Some of the things that people will try to demand from creators is pretty insane. Recently we had a comment on one of our videos with a request that we swear less. That we use less cuss words. 😳 🤔
This is likely because the person who wrote it doesn't like swear words. Which I get, that's fine. We make sure our videos are set to "not made for children", per Youtube's criteria, and we do so mostly for potentially "scary" content, and for the swear words we use as well. So when it comes to a request like cussing less, it’s somewhat laughable that someone thinks they can center themselves into our video and how we speak informally on a regular basis. It's basically a mildly rude dig born from a personal opinion no one asked for, that has no bearing on anyone's life but their own.
I don't like babies, but they exist. I do not put myself near them, but if I come across them I do not tell people I wish they just didn't have them. You know?
I find this a little baffling also because if you watch back through all of our videos literally to the first one I ever uploaded, you will see that I swear. You will have heard it for years, sometimes censored, mostly not. I'm a person who uses cuss words for inflection when I speak on an informal basis, and Ryan moreso in his reactions. Simply put, I'm anciently past grade school and have autonomy over how I choose to communicate verbally. It's very strange behavior between strangers where one person is presenting something artistic and one person has an unrelated personal preference and jams it into a twisted compliment that's a critique. It's just weird to even type this out, though, because it's YouTube and everybody is a fucking critic. ;)
Another recent situation that was just like, "are you kidding me?" was when I received an instant message on Instagram, from someone who has never introduced themselves to me before, except for sending a link to one of their own videos of the paranormal. This message was simply "hey do you film all of your own stuff?" To which I replied yes. They then proceeded to say "do you have zoom? can you go on video with us and tell us how to edit?" At this message I balked dramatically but declined professionally and politely, taken aback by the *audacity* of this complete stranger.
This man decided that my time and what expertise I might have on video editing is something that he can demand of me, as though I am just going to freely give up this information because he wants it and feels he deserves it. And while it's not like I'm some sort of professional, or have been trained in an academic setting, nor do I feel like I deserve to be paid or compensated by any means, it's the demand for my time and my knowledge for his own gain that he feels he has a right to. I'm all for helping creators figure out how to edit something a particular way, or if they're trying to create a scene or clip and can't figure out how to do it, but again, demands? Excuse me? No.
Keep in mind this person never told me who they were, where they are, or anything about themselves or their team. Zero formal or even informal introduction at all. Biggest takeaway, if you are a man contacting a woman on a social media app who does not know you, think twice before demanding she video conferences with you - for *any* reason. Take that to heart.
It's really the audacity, though, that some people feel perfectly in the right demanding something or centering themselves in a social space that is unasked for, or a veiled insult. Both of these instances occurred within two of our creative platforms, spaces I guard highly and fervently. It's not okay and deleting, blocking, or dealing with each situation accordingly is entirely within our, or any similar creator's right and necessity. Again, some of the things that people will ask or demand of creators is pretty insane.
Stay weird,
