On Pandering and Politeness

I have mentioned Pewdiepie before, the fabulously successful YouTuber who has literally made millions of dollars making videos about stuff he enjoys.  Recently he put a video dealing with some of the negative comments he was seeing on his channel.

It raises the interesting ongoing issue of the Internet concerning being a community.  There are plenty of people, like the folks who complain to Pewdiepie, that seem to believe that the world is set up to meet their immediate and personal desires.  How dare someone take a position that they don’t like?  What do you mean I’m not going to be given (effectively for free) exactly what I want when I want it?

As he says, there’s no point in doing things that don’t make you happy.

“Life is too short to be doing something you don’t really wanna do,” Pewdiepie said. “I don’t really see the point in me making a bunch of videos that I don’t really care about.”

I agree with him.  I would also contend that the folks who choose to abuse him (it’s fine to disagree but attacking someone is something else) are simply saying “You are not human.  We have no responsibility to you as a fellow human.  Therefore we can say and behave in ways that would inappropriate with someone we recognize as a person.”

Which pretty much sums up most of what is flawed and broken about the Internet.

While this video is pretty tame, the thumbnail does indicate that Pewdiepie will occasionally wander along the edge of comfort for some people.  Keep that in mind if you decide to watch any more of his videos.