Hyperreality & Youtube: The Hidden Abuse.

The digital age is coming into fruition (Wetmore. D, 2017) which is raising concerns with virtuality, hyperreality and misrecognition. Virtuality is described as the essence of, but not being real (Danaher. J, 2017). Hyperreality is the inability of the consciousness to distinguish reality from simulation/mediated real. Both possess negative sides, humankind losing a sense of the real. Lacan’s mirror theory’s where an infant misrecognizes a reflection as themselves, as real  (Lacan 1936, as mentioned in Kuttainen, BA1002 Lecture Power, 2019), has parallels to the digital world. Adopting this theory to Youtube, I will evaluate the very real issue of what is and isn’t a facade. 

Youtube is an American social media platform which launched in 2005 (YouTube, n.d.). The platform has been thriving since it’s debut and has become home to many communities some with over 100,000,000 subscribers. Their prevalence allowed them to become a part of pop culture. While it can be a positive exchange between creator and viewer. Issues arise of creators presenting an alter self to the viewer who experiences a form of hyperreality.

Image 1: Brooke Houts Removed Youtube Video (Houts. B, 2019).

Recently a YouTuber star by the name of Brooke Houts accidentally exposed herself on her youtube channel. She is a significant influencer with a community of 325K subscribers. During August she uploaded a youtube video which has now been removed by either Youtuber or herself - it’s unclear (See Image 1). Within the video, Brooke accidentally left B-role footage of her abusing her dog. This was captured and posted to Twitter by a viewer before the video was removed. Fans were shocked (See Image 2) that who they thought was genuine and real, was, in fact, a curated reflection of Brooke. A change.org petition  was started to remove her channel and any subsequent channels she creates (Bernardini. G, 2019). Additionally, there are reports that police are investigating her situation (CNN, 2019). 

Video Re-uploaded (Shoeonhead, 2019)

Image 2: Screenshot of comments on her most recent video. (Houts. B, 2019).

This situation is seen repeating itself. James Charles in May this year was exposed for sexual harassment (TheVHSCollector2006, 2019). At the same time, music YouTuber Austin Jones was accused of requesting sexually explicit images from minors of his fanbase. He’s now facing 10 years in jail (ABC, 2019). The hyperreality of these communities shattered and the fans came to terms with virtuality not being the reality. A YouTuber can't portray an accurate version of themselves online, they act how they want the world to see them. In many circumstances, it's not harmful, for instance heightening their personality. Youtubers acting to cover abuse and acting to manipulate an audience is where the line is crossed. 

Image 3: Comment on Brooke’s latest video (Houts. B, 2019) 

It’s difficult to know how genuine a YouTuber is, and so this hyperreal landscape will continue to exist. Brooke’s case allowed users to become self-aware of how they blindly accepted what she presented as truth (See Image 3). This process repeated itself with James Charles, Austin Jones and others. While users of Youtube shouldn’t begin assuming the worst of every content creator, users should be aware of the inevitable virtuality of the platform. It’s incredibly important the discussion of virtuality versus reality continues. 

References

ABC. (2019). YouTube star Austin Jones jailed for 10 years for requesting sexually explicit images from minors. Retrieved from. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-05/youtube-star-austin-jones-jailed-for-10-years-over-child-porn/11081034

Bernardini, G. (2019). Petition Calls for the Ban of YouTuber Brooke Houts Following Animal Abuse Video. Retrieved from. https://www.distractify.com/p/brooke-houts-dog-taken-away

CNN. (2019). Police investigating YouTuber that published video that appeared to show her abusing her dog. Retrieved from. https://www.abc15.com/news/national/police-investigating-youtuber-that-published-video-that-appeared-to-show-her-abusing-her-dog 

Danaher, J. (2017). The Reality of Virtual Reality: A Philosophical Analysis. Retrieved from https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET2/more/Danaher20170918

France, N. (n.d.). Ban Brooke Houts from YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.change.org/p/youtube-ban-brooke-houts-from-youtube

Houts, B. (2019). Brooke Houts. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj8YcC_hUEhSZivS0co1r4w 

Houts, B. (2019). Mine & My Doberman Puppy's Favorite Things to do Together!. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKdrSyMHLPo&feature=youtu.be

Houts, B. (2019). Plastic Wrap Prank on my Doberman!. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKdrSyMHLPo&feature=youtu.be

Kuttainen, V. (2019). BA 1002 Our Space: Networks, Narratives, and the Making of Place, Lecture 7 Virtuality and Reality. [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au 

Shoeonhead. (2019). @Shoeonhead. Retrieved from. https://twitter.com/shoe0nhead/status/1159037250061176833

TheVHSCollector2006. (2019). Tati Westbrook "Why I Did It" (REUPLOAD/FULL VIDEO). Retrieved from. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoKc_-IbUa8 

Wetmore, D. (2017). How Technology is Helping Economies in Developing Countries. Retrieved from https://borgenproject.org/how-technology-is-helping-economies/

Youtube. (n.d.) YouTube for Developers. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/yt/dev/