether we admit it or not – we are now willing participants (Tributes) to the real-life The Hunger Games.
The movie The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
In the second part of the movie series, we see the two protagonists (Katniss and Peeta) returning from their victory in the 74th Annual Hunger Games. But the two have become wiser, the Capitol is still under the grip of President Snow – and he is planning to stage the next 75th Hunger Games. This time with a sinister plan: gather all past victors and have them kill each other. And no more enemies of the Capitol are left.
At the same time, Katniss and Peeta could sense that a rebellion is simmering throughout the Capitol. The people under President Snow’s tyranny have awakened.
So, continue to be creators. It is a choice. Just keep in mind that we still have that freedom. That freedom to quit from this new The Hunger Games, when you see the signs that it is time indeed.
See you in Part III.
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