• Owl [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      From the snippets of interviews I’ve seen, it seems like his entire personality is insecurity about whether his numbers are going up fast enough. So he’d be very aware of this sort of thing.

    • KobaCumTribute [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      Everything I’ve heard about him suggests that he’s a completely hollow and cynical shell of a person who compulsively tries to maximize his revenue/brand value and I’ve even heard he becomes distressed if he’s ever not doing that. He’s extremely rigorous about fiddling with engagement optimization shit as a result of that, so he has to be aware of exactly what he’s doing: this isn’t someone chasing their interests or dreams or hunting ego validation or trying to support a luxurious lifestyle, this is a clearly unwell man making himself into a scientifically optimized slop maximizer because he has to be doing that and can’t actually enjoy things or relax ever.

      • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]@hexbear.net
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        2 days ago

        I’ve even heard he becomes distressed if he’s ever not doing that.

        I just assume every single action he takes, even “candid” interviews where he shows apparent signs of distress, is completely calculated. Or to be more blunt, I don’t actually think he’s particularly distressed and probably thinks that pretending to be distressed in an interview would net him more viewers from people who are either sympathetic to him or wants to see the freak show.

    • somename [she/her]@hexbear.net
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      3 days ago

      I think you have to be self-aware to see the meteoric rise he’s had. While luck is certainly a factor, the reason he’s stayed at where he is, is due to a ruthless optimization of his content. That requires a bit of cold analysis.

      That doesn’t make him a good person. In many ways it makes him the opposite, but I do think he thinks quite a bit about his content and the medium.