Straw Witch

@strawwitch

Bailey, 27

she/her, they/them
strawwitch.tumblr.com/

hey everyone, this is Straw Witch from ~~crumblr~~ tumblr, some o' y'all might know me already. i'm not really switching over so much as making a base here as a precaution and to keep in touch with other transgirlies that are migrating here.

now, i just got here so everything's gonna be under construction ~~forever~~ for a while. but at the very least, let this header be proof that i am an actual human being -er well, i'm not a string of code at the very least- and that i am in fact a legal adult

Straw Witch @strawwitch3/13/2024, 9:13 PM

mousey @mousewife

Jaida R. L. Mack @jaidamack3/13/2024, 6:24 AM

Polygon's MrBeast piece is a brilliant example of information gathering.

Because it's not just jealous weirdos that're sick and tired of his weird, featureless expression dominating YouTube, it's the man himself who repeatedly admits that he is essentially a kind of advertising-friendly sludge.

Edit: I'm so sorry. I had no idea the thumbnail was going to be that. He's a fucking monster.

https://www.polygon.com/24093399/end-of-mrbeast-youtube-era

Tom (tired of the computer)@masklayer3/13/2024, 9:48 AM

This line in particular makes me feel crazy. He's so close to getting it, but yet going in the complete opposite direction. Maybe being genuinely yourself is something you should do BECAUSE of the risk - because it makes things valuable and helps you find people you get along with...?

#mr beast #fake smile monster

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in reply to @jaidamack's post:

Holly Wednesday (Dr.)@doctorwednesday3/13/2024, 7:29 AM

What's a little astonishing for me is that Beast et al happen in some alternate Youtube that I never see... they're supposed to be so huge and influential, and I'm mostly aware of their existence via hearsay. Yes, I'm grateful. <3

Jaida R. L. Mack @jaidamack3/13/2024, 7:50 AM

I want to live in your alternate timeline. ;;

Holly Wednesday (Dr.)@doctorwednesday3/13/2024, 8:50 AM

I think with the constant deluge of Minecraft videos, leftist glurge and media commentary I feed myself, there isn't room for a mutant leprechaun with tetanus leering into the camera

Phorm The Vixdjinn @PhormTheGenie3/13/2024, 12:49 PM

If you want to visit that alternate YouTube, all you need to do is crack open the site in an Incognito tab.

My feed is similar to your own - I don't really see him ever, and I prefer it that way. But I remain shocked whenever I get jump scared by him in Incognito mode. It reinforces the idea that his "content" is what YouTube considers "default".

It's what they expect you to like, when they know nothing about you.

Holly Wednesday (Dr.)@doctorwednesday3/13/2024, 1:21 PM

I have kind of a weird arrangement where I use Youtube without being logged in, and I suppose via cookies it remembers what I watch without associating any of that information with my name. (The stuff it suggests on those rare occasions I'm connected is totally different.) I imagine what happens with Incognito is that it starts you fresh every time you go?

Phorm The Vixdjinn @PhormTheGenie3/13/2024, 1:31 PM

I confess I do the same thing: I'm never watching while logged in. But it does curate my suggestions regardless, it seems.

But yeah, if you open an incognito tab on the YouTube landing page, it seems to start you fresh. I do this often when someone sends me a "Look at this!" video I don't want to impact my recommendations. It seems to build a picture of the user quick, to boot. As soon as one or two videos are watched, even incognito, suddenly the recommendations are swimming with similar stuff.

Phorm The Vixdjinn @PhormTheGenie3/13/2024, 1:34 PM

Which, incidentally, is kind of horrifying?

"Hey there, stranger. Looks like you're new in town! How'dya like to watch this man with the rictus grin? He's very popular."

Holly Wednesday (Dr.)@doctorwednesday3/13/2024, 1:35 PM

I mean, we're living in the 'I'll buy THAT for a dollar!' era of social media

Phorm The Vixdjinn @PhormTheGenie3/13/2024, 1:56 PM

Honestly, fair point

Excuse me while I go scream into a pillow.

Noxulous of Fyth @Noxulous3/13/2024, 9:13 AM

Im so glad i never see that replicant smile on my youtube. Hate that mobile ads are awash in him though

Holly Wednesday (Dr.)@doctorwednesday3/13/2024, 9:17 AM

There are a thousand Replicants deeply offended by what you just said

Noxulous of Fyth @Noxulous3/13/2024, 9:19 AM

Good point, how does one fruitfully Describe this smile that makes even my skin crawl?

Holly Wednesday (Dr.)@doctorwednesday3/13/2024, 9:36 AM

there's the 'Aphex Twin grin' perhaps

or maybe "I got my balls caught in something and just noticed"

Noxulous of Fyth @Noxulous3/13/2024, 9:44 AM

The second one is still humanoid at least, its an uncanny valley thing

Joy @amuzigxi3/13/2024, 4:21 PM

As I was reading the article, seeing several of his thumbnails included as images, I couldn't help but think, "I'm looking at someone's first-ever attempt at smiling - they know what a smile does but not how a smile is created."

Cody · Mushroom.Haus 🍄🏠@mushroomhaus3/13/2024, 1:37 PM

Even the puppies look depressed.

claire @darkwitchclaire3/13/2024, 2:24 PM

i'm reminded of him every time i go to a 7-eleven and see his candy bar and i hate it

at least on youtube i can use extensions to hide recommendations

SGTCharlynne @SGTCharlynne3/13/2024, 3:00 PM

Years since, I've been avoiding the home page and recommendations by extensions and the fact that most of the stuff there already weren't for me. I've been pretty much living on subscriptions, so I might've been grateful to not see MrBeast every time. Heck, even that Epic Rap Battles cosplay version of him looks friendlier.

Lord Wynn @wulfwyrm3/14/2024, 12:09 AM

Ppl have called me a Mr Beast hater n while i do kinda hate him cuz hes built up thos untouchable person thats let stuff he actually has fr done fly under the radar like that one island he didnt clean up, ppl fr neednto realize first and foremost hes a numbers guy

Plum @plumpan3/14/2024, 1:03 AM

because of how I use youtube, this post is the most of this guy's face I've seen ever

I hate it, begone weird guy face!

in reply to @masklayer's post:

Belarius @belarius3/13/2024, 9:57 AM

There are some rather shocking parallels between this and B. F. Skinner graduating college as an English major, being told his novels revealed he had nothing especially interesting or profound to say about the human condition, and proceeding to become the single most dominant behaviorist in American psychology out of what must have been at least partly spite for the humanities.

TINY DRAGON GIRL ALERT!!!@DragonGirlTongue3/13/2024, 11:38 AM

I specifically hate him for how fake he is and the fact it's intentional makes me hate him more

Noxulous of Fyth @Noxulous3/13/2024, 9:54 PM

Im so glad im not the only one with this exact thought

Video Cathunk @Exameter3/13/2024, 3:13 PM

Fucked up thing is I can kinda see his perspective. For someone like him, "value" is such a vague concept, like whose to say a shallow but comfortable life isn't valuable in a different way? Avoiding hardship becomes it's own reward. You start to suspect that ideas like "you need downturns in life to grow as a person, develop genuine compassion for others, and enjoy what you have" are just a way for people to cope with having to go through shit they shouldn't have to put up with.

Ghostpaw Snowmiaux @snowmiaux3/13/2024, 6:14 PM

The most I know about this brand/guy is that for some astonishingly stupid reason there are four to five products per aisle at the grocery store with his nom de plume on them.

Like I don't know what this weird looking dude's youtube is about I just know that there's a fucking cookie brand for some youtuber.

Noxulous of Fyth @Noxulous3/13/2024, 9:53 PM

No thats just it, he DOES get it, another area in the article he admits he has no personality and no life, abd that no one should want to be like him

eevee @lexyeevee3/13/2024, 11:08 PM

bad news for this unhinged lifehack: i have never seen even 1 second of one of his videos and i already dislike him

Gay Eminem on 9/11 @DecayWTF3/15/2024, 6:13 AM

I hate this creature both professionally as a theater and event tech and personally as a YouTube watcher.

ash @hierarchon3/22/2024, 11:01 PM

i mean it's like being an actor, right? nobody goes up to actors and goes "wow, you're so different from those characters you play, are you sure that faking your personality is healthy like that?" jimmy donaldson is an actor playing a character named MrBeast.