So far I’ve got 6 posters that are Sold Out, including Inspector Spacetime A3, Lion King A3, Doctor Who Series 5 A3 and others.
All A3 posters are still only £4, and some A2 posters are £8! After that I doubt I will be selling a lot of them again, to make room for some potential new designs coming in the new year. This all lasts until midnight on Sunday, UK time.
IMPORTANT: Alex Day is using an old mailing list to send around an advert for his book. If you are triggered by him then please be careful when checking emails if you might have subscribed in the past.
I don’t know how to unsubscribe. Does anyone have any idea how to do that?
If you scroll down to the bottom of the email there is a link to unsubscribe! Click it, enter your email and give a reason and you shouldn’t receive any more emails. ~ Jess
IMPORTANT: Alex Day is using an old mailing list to send around an advert for his book. If you are triggered by him then please be careful when checking emails if you might have subscribed in the past.
so i sit down to have a lovely lunch (tuna, garlic bread and roasted vegetables for anyone wondering) and my ipod starts notifying me that my friends are discussing a video alex day has uploaded on transcripts. /sigh/
guys, if you read the transcript, just look at the amount of bollocks in it and think about whether i could be bothered to make that up? i gain LITERALLY NOTHING from writing a fake transcript - neither does anyone else btw like youtubespeaks. it’s like reading the script or watching the play live. if you know the charatcers (like people reading im assuming know alex) you can fill in the blanks. youve been watching 7 YEARS WORTH OF HIS VIDEOS probably, you know how he talks.
this is NOT about monetary support - although that is part of it. Adblocker has problems in itself and it’s not about supporting him financially, it’s about not supporting him AT ALL FULL STOP. Alex Day Should Not Be Making Youtube Videos. Do not give him views. Do not comment. Even disliking the video increases it’s popularity because Youtube is weird. Just don’t do it.
Please - from me - DO be proud of getting your information via a transcript!! Thank you for supporting the work of people in the community - who often have very little support anyway especially in terms of numbers compared to big youtubers who aren’t talking about it (but that’s an issue for another post) - and thank you for supporting people who are trying to make the community a safe space.
Lastly, directly to Alex, I don’t think you understand the point of the transcript. It’s not about spreading your message for good so that ~you reach more and more people~. it’s so people can stay informed. it’s so people can analyse what you say (which you may see as unfair but is actually really important). it’s about this community giving you and your videos the middle finger because we don’t want you here.
now, if you’ll excuse me, my garlic bread is getting cold.
Yes!
And also, he keeps going on about weather or not the transcripts are true. But he’s got no idea, he hasn’t read them. Well, why not take a look at one and see that it is exactly what he said in the video! And if it’s “only going from 100 to 99” then why make a whole video about it?! It’s ridiculous.
After I made a response to Alex Day’s video “The Past”, I was contacted by a third party asking - apparently on his behalf - if I would like to interview Alex on camera. In the interests of full disclosure, here is my response:
Yesterday, Alex posted another video and, though I can’t be bothered to make another one of my own, I think it warrants a response.
I think this video will probably cause even more contention than the first one, but I believe that everything within it is true, useful and timely and for the benefit of helping more people than it will harm.
The description sets the tone for the video with Alex attempting to appear selfless and altruistic in intent.
Most people, I suspect, will find it patronising, dismissive and self-important, but that’s okay too - people will react as they will.
This is a brilliant diffusion and dismissal of any potential criticism of the video and Alex’s attitude. “People will react as they will” insinuates that any accusations of the video being “patronising, dismissive and self-important” are somehow predestined or personal and not based on any any actual comprehension of the video.
Hi. I hope you’re doing well, I hope this message finds you well and that you’re having a peaceful day. If you’re not having a peaceful day, then I’m really sorry. Just, breathe and sit quietly and enjoy nature.
From the outset, Alex is patronising the viewer. Again, the insinuation appears to be that if the existence of this video has made your day not peaceful, you just need to calm down.
I’ve been finding that I’ve been going for walks. Every day that I go for a walk, well the last time I went for a walk I ended up making a video. And this time I went for a walk and I thought ‘yeah I can make another video.’ Yeah both times I intended to just go for a walk so. I keep thinking about what I want to say I keep thinking ‘oh if I make another video I’ll say this I’ll address this point I’ll say all these things’ and then I don’t do it. ‘Cause I think the best thing to do is just turn the camera on and say some words. And yeah so I finally got to a point where my head just felt like I was just with myself and I wasn’t thinking about anything and I thought right now so I’m ready, I’m ready to talk some more.
This over-insistence on the “unrehearsed” nature of the video sounds much like another excuse to not engage with questions raised about his previous video. It’s dishonesty disguised as honesty. “I was going to address some points, but I decided I would just talk instead as that is more honest.”
This is actually gonna be just a quick thing I think. Mainly because I don’t wanna subject one of my friends, or well former friends I should say, who transcribed the whole of my last video so that people on tumblr could read it without supporting my content. Like that’s a, that’s a mammoth task. And I don’t want to put her through that again that soon.
Again, Alex is apparently showing compassion for people who are mistreating him, presenting himself as a kindhearted, forgiving soul who looks out for others. Hidden within this is an allusion, however, to the vindictive nature of the former friend and - with “that’s a mammoth task” - an insinuation along the lines of “hasn’t that person got anything better to do”.
Alex then spends the next 5 minutes or so talking like a self-help book about how people should stop being angry and be more happy. He speaks abstractly apart from one tiny reference to “if you’re angry because Alex made a video or whatever”, aiming to align the viewer with his way of thinking.
Of course, people in general should be less angry, but all his rambling about anger trees amounts to a real insight into his outlook on the situation he is in. He distances himself from it because it makes him unhappy and he feels that we should do the same or risk having no room left for happiness in our lives. This is essentially Alex saying “That’s your problem” to his angry critics.
My friend Nick said something to me recently, about, ‘cause I do have friends I think it’s important to say,
Why is it important for Alex to say he has friends? This is another in the long line of “I’m happy” and “I don’t care about youtube” insistences that Alex is doing fine and has risen above this and moved on.
my friend Nick said something to me recently about he’d learned about this thing about saying things in terms of truthfulness. Like, if you’re going to speak, if you’re going to say something, then you should consider three things, and the three things are: whether what you’re saying is true, whether what you’re saying is useful or whether it’s gonna be helpful, or kind, I guess you can use those interchangeable, kind, compassionate, useful, you know, whether it will help ease people’s suffering, and whether it’s timely is the third one, whether it’s an appropriate time to say that thing. So I’ve been thinking about that, it really stuck with me recently I’ve really thought about it a lot since he told me. And I think, I think this, everything I’m saying here, obviously I think it’s true because I think it’s true, with the plants and with the watering your anger and stuff. I think that’s true. I think it’s useful in the sense that if it helps people be less angry then that can only be a good thing. And I think it’s timely because I think there’s a lot of anger in the world.
Here, Alex again insists on the altruistic nature of his return to youtube. He asserts that these videos are true, timely and kind, apparently with no regard for the accusations levelled at him, the current state of affairs on youtube RE: sex abuse, and the discomfort that his return will visit upon many people. The message is clearly that Alex’s “haters” need to “chill”.
Like I was on holiday and I came back the other day and I walked into the airport and the front page of the Sun it said in capitol letters ‘SECOND BRITISH MAN BEHEADED’ there’s a lot of stuff going on.
This is a measure to emphasise his opinion of the insignificance of his charges and our angry reaction to his return. This is basically him saying “this isn’t important in the grand scheme of things” whilst also drawing a proximity parallel between the anger of his critics and the anger which fuels religious extremism. It’s very telling that Alex leaves this reference unexplained, simply stating his intent to help reduce anger, mentioning the beheading and then moving on. It is a true skill to make an audience believe that they have reached your conclusions on their own.
Yeah, and as long as I feel like I have things to say that are true, and are timely, and kind and compassionate, and considered, and uh, and they’re useful, I want to, I’m gonna keep saying them.
Alex re-asserts himself as a crusader for truth and compassion in the face of adversity, once again positioning himself as an underdog hero in his own narrative.
You might not hear from me again for months because I have nothing to say. I might go for a walk and make a video every day until one of you shoots me. Who knows, I dunno. We’ll just see how it goes.
This throwaway reference to murder seems another insinuation that the anger aimed at Alex is irrational and extreme and that he is a victim.
[indistinguishable words due to wind]
And thank you to all of you that have said such positive things, ‘cause they’re out there. And I know, it’s the angry people that are louder in their anger, and the positive people are less expressive. But they do it privately, I’ve had many nice private messages and stuff. I just wanted to say thanks. It’s really nice.
Here in his sign-off Alex confirms that he’s been referring to his critics (the angry people) when discussing anger in this video, meaning that the whole video has amounted to him insinuating that his critics are irrational extremists with no room for happiness in their lives.
So there you go. This’ll be the last time I comment on Alex Day for a while, because I genuinely think we’ve heard all we’re going to hear from him. Anything else will just be a rehash of the same evasive shit. I can’t say if he is guilty of what he’s accused of but, judging from these videos, he is a very clever man and is every bit as detached and manipulative as his accusers make him seem.
Description: I think this video will probably cause even more contention than the first one, but I believe that everything within it is true, useful and timely and for the benefit of helping more people than it will harm. Most people, I suspect, will find it patronising, dismissive and self-important, but that’s okay too - people will react as they will.
Alex x
Hi. I hope you’re doing well, I hope this message finds you well and that you’re having a peaceful day. If you’re not having a peaceful day, then I’m really sorry. Just, breathe and sit quietly and enjoy nature.
I’ve been finding that I’ve been going for walks. Every day that I go for a walk, well the last time I went for a walk I ended up making a video. And this time I went for a walk and I thought ‘yeah I can make another video.’ Yeah both times I intended to just go for a walk so. I keep thinking about what I want to say I keep thinking ‘oh if I make another video I’ll say this I’ll address this point I’ll say all these things’ and then I don’t do it. ‘Cause I think the best thing to do is just turn the camera on and say some words. And yeah so I finally got to a point where my head just felt like I was just with myself and I wasn’t thinking about anything and I thought right now so I’m ready, I’m ready to talk some more.
This is actually gonna be just a quick thing I think. Mainly because I don’t wanna subject one of my friends, or well former friends I should say, who transcribed the whole of my last video so that people on tumblr could read it without supporting my content. Like that’s a, that’s a mammoth task. And I don’t want to put her through that again that soon.
Yeah so all I wanted to talk about was anger. This is what I think: I think that in your brain, I think that there’s, imagine like a house, imagine that house [points to house behind him] the basement is where all the seeds are, the seeds of all the various emotions you can be feeling, and then the ground floor here or the first floor if you’re American where like the living room is, the common room, that’s where the seeds like grow and manifest from the basement of the house, right. And I think that’s like your mind. I think that there’s like the conscious part and then there’s the subconscious part and the subconscious part has these seeds like anger and jealousy and envy (which is pretty similar to jealousy), sadness, you know and like despair and all this, and also happiness and joy and and like uh, other things. The way I see it is: if your anger, and you can’t help being angry sometimes like it’s never right to suppress your emotions whatever they are. I’ve only got my hood up because it’s very cold. That’s another reason I don’t want to sit out here too long. I’m not like, in hiding or anything. You shouldn’t suppress your emotions, right. So, if the anger like starts to grow, I think it’s right to acknowledge it and observe it and say ‘I’m angry now, this is my anger’ instead of letting it overwhelm you you just sort of, it’s almost like there’s two yous you just observe the feeling and sit with it and be with it and be like what is this where did it come from and just chill like breathe for a bit. Try and just go to the root of it just go a bit deeper and ask yourself ‘why am I angry? Because Alex made a video’ or whatever the reason is ‘okay why does this make me angry? Because this’ and you know just try and go through it. I just think those are important things to do no matter what the situation is no matter what makes you angry it’s always good to think about why. Because if you understand yourself well you come to a lot of certainty in the way you think in the way you think you should live your life.
But anyway my point about the basement thing is if you water, if you indulge the anger like you’re watering the anger seed, for lack of a better analogy, and the anger plant grows and grows and grows and grows eventually I think it consumes your whole space you know [gestures to head]. And there’s only so much space in there, like there’s only so much you can feel at one time. And if you just keep an eye on the anger and every time it starts to bloom you go ‘oh I’m angry’ and figure out why that is and just cut the root before it gets too strong you just keep it snipped like a bonsai tree or something. Whereas if you let it grow and grow and sort of deepen it’s roots in your brain eventually it becomes this huge anger tree I sound like such a fuckin hippie sorry. It’s this big thing and you can’t cut it down without like a chain saw or something dramatic whereas before you could have just broken it with some nail scissors. And if the whole space inside you is full of anger there’s no space to water the other plants. [laughing] No one’s gonna get anything out of this.
Like I think it’s important to nourish my happiness you know I feel sad, I’ve had a very interesting couple of days I don’t really use the words ‘good’ or ‘bad’ I usually say something’s really good or it’s been interesting. So I’ve had an interesting couple of days, but I still feel very happy because I’m paying attention to it. I feel like I have all the conditions for happiness right now you know right now in the moment. And by paying attention to that and being aware of the sadness and where it comes from and being aware of the happiness and watering it I guess. It fills my space with happiness and then there’s not that much space left to be angry about much
So, I dunno, that was just, I wanted to share it because I’m having a sort of meditation walk and I just thought I’d talk about it, it might be useful.
My friend Nick said something to me recently, about, ‘cause I do have friends I think it’s important to say, my friend Nick said something to me recently about he’d learned about this thing about saying things in terms of truthfulness. Like, if you’re going to speak, if you’re going to say something, then you should consider three things, and the three things are: whether what you’re saying is true, whether what you’re saying is useful or whether it’s gonna be helpful, or kind, I guess you can use those interchangeable, kind, compassionate, useful, you know, whether it will help ease people’s suffering, and whether it’s timely is the third one, whether it’s an appropriate time to say that thing. So I’ve been thinking about that, it really stuck with me recently I’ve really thought about it a lot since he told me. And I think, I think this, everything I’m saying here, obviously I think it’s true because I think it’s true, with the plants and with the watering your anger and stuff. I think that’s true. I think it’s useful in the sense that if it helps people be less angry then that can only be a good thing. And I think it’s timely because I think there’s a lot of anger in the world.
Like I was on holiday and I came back the other day and I walked into the airport and the front page of the Sun it said in capitol letters ‘SECOND BRITISH MAN BEHEADED’ there’s a lot of stuff going on. Yeah, and as long as I feel like I have things to say that are true, and are timely, and kind and compassionate, and considered, and uh, and they’re useful, I want to, I’m gonna keep saying them. You might not hear from me again for months because I have nothing to say. I might go for a walk and make a video every day until one of you shoots me. Who knows, I dunno. We’ll just see how it goes. [indistinguishable words due to wind]
And thank you to all of you that have said such positive things, ‘cause they’re out there. And I know, it’s the angry people that are louder in their anger, and the positive people are less expressive. But they do it privately, I’ve had many nice private messages and stuff. I just wanted to say thanks. It’s really nice.
The main point of Alex’s new video is basically “this is all a big misunderstanding and I’ve never intentionally pressured or coerced anyone/I am basically innocent.” Before you believe him, please read the allegations again. Please listen to what these women are actually saying.
Those are NOT words that come out of the mouth of someone who is not intentionally pressuring unwilling women into sexual situations. Those are the words of someone who has successfully coerced said women before and is making it known that he’s willing to do so again for as long as it takes until he gets what he wants.
How can he possibly sit there and tell his audience that he didn’t know or that it wasn’t his intention to pressure these women? He complains about people calling him manipulative and then goes on to say the most absurdly manipulative things. It makes me feel physically sick that people are buying it, and I am so terrified that he’s going to be able to slip back in and successfully reassume a position of influence over his hundreds of thousands of fans.
If you don’t think Alex Day has noticed that he might benefit from the contrast between his accusations and the accusations against Sam Pepper (which are more physically violent and specific in nature) then you’re being naive. Alex Day is a smart and observant guy. It was a deliberate and opportunistic choice to return to YouTube at this moment. Notice how he emphasizes the lack of physical force during his incidents of coercion. Notice how he carefully selected which accounts he would address. Notice how he casts himself as the victim of a vitriolic tumblr community. The video may have been unscripted and spontaneous, but he’s clearly been formulating and carefully constructing this response for a long time.
This just shows what sort of company they feel is ok to keep. The fact that before knowing this, I almost fell for Alex’s non-apology video makes me genuinely feel quite sick. Both Tom and Alex were people I looked up to for years growing up. Now when I think of them I feel disgusted. Just completely disgusted.
Please reblog and share this, because more people need to know.
don’t give him the time of day, it’s not worth it. also it’s monetized so it will benefit his pocket. i know he says he will give the money to charitable causes or whatever but please do not support him. for people who want to see the video i have spent the past 3.5 hours transcribing it for you. here it is. disclaimer: i stopped using punctuation at one point because i just couldn’t type quickly enough and i wanted it out tonight so sorry about that. also it is a wall of text.
So Alex Day uploaded a new video “The Past”. It’s 30 minutes long and in the description he writes
I hope you’re all well. Please try not to type anything thoughtlessly as you consider your response to this.
Full disclosure: I have put ads on this video because I trust myself to do good things with the money that comes from that, be they charitable donations, funding for projects that will be of benefit to you, or other things I haven’t thought of yet.
Please note that IT IS NOT OKAY FOR HIM TO RETURN TO THE YOUTUBE COMMUNITY.
Though, if you do decide to watch the video, make sure you download and activate add blockbefore.
I quote “I haven’t wanted to talk about my side of the story because I’m scared of Tumblr” apparently we are “intolerant of anyone who doesn’t share our opinion”? No Alex Day, we are intolerant of people manipulating and abusing other people.
“I don’t care what you think of me” … “That’s why I haven’t defended myself at all in the last six months.” Really?Really?Really?Really?
“There is a lot of anger and fear and pain in our community right now. And I am a person who can reach a lot of you, and maybe I can decrease some of that.” It’s a misunderstanding. “Maybe I can decrease some of that, by just explaining my side of it."
"And even if you don’t agree with my side of it, or don’t believe it, or you think that I’m just trying to preserve myself because you know, being famous on the internet has always been so important to me.” [he’s ironic] “Then maybe you can just write it all off, but I think it’s still better. It’s still better that I said something. And even if just one person who watches this comes away from it feeling a little bit more reasonable about the whole situation, then I feel like that’s good. Then I’ve reduced the amount of over all misunderstanding and fear and anger in the world by one person. That’s a good thing to do. And I think the attempt to decrease it will outweigh the inevitable increase in anger that this will create. So here we go…”
Basically what he’s saying:
It’s worth convincing the “few” people who still haven’t decided if I’m manipulative and abusive and should not be trusted. It’s worth having those people on my side over how angry everyone else will be at me for still using YouTube as my platform.
I think this only proves that we need more people talking about this topic, bringing attention to it.
Lindsey wrote a tumblr post where she explained that, if she had told Alex to stop he would have, but she didn’t feel like she could. Alex Day says “But the point is she felt like she couldn’t, for reasons that… I still don’t fully understand but I’ll do my best to make sure no one ever feels like that again”
In it, he discusses the societal factors involved in sexual assault and, using an unusual metaphor involving a kitten and a cruise missile, blames patriarchal standards and societal expectations of romance as being a significant part of the problem:
“I’m explaining culture but I’m not excusing the behaviour, when we’re set up to assume that the kitten is gonna run whether the kitten wants the cruise missile or not, that enables abuse”
Although not directly mentioned in the video itself, it comes in the wake of allegations of rape and sexual assault against Tom Milsom and Alex Day, popular YouTubers, musicians, and now former clients of Green’s record label DFTBA Records.
The community has been rocked for days by these credible and very serious allegations and multiple, prominent YouTubers have come out in support of the victims and -in Day’s case- even add their own statements of abuse.
At the time Green stated that “you cannot fix a problem if you cannot face a problem”and it seems that he and his brother, author John Green, now intend to back that up with concrete action.
Task Force
The first of the initiatives is a task force composed of Nerdfighters, the name used to describe their channels community of subscribers, and actual survivors of rape and sexual assault.
Neither of the Greens has yet released any information on what the exact role and activities of this task force will be. It will presumably be involved in online advocacy and, this is pure unwarranted speculation, may have have some form of involvement in this years VidCon.
Videos
The brothers will be producing and funding a series of videos that discuss sexual abuse, consent and relationships, particularly within the context of the digital age and modern communication, citing Skype as an example. It is not known who will be presenting them.
Partnership
The vlogbrothers will be partnering with an as-yet unnamed number of established rape and sexual assault organisations and charities to “bring their work and their resources into our community and hopefully into other online communities as well”
While some of this information may seem vague it is worth noting the very short time frame in which these projects have been drawn up, it seems likely that new information and a deeper level of detail will be made public when the projects have been more fully developed.
It’s been 2 days since allegations against Tom Milsom, and later former Sons of Admirals bandmate Alex Day, were made and the YouTube community is still deeply in shock.
“I stupidly shared a bed with Alex because he was holding my hand and I thought that was just gonna be it […] I’d never experienced anything like that before, especially when someone kind of ends up on top of you in the dark”
Furthermore, referring to Day’s cousin Danny and an un-named person, she states that:
“I had to listen to people who were 11 years apart having underage sex”
John Green
She also adds further credence to the theory that this was a long standing pattern of abuse by Day and a significant problem within the YouTube community as a whole, saying that:
“Alex texted Danny something along the lines of “which one do you want” because apparently he got first choice the last time this happened”
“when I first met Lindsey and I told her I had only been hanging out with youtubers for a few months, she told me to run away as fast as I could, and she was right. She was always right about that”
Shockingly, she says that none other than Vlogbrother John Green himself may have had suspicions about Day for years:
“John Green’s been warning girls after they have been in videos with Alex about him for the past few years”
“I used to be really good friends with Kim and she was in contact with John on skype and stuff, and after she was in a video with him (the test thingy one) John kind of gave her a warning about hanging out with him”
“Until yesterday, I thought that I had had only appropriate, though occasionally manipulative relationships with women. However, the model of consent that I followed, not that I specifically thought about it at the time - was that only “no” meant “no.” That is not what consent is.”
This has not been helped by completely fabricated accusations directed at Tyler Oakley and popular bloggers and now radio presenters Dan and Phil. Both sets have now either been recanted and removed by the author or outright disproven.
Frustration has even been directed at Vlogbrother Hank Green, his previous silence over the matter and Day’s as of then continued presence on the DFTBA website, in contrast to the almost immediate disowning of Tom Milsom after the original allegations were made against him, has prompted accusations of a lack of transparency.
In response, he said that:
“I am proud and honored that people look to me for guidance and I take that responsibility very seriously. Because I take it so seriously, and because so many people look to me, I have a responsibility to act carefully and productively”
“I didn’t mean to say that I was burying this and that the silence was the “appropriate” action. I meant to say that I am spending every second of this day working toward appropriate action, but I think that there is little to no value in reacting immediately when it is likely that further information is on the way”
Prominent, longstanding YouTube vlogger and musician Lex Croucher and vlogger and LifeScouts designer Lindsey (known as Pottermoosh) have issued statements in the light of his denial of the previous anonymous statements made against him.
Their statements both directly conflict with Day’s assertion that “At no point in my life have I ever undertaken any romantic activity, sexual or otherwise, without being sure the other person wanted it”
In them they also echo very specific details included in the anonymous allegations, such as Day asking one anonymous accuser to sleep in his bed with him, kissing them against their wishes and even a particular question, word for word
“they both sound like I could have written them, aside from a few specific details. I definitely feel like I was manipulated emotionally by him and coerced into doing stuff that he was in no way 100% sure that I wanted to do. He used the ‘Can we skip the part where you say no for an hour before anything happens?’ line on me too”
“Alex kissed me, and I stopped him and told him I didn’t want to as I was recently getting over a break-up and wasn’t ready. I told him I just needed him to be my friend. Alex ignored this, and continued to try to kiss me despite what I’d said. He later asked me to sleep in his bed and was very frustrated with me when I refused”
Consent
In a private conversation with Croucher today, in light of his denial of the anonymous allegations against him, he apparently has expressed his own idea of what he feels consent to mean. A definition that flies in the face of that accepted legally and societally:
“[He] clarified that actually it wasn’t a contradiction, because despite the fact that I made it clear I wasn’t consenting to a kiss, in his mind he was still sure I wanted it because he thought my reasons for saying no were something he could ‘make me feel better about’ or that I ‘did want it, but just needed help getting that issue out of the way’”
It remains to be seen whether there will be more statements made alleging that Day has applied his apparent ideas of “consent” to them, but it is certain that what has already been said will constitute a damning verdict in the eyes of many and will increase calls for Day to be removed from the community in much the same way that other YouTubers like Tom Milsom, Mike Lombardo, Kelly Montoya and Eddplant have been after similar allegations were made against them.
Facing the Problem
It also further emphasises questions of whether the concept of YouTube celebrity and the general culture surrounding it has allowed a atmosphere conducive to abuse to develop and what can possibly be done to combat that in the future.
Founder of VidCon and prominent early Vlogger Hank Green has said that “you cannot fix a problem if you cannot face a problem”.
What facing the problem will mean for the community is unclear, but it cannot be allowed to become empty words.
Presumably sparked by yesterday’s revelations of sexual abuse allegedly committed by YouTube musician Tom Milsom against his then underage former girlfriend Olga, three anonymous blogs making similar allegations against fellow Sons of Admirals singer and vlogger Alex day have subsequently surfaced.
One account states that Day sexually assaulted her when she was just 14 and that he then subsequently stalked her over the course of a year or more, another account states that he assaulted her while she was sleeping and emotionally manipulated her into staying with him and accepting his unwanted advances.
The last simply says that he used her to cheat on his current girlfriend and mislead her about the relationship.
The blogs have thus far not provided any specific contextual information, corroboration or evidence of the alleged assaults.
“At no point in my life have I ever had a sexual relationship with someone under the age of consent. (For full disclosure, I’ve said publicly that I lost my virginity at age fourteen, but the girl in question was sixteen - the UK age of consent - so this point stands.) At no point in my life have I ever undertaken any romantic activity, sexual or otherwise, without being sure the other person wanted it”
He added that:
“Ultimately, the decision to believe me, or continue to support my work, is yours alone”
Reaction
The reaction to the allegations has been mixed, with some coming out in direct support of the anonymous blogs, saying that the accusations against Milsom convinced survivors to come forward, as sometimes happens in such cases, while others have questioned the authenticity and motives of their statements.
Unlike Tom Milsom, no prominent YouTubers have denounced him so far and his work remains firmly in place on the DFTBA records website.
Also in contrast to Day, Milsom has released no statement on the allegations made against him.
[This post will be updated with any new information that becomes apparent, all updates will be described here]
^The gold plated play button, reports of it going*ting*when looked upon are as of yet unconfirmed.
The new rewards system -which attendees of this years VidCon got a sneak peek at- was officially unveiled just over a week ago.
It consists of a gold plated play button for those who have reached at or above a total of 1,000,000 subscribers and the thing is framed in a way reminiscent of gold or platinum records.
There’s good stuff in here for the slightly less mammoth creators too. Those who have reached 100,000 subs get a 500 dollar gift card and a custom DSLR bag.
Awards
It’s actually not unusual for social media personalities and organizations to receive awards based within an online genre or even a single website.
They focus exclusively on web series; still a pretty small industry despite the large audience growth and acceptance into mainstream culture that it’s made in recent years.
What’s different about these rewards is that they’re given exclusively on the basis of numbers.
^ Look familiar?
Mixed Reception
The reception among big YouTubers has been largely positive and tends to break up into those who are still a bit too small to qualify for the gold and have a hungry look in their eyes.
“I want one, my house mate Charlie. He’s got a million subscribers. He just sits at his desk just across the room from me with his gold…plate….thing. I do just want to put more effort into my videos and make them more worthwhile” - Alex Day
and those who are grateful for the recognition but have some concerns
“I love it because it feels like a thank you…a thank you to the people who have invariably worked extremely hard to achieve that level of success. And it’s important for YouTube to recognize that those people play a large part in the success of YouTube"
"The fact is that most of the people doing really interesting things, who have the most potential to grow, to change things, to continue altering the landscape of media, and who I am fascinated by do not have 1,000,000 subscribers” - Hank Green
“I'm flattered, since i am in the 100,000 category - but saddened by all the incredibly talented and hardworking people going un-thanked, the ones who don’t quite have that many subscribers but still make huge contributions to this community daily” - Kristina Horner
They aren’t the only ones to focus on the smaller channels.
Smaller Channels
One thing brought up repeatedly in the comments on the official announcement, on twitter and other sites where the discussion has taken place is that the awards do nothing for smaller partners and creators.
The awards themselves arent the main issue here however. It’s a sense of continued and growing frustration with YouTube -spawning movements like the #SaveYouTube campaign- its policies and the general attitude of the site as a whole.
A lot of the ways in which bigger creators got a leg up in the past simply don’t exist any more or have been redirected towards already popular channels.
Stuff like getting featured on the main page or appearing in the recommended videos section and although the community has gone a long way in picking up the slack there’s always going to be people who slip through the sizeable cracks.
Stabilisation
When taken together with things like the new London Creator Space and programs like YouTube Next VloggerandNextUp a picture forms of a business trying to consolidate its gains and standardise skills and pathways to success in an industry where technical proficiency can vary from the profound to the mediocre.
It could well be a risky move, there’s a good chance it may simply limit creativity, create a stiff model for how creators should work and interact with their audience that could stunt them in the long term and make the industry even harder to break into.
Then again it might usher in a new generation of ultra-proficient creators while improving the already substantial profiles of the people who did it the old fashioned way.
Damned if I know, feel free to have your say though.
