The end of the MrBeast era
www.polygon.com
Jimmy Donaldson warped YouTube in his image — but YouTube is warping him back

If viewers don’t really see him having fun, that’s by design. Donaldson has outright said he sees “personality” as a limitation for growth, once noting in a podcast that hinging your content on who you are as a person means risking not being liked. And if someone doesn’t like a creator as a person, they may not give the videos a chance.

McLoughlin’s comments hit at another bleak possibility: Viewers may hardly see MrBeast having fun in his videos because he’s not actually having a good time. In podcasts, Donaldson tells hosts that he goes so hard, he won’t stop working until he burns out and isn’t able to do anything at all. With a laugh, he admits that he has a mental breakdown “every other week.” If he ever stops for a breather, he says, he gets depressed. MrBeast is so laser-focused on generating content on YouTube that he describes his personality as “YouTube.” He acknowledges that this brutal approach to videos, which has cratered many creators over the years, is not healthy. “People shouldn’t be like me. I don’t have a life, I don’t have a personality”

While his free time seems minuscule, the rare times he does pull away from work are for dates with his girlfriend that center around activities that could enrich his videos, because he considers a single hour of a date to be worth $100K had it been dedicated to work instead.

Absolutely brutal indictment of algorithmic capitalism.

  • Frogmanfromlake [none/use name]24•2 months ago

    Idk a lot of people crack under the pressure of fame. You get doxers, swatted, people harassing your friends and family, constant scrutiny, and people you can never trust because everyone wants to take advantage.

    I know that I couldn’t handle being a celebrity and would probably turn to hard drugs to cope from the pressure like so many of them do.

    I have someone in my family who is considered something of a celebrity and I’ve had people show up to my home trying to break in or calling me late at night to get information on her. Have also had members of the press show up to my workplace and begin pestering me with questions. I’m only a relative so I can only imagine how much worse it is when you’re the actual target.