Keep scrolling for the “online identity crisis” young creators are bound to face.
Politically correct bullies are on the rise
A new piece by Darshita Goyal for Teen Vogue looks at how the new season of Sex Education explores the politically correct bully through the character Abbi and how this depiction reflects our reality.
The latest season of Sex Education starts at a new school, Cavendish College, that Goyal describes as a “hyper diverse Gen Z wellness space meets Goop-era luxury, but in a school.”
At Cavendish, the cool kids are queer, social justice matters, and inclusivity comes first.
However, as viewers move through the season, it becomes evident that Cavendish’s promise of a progressive utopia is more performative than reality.
“Cavendish College, like many progressive spaces, is full of young people who are fluent in the language of therapy speak and prioritize awareness above all else, but who rarely follow through on their promises. Instead, they use their knowledge of words that sound progressive to establish hierarchy and control,” Goyal writes.
Goyal looks at how Abbi, the unsaid leader of the cool kids, reflects this by weaponising progressive values to make herself seem morally superior and assert dominance— something many of us are guilty of doing.
A politically correct bully is "someone who never questions their own right to enforce the politically correct rules,” Akane Kanai, a lecturer at Monash University, tells Goyal.
While being socially aware is a good thing, Goyal notes there’s a difference between sounding right and acting right.
“And very often, people succumb to weaponizing therapy speak without being fully aware of it. Identifying these characters as politically correct bullies isn’t just calling them out, it’s — to borrow a phrase — calling all of us in,” Goyal finishes. “Being truly inclusive means leading with kindness and an open mind, not passing judgment on our differences.”
Read the full opinion piece via Teen Vogue.
Rachel Ballinger, sister to Colleen Ballinger, has been accused of initiating an inappropriate “friendship” with child star JoJo Siwa when JoJo was barely a teenager.
Rachel Ballinger is a YouTube creator with over 2.6 million subscribers. She primarily posts lifestyle vlogs, challenges, and comedy videos. In early 2021, Rachel came out as gay.
Amid the ongoing allegations of racism, grooming, and manipulation against her sister, Colleen, Rachel is now being accused of similar behaviour herself after a segment from Rachel’s podcast featuring JoJo Siwa has gone viral.
Rachel had JoJo on her podcast in September 2021, where the two discussed their experiences coming out. In the clip, Rachel says she slid into JoJo’s DMs after meeting her at a Miranda Sings show. JoJo was 14 years old at the time. Rachel was around 26 years old.
“I got a text on Twitter, a DM, that says, ‘Hey, let’s be friends’,” JoJo says of Rachel messaging her at 14 years old. “I shot my shot,” Rachel laughs on the podcast.
The two went on to say that JoJo took a break from speaking with Colleen and Rachel while Colleen was going through her divorce with Joshua David Evans.
This clip was reshared on YouTube via the New Zealand-based commentary channel, Drama Investigator. Viewers have since expressed serious concern about Rachel and JoJo’s friendship in the comment section.
h the full video via YouTube.
A new piece by Kate Lindsay for Bustle explores the complicated nature of rebranding online and the backlash that can ensue when a creator evolves their content.
Lindsay spoke to several creators who outgrew the niche that made them popular— something she calls an “online identity crisis.”
Younger creators are more likely to find viral fame for a version of themselves that they outgrow. Similarly, many adult creators will find themselves evolving too, if their career is long enough.
“But when they try to pivot or otherwise reinvent themselves online, many face backlash from both followers and brands who feel betrayed,” Lindsay writes.
Though sticking to the niche that made a creator popular may seem like the smartest decision, maintaining an online persona that feels inauthentic can complicate someone’s relationship with their own self. Followers will also start to feel this dissonance.
Lindsay notes that creators often abandon their initial brand “in a moment of crisis” without a backup plan. When this happens, creators jeopardise their careers, as any drastic rebrand will elicit a negative audience reaction.
Grant Khanbalinov, a former family TikTok vlogger, detailed his experience with rebranding for Lindsay. In 2022, he had an epiphany about the dangers of posting his children online. He removed all videos and photos of his children from social media in one fell swoop.
Since making the decision to no longer post his children, Khanbalinov’s account lost 400,000 followers in one year and “99%” of his existing brand deals.
As social media and technology evolve, so will content trends and the creator economy. What once made a creator popular may no longer serve them, but evolution is ultimately necessary for longevity and continued success.
Read the full piece via Bustle.
YouTube made a video editing app— just like TikTok
YouTube is launching a new app called YouTube Create that allows users to edit Shorts via mobile devices.
Jay Peters for The Verge argues this new app is YouTube’s way of competing with TikTok. TikTok’s user-friendly in-app editing features are a big reason why the app exploded in popularity years ago.
“The [YouTube Create] app offers video editing tools including precision editing and trimming, automatic captioning, voiceover capabilities and access to a library of filters, effects, transitions and royalty-free music with beat matching technology so that creators can produce their next YouTube video without relying on complex editing software,” YouTube wrote in a blog post.
Since TikTok’s explosion, the company also released its own separate editing app, CapCut, which has become a wildly popular option for young people creating short-form videos for TikTok and other platforms, including Shorts.
YouTube launched Shorts in mid-2021 in an effort to compete with TikTok and Instagram Reels. Pieces are limited to 60 seconds or less and the platform has amassed trillions of views since its inception.
In September 2022, YouTube introduced a creator revenue-share program for Shorts.
Read more about YouTube Create via YouTube’s blog.
Barstool Sports team called out for mocking Trisha Paytas’ OnlyFans content in viral video
Trisha Paytas has received an apology from a Barstool Sports staff member after a resurfaced viral video showed employees watching and mocking her OnlyFans content together at the office.
During a September 5th episode of her podcast ‘Just Trish’, Trisha brought up an incident from 2021 where members of the Barstool Sports team were filmed watching and laughing at Trisha’s OnlyFans content.
“It was two girls and two guys. And I’m like, ‘You are so disgusting and sick and twisted,'” Trisha said on her podcast. “I don’t know why people want to take my naked body and make fun of me.”
The creator brought the incident up in reference to the recent allegations against her former friend and collaborator Colleen Ballinger.
Colleen has been accused of sending Trisha’s OnlyFans content to young fans as a way to mock Trisha’s body.
One of the "two girls” in the viral video is Brianna LaPaglia— professionally known as Brianna Chickenfry. Brianna is an influencer and Barstool Sports podcast host.
Though Trisha did not mention Brianna by name on her podcast, fans quickly found the clip that she was referring to and noticed the BFFs Podcast co-host was involved. Fans flooded her comment section in recent weeks demanding Brianna address this.
Brianna, Dave Portnoy, and Josh Richards all spoke about the Barstool staff watching Trisha’s OnlyFans content during an episode of BFFs in March 2021.
Dave played the video on-air.
Brianna initially clapped back in a now-deleted TikTok video calling Trisha “weird” for bringing it up years later. However, Trisha has now confirmed that Brianna reached out to her privately to apologise for mocking her OnlyFans content and for how she reacted to Trisha bringing it up.
Though Trisha has accepted the apology, this situation is another example of Barstool Sports being irresponsible and unethical with the content they are publishing. Just two weeks ago, the media company was exposed for building a video-laundering scheme using more than 40 sockpuppet Twitter accounts.
Read the full piece via Centennial World.
Analysing TikTok's Tube Girl Trend: The Rise, Power & Pitfalls
This week’s infinite scroll podcast explores the Tube Girl trend taking over TikTok at the moment. We first cover who the original Tube Girl is and how the trend started before we dive into why it became so popular and some of the major criticisms of the Tube Girl trend– like how this phenomenon reflects who in society is allowed to be loud & shameless in public.
Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube.