The Quest for Social Media “Clout”: A Deep Dive
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ค. 2024
- Welp, algorithm ruined. 💩 The phenomena of “social media fame” has undoubtedly brought plenty of talents, ideas, and movements to light - but how can a lust/fascination for “online clout” corrupt others?
I explore the unique culture of internet fame, the draw of online virality and the trappings of “chasing clout” on social media.
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🕥TIMESTAMPS:🕜
0:00 - Intro
1:11 - The culture of “clout chasing”
2:52 - What is “fame culture”?/Our fascination with celebrities
5:01 - Fame culture on the internet
7:07 - The draw of social media “likes” & validation
10:09 - The rise of “microcelebrities”
11:02 - Reality TV and the “wannabe famous”
12:31 - Banking on notoriety
13:20 - Struggling with the online “attention economy”
15:08 - Faking social media fame
15:50 - Faking lifestyles for clout/HBO’s “Fake Famous”
18:50 - Rise of the Douche-fluencers
20:30 - Why are we drawn to controversy?
23:05 - Catering to children
24:41 - How social media platforms fuel an obsession with “clout”
30:19 - The lies of online clout culture
33:52 - Navigating the clout-obsessed social media hellscape
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All third-party clips and images are Fair Use/Fair Dealing under copyright law (transformative under criticism/review/commentary/news reporting).
Australian copyright law on “Fair Dealing”: www.copyright.org.au/acc_prod...
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I do not condone the harassment of any persons or entities mentioned in this video.
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📚SOURCES:📚
Section: Fame Culture & the Internet 🌟
Oscar Psychology: Why Celebrities Fascinate Us
www.livescience.com/18649-osc...
Rumor Has It: The Science Behind Why We Love Celebrity Gossip And Tabloid Magazines
www.medicaldaily.com/rumor-ha...
An obsession with ‘likes’ on social media akin to animals seeking food rewards, new study reports (News24)
www.news24.com/health24/menta...
Nucleus accumbens response to gains in reputation for the self relative to gains for others predicts social media use
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Why We Are Addicted To Social Media: The Psychology of Likes
steverosephd.com/why-we-are-a...
Facebook Addiction' Activates Same Brain Areas As Drugs; How Social Media Sites Hook You In
www.medicaldaily.com/facebook...
Wanting and liking: Separable components in problematic eating behavior?
www.sciencedirect.com/science...
The Power of the Like in Adolescence - Effects of Peer Influence on Neural and Behavioral Responses to Social Media
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Section: The Quest for Virality 👁️
Self-branding, ‘micro-celebrity’ & the rise of Social Media Influencers
opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream...
Section: Rise of the Douche-fluencers 🤡
Why You Secretly Enjoy Getting Angry
www.psychologytoday.com/au/bl...
What Is the Negativity Bias?
www.verywellmind.com/negative...
The Negativity Bias: Why the Bad Stuff Sticks
www.psycom.net/negativity-bias
In 2018, an 8-year-old made $22 million on TH-cam. No wonder kids want to be influencers
www.fastcompany.com/90432765/...
The Influencer Report - Engaging Gen Z and Millennials
morningconsult.com/wp-content...
86% of young Americans want to become a social media influencer
www.cbsnews.com/news/social-m...
Young affiliates: nearly a fifth of British children aspire to be social media influencers
www.telemediaonline.co.uk/you...
Fake it till you make it: meet the wolves of Instagram
www.theguardian.com/news/2018...
Social media use and anxiety in emerging adults
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27723...
Association between Social Media Use and Depression among U.S. Young Adults
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Combating Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) on Social Media: The FoMO-R Method
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
#cloutculture #influencers #tiktok - บันเทิง
As always, well and thoroughly researched and clearly presented. Your algorithm's sacrifice was not in vain.
On the other hand, my algorithm popped your video up quite literally the minute it got posted, as I was chilling on this Sunday morning waiting for the laundry to finish and football to start, so the Algorithm god keeps the balance in the end.
Hahaha I'm glad it was worth it 🥺 Thank you!!
This topic is so important and like you said the potential ‘solutions’ would be rather complicated to enforce. I honestly don’t know where we’ll go from here, ‘clout-chasing’ seems like it’s just becoming a normal thing especially with younger generations. Also the obsession with analytics is too real, sometimes that confetti feels too good 😅😂 -Stef.
It touches all age ranges. Why do you think Bezos jumped in a rocket and went on a (newly defined by the FAA thankfully) suborbital flight? Clout. It's not a marketing stunt, as the "general consumer" of such a thing is strictly the ultra wealthy. Why do you think Elon Musk never corrects people when he's called the founder of Tesla when in reality he bought his way into the company? Clout. We live in an age where money and notoriety equates to being well liked by the majority of people, granted I'm unsure if it's a new development. I'd wager that mankind has had an affinity for deifying individuals for their perceived persona for the entirety of it's tenure.
I know right?! The Creator Studio can feel like your best friend some days and your worst enemy on others lol.
And yeah, I feel like 'clout-chasing' is a force that's unstoppable at this point, unfortunately. I think the best we can do is maintain a critical eye. I also feel like it's always been a thing, just now with a new name and more visible/amplified with social media - which, coincidentally, have a majority userbase of young people. (This statement's a cliche at this point but boy am I glad these platforms weren't in their prime during my early teen years hahaha. 😅)
It must be so weird to have an A.I. boss, there's a whole industry of creators working for algorithms now
Seeing one of my fave creators interact with another of my fave creators is never a bad thing! As for the subject at hand: clout chasing definitely appeals to one of our core human needs. It's likely to get even more common as children are raised from birth in a world where it's considered normal. I suppose the reckless pursuit of clout alone isn't inherently harmful. However that sort of content from big creators too often either promotes harmful behavior or gets commodified/exploited by big corporations. I'd like to see that cut back drastically. Whether that means regulation or otherwise. Like you said, though, how to enforce it and/or determine where to draw lines?
Didn't expect to see you guys here
Commenting before watching so people see me. Gimme da clout.
🥇
My girl is back with a issue I am currently dealing with... will be saving this one :)
I will download this video (just in case) to show my children when they are older and can speak English. Really well made documentary. Especially loved the references to scientific papers. Your channel is the best for pop culture commentary.
Really appreciate that - thanks so much! 🙏
Being famous for being famous is by no means a new thing. I remember we had all the same conversations about the Gabor sisters, Eva, Magda, and Tza Tza, and a bit later people like Samantha Fox and Tiffany. The difference is, now young people envy and _respect_ these talent-free celebs rather than laugh at them. I'm well enough known as a community organizer that there's a Wikipedia entry about me, and I have often been covered in the media. My modest level of celebrity is by no means enjoyable; it's an annoying side effect of what I do. I think if Zoomers had any conception of what it's like to have total strangers writing rude and largely untrue editorials about them in major publications, they wouldn't be trying so hard to be famous.
modern fame as we know it is practically brand new in human history. NAPOLEAN is far far far more well known now by john q. citizen than he ever was in his own time. alot of what we're seeing now is, at the most primal level, the seeking of status and resources that is, unfortunately, a huge part of how the human race has evolved. as such if the internet had been around in 1932 you'd have seen exactly what yer seeing now. tchnologies change, fashions change, hairstyles change human nature does not.
I find online celebrity culture bemusing and often terrifying, but your presentation on it is interesting and engaging. Good work.
Okay, so after watching it all, I really think you summed it up quite well. I'd like to think I haven't been effected personally by clout culture too much, but I do often catch myself wishing my social media had more reach just for the sake of people seeing my perfectly crafted inarguable opinions.
But on a real note, it does worry me when my 11 year old nephew says that he wants to be a TH-camr. Not that being a TH-camr is bad, honestly I'd love to be able to compile my thoughts on topics and put them out as eloquently as you did here, but because I see him emulating less desirable figures on the platform. I've seen him worry about how he looks in certain clothes and try his hardest to follow whatever trends are current. Maybe my age is getting to me and I don't remember being a teenager (I just turned 30 😩), but it troubles me to think about what he values.
To some extent, think it's totally normal to desire more reach online in an age where virtually *everyone's* on social media - especially when you've got interesting stuff to share. It also comes with having the tools to instantly broadcast your thoughts for everyone else to see, so you're fine haha.
I'd like to think the kids who watch flextubers and notorious personalities eventually grow out of their content once they age beyond the target demographic. Surely most former teen fans of the Paul bros. aren't still loyal followers once they hit their adult years? (or is that optimism? 😅) Your nephew seems really young - and 11 is a super impressionable age, so hopefully his attraction to these figures is just a phase. :p
@@ana-isabel oh good at least I (might) be normal lol.
I'm hoping that my being in his life and being aware of this stuff can right any wrong that cloutubers may do lol. Fr tho, I think that's kinda the big problem, out of touch adult figures that don't understand the content that these kids are consuming.
20:38 It doesn't! I don't consume any of it! What I DO consume is the content made by people like you, brave and talented souls willing to delve into the madness and produce quality video essays I can enjoy. This is where most my knowledge of internet culture comes from, you're doing a service.
Really appreciate that, thank you so much! 🍻
I always kind of find this sort of thing deeply fascinating because I honestly just... don't get it. Possibly because I was raised in a cave (aka, a house without cable) or because my brain is quite likely martian instead of human, but I honestly just never understand the fame chasing or desire to follow randos personal lives thing. Sometimes it feels like I dodged a bullet....
(comment mostly to appease the algorithm)
Re: following other people's personal lives, I think a lot of it escapism really; like this almost masochistic need to see just how awesome other people's lives are compared to yours. At least that's the effect I get most of the time, I'm sure it's also... inspirational for others.
And I think the numbers on social media definitely amplify the "fame-chasing" mentality, sometimes unconsciously. It takes a bit of work to "not care" when you're on it a lot hahaha, the analytics on these things are built to be addictive. 😅
@@ana-isabel They do make their money by getting people hooked, so it's not really a surprise, sadly.
Mind, the few things I ever got analytics on were always just kinda frustrating because they never actually gave me any useful data, so I stopped even bothering with that. If it can't tell me how or why the numbers changed, it may as well just be an RNG, ya know?
I can't believe how criminally underrated this channel is, seriously I've been watching through these lately catching up and just ASSUMED you were a big channel based on the quality. It took this video about clout chasing for me to be all like "hol' up a minute, how many subscribers do you have?" And my jaw dropped lol. - you'll definitely grow fast though I would be very surprised if you didn't have ATLEAST double what you have now this time next year
Incredibly well done video. I'm absolutely staggered you only have 52k subs.
As always you've put together a very interesting analysis on something I think about a lot with regards to modern pop culture. Not to mention your usual levels of research, sourcing, and editing. These essays clearly take loads of work, and there's no words for how much we all appreciate seeing them. The algorithm seems to have done its job this time, too. Much like a few other commenters: I saw this newest video pop up at the front of my TH-cam homepage as soon as you posted it Sunday. This is not always the case for folks I follow, not even ones I ring the bell for like yourself (YT loves to stealth-hide videos that don't deserve it way too often for whatever weird reasons.)
Most of my time on TH-cam ends up spent watching video essays like these, and it becomes one of the best ways in this modern era to both learn about new subjects and get a wide range of takes on various issues. As much as social media has become predominantly commodified and toxic, this is one of the reasons I'm also glad it exists. Hope you are well, and keep up the great work! As usual I will share this video with friends and do my part, albeit little, to get good content to more eyeballs haha.
Another banger, you've been one of my favorite channels for a while now.
The time & thought you put into your videos is really appreciated 🙏🏽
Ayyy new video!!
Totally feel you on the analytics and algorithm angle as it's always a struggle of wanting to branch out and experiment vs appease the algorithm gods.
The chase for clout has always been...interesting from an outsider perspective, went to Vidcon one year and witnessed people jumping into fountains, climbing on top of street lights and getting arrested all for the "sweet views"
Overall, think all creators should just ask themselves "will I regret looking back on this after my 15 mins of fame are up"
Once again, keep up the awesome work Ana!
Please keep doing these. I enjoy listening to your insight.
Thank you so much for everything you put into your content and for sharing. I love that everything you put out is relevant to basically everyone, but not something everyone would take the time to research and understand. I hope you're getting as much out of this as the rest of us and I'll be here to nudge the algorithm in your favor! ✌
I took a break from social media for a month and it helped my mood tremendously. I was able to enjoy time to myself and just exist without feeling like I had to win approval from people I’ve never met. I am working on self discipline and finding wisdom in the real life, not on an app. I feel this video worded the downsides of social media so well. Great video! 🙂
Another thoughtful video on a complicated topic. Liked and commenting to appease the algorithm gods. Yes, I think performative activism tied to cancel culture is worthy of another video.
I also find it interesting that younger viewers are more aware of social issues, but they still idolize the luxurious lifestyle that most likely comes from stepping on the shoulders of have-nots. Is it because they are two different crowds? Or are we forced to play the game and aspired to climb the capitalist ladder even though we know the game is rigged and harmful?
I think both are true. There are definitely those who obnoxiously flex without a care for a current socio-political climate, and there are others who spread awareness while forced to play into the capitalist game. I'm sure there are also those who are simply hypocritical, and pander to both worldviews (haven't seen as much of these fortunately, though perhaps I've just been lucky enough to avoid them? 😅).
Glad you enjoyed the video!
Fantastic content, Ana. Thank you for making it.
I have LONG been curious about why anyone would watch something knowing it will just make them angry. And after seeing this video essay I can't believe I haven't thought of it this way before. Another very interesting topic! Funny enough I've always said I hated reactionary content but I love your channel and actually have a few videos to catch up on. Of course having a pretty face certainly helps but even more so is the fact that you sound quite intelligent when you speak accompanied by the intriguing and diverse topics you choose to delve into. I could probably watch the other 2 or 3 videos I've missed consecutively if I'm being honest. I just enjoy listening to you that much!
Very well put together video. Gives a pretty good overview of the situation. This will be a really good video a few decades later when someone wants to know what social media was all about in the erly 2000.
Always insightful, always interesting.🙂
I love your outfits and makeup in your videos. They always look great.
Thanks for this - I’m sharing with my son
❤️
Very thorough and definitely important for people to know.
Highly underrated channel. So good!
Thank you! 🙏
Love your videos!
I imagine this could have been a difficult one to write at times as someone who creates on some of these platforms. Thanks for doing it!
I watched the sigma male video and it was great, and this one is also. Good job, here's hoping you blow up
Thank you for another gret one! May the algorithm gods smile upon you!
Some of those clips made me extremely uncomfortable. Good video as always!
i've only "flexed" one time and it was just to show that lots of well off people are highly overregarded/overrated in society for their skills/abilities/intellect compared to impoverished people. when we are given a tiny fraction of the support/resources, we ALWAYS severely outperform any well off person. so much so thats its made clear that society is ran completely incompetently for the purpose of well off peoples egos and feelings being protected before the well being of people who are truly skilled and hard working..
Social media did influence my online behavior... Uploading my type of content usually means close to none views... So, I try and be more active on social media and learn how can I get attention to myself.
Occasionally is it becoming an obsession of trying to be more entertaining in order to get more attention, views and interactions...
A side effect is that it gave me paid projects, new contacts and in general, a certain amount of positive feedback loop.
Well, it didn't grow my channel, but, the side effects prove themselves valuable, although, hard to manage how much time I spend on it.
Luckly for me, I completely avoid the "Clout culture", I don't deal with things I dislike... I won't do things I disagree with either.
What is certain is, I learned to avoid certain interactions like the plague... It's dangerous to express or engage in certain types of debates online for the sake of attention.
It's interesting to note that corporations derive a lot of modern strategy from influencer culture and vice-versa.
Another engaging essay (or rant) that was well considered and presented. I do hope that at some point you're recognized for the clout for your social and pop culture commentary. You do such a good job of calling out the risks and rewards of the influencer push for fame and fortune for being famous and fortunate. I am quite happy that the TH-cam algorithm served up your channel early last year, it has been one of those rare gems with consistent quality and interest, and I look forward to each new video.
Thank you so much Barry! 🙏
Ana's best angle : front
My best angle : in the other room
As my niece says to me: Mood.
Do it for the gram! (also love the videos, perfect to watch while I game)
This is such a cool channel
I've read 8 hour books that don't describe this as well as you did in 40 mins. Subbed.
cool beatles poster 💚
These "influencers" are so depressing. Like, genuinely depressing. There are so many obvious reasons why one should simply make videos for fun and not for clout:
1. The sheer amount of competition they're up against
2. The vapidity of the low-tier content they're throwing together
3. The fact it just makes others feel worse for not having impossibly lavish lifestyles
4. The absolute non-sustainability of it all
Even if, by some stroke of luck, they make it to, say, 1M followers, EVEN THEN they will likely be irrelevant in less than a few years and their generic feedback loop-esque content will be replaced by someone younger and more desperate willing to stoop even lower. It seems so obvious how empty this all is but that isn't enough to stop them? This generation is depressing and it's largely because social media's created these systems and culture for nothing more than the propagation of its own business interests.
At this point it would literally be easier for them to just get a real job-and they can still make videos!-if they want-for fun.
It's a dark future a return to the old roman days of Murderous animalistic Spectacle. I was against moral panic too... But sometimes a fire is a fire.
Hey. Love your content.
"Early onset boomer-ism" thanks for making me feel less "Old man yells at cloud"
Magnificent Video
So after the Emo Culture video you put out I went down the rabbit hole of your videos, and after such a binge and the ensuing gap left after the list of videos ran out, it is awesome to get another well-researched, well-reasoned, and just generally well-expressed video. I love how much of both sides (as much as it can be said that there are only two sides to such a broad, weird, and complex issue like this one) you kind of speak to, and how much thought and thoughtfulness you've put into considering how to word it. Thanks for another great vid, and I don't know about your algorithm, but mine was like, dude, you're gonna dig this video watch nooooow. So that's pretty good. Haha.
Engagement for the engagement god!
I'm getting closer to the point that when I post content it should be what I want to put out into the world and not worry about it getting views or likes.
It's so much more work to obsess over "what will get views?" rather than, "what's an idea I have that I want to make something out of?"
Hey Ana, your videos are a great listen when I'm commuting to and from work. Have you ever considered making podcast in the future? They'll be ideal for shorter essay topics/discussions. Just an idea. Looking forward to your next video!
Aw thank you! It may be something I'll consider when I have more time - as someone who loves talking, it should be fun to try out. Thanks for the idea, been actually thinking about how I can incorporate more laidback, casual content into my catalogue :D
The things so many people do for clout is really sad and scary
Great video... also are you doing a Chrollo from Hunter X Hunter cosplay cos thats like his exact outfit lol.
Nah hahaha this was my attempt at the "influencer" look 😅 and thanks, glad you enjoyed the vid!
Oh yes, the link between social media and depression is too hard to ignore. Perhaps this could be dived into deeper?
Also, I am thankful for social media. I have been using it for half my entire life now. And rarely have I deleted things. My Facebook is more or less the modern day version of keeping a diary. It has been a very useful tool to help me reflect on my past self and go on an inner journey. I do not think I would be the person I am today if I was allowed to forget my worst points
Nice to end on high note. I definatly can forget how great social media should be instead of the loud obstinate fog infecting my psyche combating with entropy 👿
Girl, you deserve more subs!!!! Also you really look sharp af for this video. Gorgeous
great video :)
You should do a video on the history community, and the absolute insanity of some of the areas in the wider community
That Warhol quote just kinda strikes me as bitterly ironic, quite the opposite of 'prophetic.' Maybe it's just me, but I'm not even well-known to my closest friends lol, they forget I even exist.
Interesting video :)
I thought you were going to mention the Gabby Petito case as that has been the ultimate “these influencers aren’t what they seem” case study.
Me, a social media nobody, who deleted all his personal accounts 4 years ago, have been approached by jewelry brands to promote their products. 😂😂😂 It smells like scam, but who knows, maybe they really think I an a Magic-User of Chaos and their jewels allow the summoning oh Arioch. Blood and souls for my lord Arioch!
Anyway, I came late to the amazing world of youtube content creators. Inhad dismissed yt as a bad way to listen to music, and I kept using my CDs and ipod for ten years after everyone had jumped into yt. It's been only since 3 years ago that I discovered people like you, making content like this, that I admitted I was wrong.
"Idubbz's bitch" got me real good. Well played
Clout is stronger then any drug
I personally loathe social media and only go on it because I am too scared to talk to real life people. If social media were to one day vanish, I would be very happy.
A wiseman once told me there is only one reason to do it; that reason of course being.... "The Nookie" 😅
All I watched as a teen were mostly Let's Plays mostly played by Chuggaaconroy. Glad I never got to the vloging side of TH-cam.
🖤
HEY!! Leave Cosmonaut alone! he’s precious cargo!
wonderful video, as usual. don’t forget us all when you’re big n famous
chuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Nice nod to Cosmonaut
im sure lots of influencers are too empty headed or evil to realize or care but, they play a huge role in the expansion of money laundering in the modern age, which is one of the many things causing the dollar to inflate which makes everyone who makes money from hourly works wages worth less and makes life worse for everyone who isnt rich already
29:22 It honestly makes me sad that kids will grow up with this TH-cam. When I was younger (late 2000s/early 2010s YT) I remember watching so much animation, comic dubs, etc. So sad to know the kids are going to grow up feeling nostalgic for this.
...I feel like this video is breaking a meta 4th wall.
Ohhh, Dead Sound!
You need more views
17:53 the fact that's a thing is a very odd
May you be the next Contrapoints or at least the next Philosophy Tube. Comparing you to other channels aside, do you feel pressure to please our Lord the Algorithm? Many content creators do since there is a lot of psychology applied to this very platform.
This is a topic I could never identify with. Maybe because I recognize I'm probably the most boring person ever born and literally nobody in their right mind would care the slightest bit in a photo or tweet I could put out. But the idea that most kids actually want to become "influencers" makes me kinda sick in my stomach, ngl.
28:36 mark. A desert egal. That is a not kidding sround modern definition of HAND CANNON. I know gun culture has gone down hill in the US, but holy crap my knowledge on the gun is its name. General look, and its cool factor is its make big boom factor. What were they thinking?
hey hey if you don't mind me asking why are your eyes so big .. like is it contacts the lighting makeup of just genetics. just curious :D like the content :D
Ahaha wish I could say they were genetics but they're brown cosplay contacts :D
neat
I don’t watch Logan Paul but it seems like he’s mellowed out and learned his lesson since then I don’t see him involved in controversies anymore so that’s good at least
Hey. I am Brandons bephey, Jake.
Oh I spy a cute Mina! :3 9:50 I'm glad that my morbid attraction is instead me watching endless fear mongering videos about WW3... or natural disasters worst case scenario 😅
Idk how I got from anti vax videos to this, but really well done!
I put blame on anyone who didn't understand that the 11 year old calling herself as a Harvard dropout and flexing about owning expensive cars was satire mocking exactly what you're commenting on here.
We're watching people fall apart online. Def Noodles and Gabbie Hanna are just 2 examples. And what about all the poor kids whose parents put them online 24/7? 😞
3:16 Who are they?
Is this the comments section?
If these influencers were holding parties during the holocough to criticise the government response to it, such as the infringement of civil liberties, I’d be happy with that.
pa order po ng hatdog at larj sprayt
WHAAAT? 28:15
That's natural selection at its finest. Damn. "i'Ma CaTcH a BuLlEt"
Do it one time for the one time
Here to claim my clout before my 15 minutes run out
Social media is such a double edged sword. But goood gosh faking your girlfriends death to get subscribers. Insane. How have I never heard about that.
It feels weird leaving a comment on this video
There's an attention-seeking epidemic in general. But isn't cosplay a symptom of this as well? The desire to use the attention garnered by geek media and redirect it on to the attention starved.
the internet and social media didn't exist yet when THE BEATLES were still active. at that time THE BEATLES were the biggest name not just in music but entertainment, period.
now it's THE KARDASHIANS. think about that fer a minute.
The Apex of 15 minute fame culture are people trying to gain clout with inspirational LinkedIn statuses lmao
Clout is one helluva drug.
I feel like this is a very American thing