Brooke Kozek
Ms. Heath
AP Language and Composition
February 22, 2018
From Role Model to Public Menace
The rise of social media platforms, such as YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, allow celebrities to communicate and interact with their fans on a daily basis. I wish that I could say social media is used only to improve our community, and that famous mentors provide content that will inspire the youth today. Unfortunately, these social media apps are becoming more and more corrupt as what is seen as “acceptable” is actually unacceptable.
Logan Paul, one of YouTube’s most popular social media influencers, who has obtained over sixteen million subscribers on YouTube in the past year, perfectly embodies this corruption. Consistently earning 5 million views on each of his videos, Paul appeals to 6-14 year olds, who look up to him as their role model. Paul posts daily vlogs: videos following and recording his day, which are then posted on YouTube for entertainment. Acquiring over 12 million dollars in endorsements, brand deals, acting jobs, and his own clothing line (Maverick by Logan Paul) in the span of only one year, this 22 year old internet sensation has certainly made his mark in the social media industry. As said in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Paul is known for wanting to be the “biggest entertainer in the world” by “doing stupid stuff” in his videos for entertainment. Seems innocent enough? Not for long.
On January 1st, Paul posted a video of him and his team visiting the Japanese ‘Suicide Forest’, also known as the Aokigahara Forest: a sacred destination for people seeking a place to commit suicide. If it sounds morbid, that is because it is. It may seem that the video was just another one of his “stupid” comedic vlogs; however, the graphic content shown is unforgivable.
In Paul’s controversial “Suicide Forest” vlog titled “We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest”, he and his friends discover the dead body of an apparent suicide victim, hanging from a tree. Paul shouts, “Yo, are you alive?” toward the body, showing his blatant disrespect. They then continue to show extended footage of the body, zooming into the corpse and the victim’s swollen and purple hand, blurring the face to protect the victim’s identity. How noble! Paul and his friends are role models to many viewers; they do not put the camera down; they laugh and smile during the entirety of the video. What does that teach their fans? Is it ok to laugh at a dead body? No, it is disrespectful and inappropriate. After seeing the body, Paul says bursting into laughter, "It was gonna be a joke. This was all a joke. Why did it become so real?" he asks. Paul makes a mockery of a national issue: suicide.
After streaming on YouTube’s preferred page for almost 24 hours and receiving over 5 million views and 200,000 likes, an outburst of horror and criticism from fellow media personalities on other social media platforms exploded. What originally began as an innocent plea for views and harmless jokes, soon became the downfall of Paul’s internet stardom. Paul finally deleted the video and tweeted out an apology. Accusations of Paul’s posting the vlog for fame and views surfaced, but regardless of his motives, one does not film a suicide victim, and claim mental health awareness. Instead, simply providing suicide prevention links the description box below would suffice. Paul is privileged to have his following; success and respect are not given they are earned. And although Logan Paul has worked hard to earn the respect and success of others, it will take him a very long time to regain the trust of the public.
Since the controversy, Paul has issued two apologies: one on Twitter and a video on his YouTube channel titled “So Sorry”. Despite Logan Paul’s “heartfelt” twitter apology, the underlying message of his words imply that he is aware of his success. Paul says, “I didn’t do it for the views, I get views”, ultimately stressing the popularity of his channel, rather than apologizing for his disgraceful actions. The word “I” is used twenty three times in his apology, in comparison to the word “sorry”, which is only used once. Paul’s failed attempt at heroism is masked by his self-aggrandizing words and ingenuity. After being criticized by the public, yet again, for the insincerity in his twitter apology, Paul issued a video expressing his lack in judgment and regret. Personally, watching this video makes me think maybe he truly does feel badly for filming a corpse and uploading it for millions of fans to see. However, recent evidence tells us that his “apology” video was monetized, meaning that endorsers were paying him to display their ads on this video. Just when the world thought Paul was sincerely sorry, the idea of possibly losing money and fame seem to be his only concern. His blatant disrespect for the victim and the victim’s family, show his sickening view on suicide as a whole.
In response to the backlash of Logan Paul’s video, YouTube responded with, in their opinion, suitable ramifications. Paul’s punishments include being dropped from YouTube’s Google Preferred program, which gives the most popular creators premium advertisers, increasing their ability to earn higher income, the cancelling of his roles in YouTube Red movies, and as a result of continued inappropriate behavior, the demonetization of the 22-year-old’s channel.
In the larger scope, Paul is a symptom of a larger problem with YouTube. Although YouTube has attempted to punish Paul for his actions, he deserves greater punishments. The scariest statistic is that since the video, Paul has gained almost a million followers on YouTube. The career of this entertainer is not, in fact, declining, but rather rising as more of the youth today begin to idolize him. In fact, Aaron Paul, actor on Breaking Bad, tweeted in response to Logan Paul “How dare you! You disgust me. I can't believe that so many young people look up to you. So sad. Hopefully this latest video woke them up.” Sadly, his fans have not woken up yet and they will continue to support their version of a modern day hero. Paul’s corrupt channel teaches children that it is ok to do things that are unacceptable, stripping away their innocence and leading to even worse social media influencers. YouTube must stop obsessing over money and advertisements, and instead focus on tightening policies and protecting the children watching their creators. If Logan Paul’s actions do not “violate” YouTube’s standards, than that is an issue in itself, meaning we need stricter policies.
Social media platforms are lessening the moral standards of our society. Our moral standards are being reduced by glorifying bad behavior, in order to earn fame and money. There is nothing we can do to stop and turn back the clock, the damage is already done and we can’t fix what's already been broken. The Logan Paul scandal will pass and people will move on once they have found the “next big thing to entertain them”. Single entities such as Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers, and a simple nintendo DS, used to occupy my youthful mind; however, like anything else I lost interest. Times change, priorities change, and people change. Same with Logan Paul, he will get older and his followers will get older as well; no longer interested in him or his inane content; he will become irrelevant and like anything else, eventually fade. The bigger problem is rooted in YouTube’s larger monopolistic-like factory. Yes, Logan Paul's destructive content and nature will pass, but it's the cycle and industry YouTube has created that is never ending. Once Logan Paul and his viewers move on, that just leaves space for another equally as irresponsible creator to replace him. The only thing we can do is implement better regulations and stricter guidelines to be followed by the whole community, in order to slow down the rapid cycle of reckless public figures YouTube has created.
Works Cited
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