If you like animals, and keeping pets, you’re most likely already familiar with the “PetTube” side of YouTube. A community of content creators making videos about the animals they own. Most of these videos are quite fun, although I can’t say I like most of the popular people behind them for one reason or another. But that’s straying from the topic. Which is their fans, and communities.
The majority of fans for popular PetTubers are people ranging from ages 12-18, children and young adults. Therefore when dealing with ravenous fans, or “stans”, it’s important to remain placid and remember that. Regardless of age, however, almost all the consumers of these types of videos develop a deep sense of trust and camaraderie for these creators, despite having never met or spoken to them. This sort of parasocial relationship is both unnerving and potentially harmful and counterproductive.
Any video uploaded about pets, or animal husbandry, is just a singular source of information from someone who (most likely) has only personal experiences to go off of. Which is completely fine! You don’t need to be some sort of expert to make a video about taking care of hamsters or leopard geckos. I want to make that very clear.
The issue arises when fans distort reality with their love for a creator, accepting their opinions as absolute fact even if they’re questionable or straight up stupid, or even incorrect. Fans too often allow creators to decide their opinions for them and don’t put any effort into researching things on their own or thinking outside the box. They even become confrontational to people who challenge their pre-established knowledge or beliefs, even if new evidence and research can be drawn from to support your claims.
In short: they let other people do the thinking for them, and what they believe in is right because someone popular said so.
Their near-unbreakable loyalty even borders on delusion sometimes— as with the case of YouTuber “camelsandfriends”, who despite being arrested and charged with animal cruelty for nearly starving her horse to death, still has a respectable following of fans who adore her and claim she’s done nothing wrong to this day... You can expect an article about this debacle and the mysterious disappearances of her former pets in the future, I can assure you it’s interesting.
I hope that in the future, viewers will become more willing to discuss topics instead of vehemently defend them, and realize that their favorite YouTuber is a flawed person, just like anybody else, and not always right.
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