revisiting the adpocalypse

*TW: antisemitism (in no fashion do i support antisemitism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc. on my blogs!!)*

i was recently thinking about Youtube recently. like many people, i grew up on youtube and i loved every second of it. i saw some of my favorite Youtubers grow with their fanbase and it absolutely warmed my heart. growing up i was an avid fan of: Smosh, DashieXP, Pewdiepie, Kubz Scouts, Kennie JD, Berleezy, and so much more. a lot of youtubers made my time on the platform worth watching. 

i LOVED Pewdiepie (Felix) the most though. to be completely honest, he was my introduction to the gaming community and broadened my mind to the other gaming channels that i quickly grew to love. i vividly remember watching the one video that did start the adpocalypse. at the time, he loved using Fiverr, an online marketplace for freelance services, and would spend god knows how much money on freelance services for these videos. in one instance, he requested that two Indian men hold a sign that read, "Death to All Jews" the worst part of this is that he paid these men to do a service for him, and when he posted his reaction to this video, he had the nerve to act surprised that they actually did it for him. neither party considered the consequences this would have on their line of work. Pewdiepie immediately came under fire for this, and rightfully so.

while watching it in real time, i was absolutely furious. i couldn't possibly fathom why a grown man would spread such a hateful message, even as a joke; it genuinely didn't make any sense to me. Although he apologized, it was already too late. the adpocalypse had started and suddenly, the golden age of youtube, died. independent youtubers had to suddenly step down from their positions, giving up their dream of content creation as part-time, even full-time jobs. large corporations began to pull their ads from youtube, causing youtubers to lose money and struggle to find sponsors for their videos. accounts were getting terminated or receiving strikes on their channels for violating even the smallest of policies. it was absolutely devastating to watch this all go down. youtubers were taking breaks, saying goodbyes, or just disappearing altogether. 

i stopped watching Pewdiepie for some time because of this. it also didn't help that he was still battling T-Series for the most-subscribed youtube channel, which im pretty sure he ended up losing (idk?). things were getting out of hand with him, and even though the adpocalypse had taken the dreams of hundreds of youtubers, deterring them from creating content, Pewdiepie was still able to celebrate his lifestyle that he built for himself, all while ultimately avoiding taking responsibility for the dramatic change in policy due to his selfishness. 

when i decided to tune back in, i was unfortunately a bit too late. as he spouted the n slur during a livestream, i knew then, that it was time for me to separate myself from this creator forever. unfortunately, other people did not think it was that serious, to which i have to wonder why that is. he has a history of releasing antisemitic and racist content. not to mention his song "Bitch Lasagna" where he literally says that T-Series' language "sounds like it came from a mumble rap community"

i wanted to revisit this because i feel like people weren't talking about it enough in 2017. during that time, a lot of people made excuses for Pewdiepie, and he even made another video after the incident reacting to his fans defending him. he never felt bad, he was never sorry, and he easily managed shifted the entire energy of the platform with 30 seconds of a video, ultimately affecting the lives of millions of creators and viewers possibly forever.

maybe i am a little dramatic (i am, i know lol)