How MrBeast became YouTube’s Willy Wonka
To older viewers, perhaps less accustomed to seeing themselves so bluntly as numbers on other people’s spreadsheets, the strategy of wedding philanthropy that aligns so closely with audience growth can seem, well, icky. But Donaldson’s young fans largely grew up on YouTube; some, like Jeremiah Howard, have been watching his videos since they were preadolescent. They are well acquainted with the platform’s business and revenue structures, both because so much content on YouTube deals with these topics, but also because many of them aspire to become amateur YouTubers themselves. (When I asked Howard what he was going to do with the $50,000 check Donaldson gave him, he told me he was thinking about using it to jump-start his family’s YouTube channel, FLBOYRHINO.) massive new engines of wealth and commerce, but only able to participate on the fringes, MrBeast imbues their role with a sense of purpose and provides a channel for redistribution that, as Howard learned, wouldn’t happen otherwise. To them he does not seem ethically compromised, but ingenious.
In May, a few months after “1,000 Blind People See for the First Time,” Donaldson released a new video titled, “1,000 Deaf People Hear for the First Time.” If you’ve seen “1,000 Blind People,” you can imagine the sequel — and the video thumbnail — without having to watch it. You can also imagine the controversy that comes with it: the sparring between riveting MrBeast fans and sickening critics, for whom the video is eloquent, superficial, icky, demonic.
I admit I agree with some of those critics, at least to the extent that I think it would be nice if someone with Donaldson’s platform and resources (and a clear desire to help people) could address the structural issues with the American healthcare system and about the daily injustices inflicted on the disabled. But I can also see how this kind of criticism misunderstands what the MrBeast channel is and how it works. After kicking his flywheel into action, Donaldson can only really get it spinning from here. Any deviation can threaten the perpetual motion of his growth machine. (Imagine being 12 years old: Want to watch an explanation of private equity roll-ups of primary care practices?)
Watching his videos sometimes made me think I was glad Donaldson’s knack for YouTube traffic had been acquired by an essentially decent and moral person rather than the jittery reactionaries and malcontents the site seems to attract. But Donaldson’s study of YouTube success probably also showed him that decency, morality and generosity, when properly calibrated, can be extremely successful traits in a YouTuber, while resentment and transgression can only be done up to a certain point under the platform’s current rules. can bring. Donaldson can use YouTube to his own advantage, at least as much as anyone can, but that also means that the boundaries of his project are essentially the boundaries of YouTube itself.
Perhaps this is fine with Donaldson, who seems driven not by a narcissistic desire for fame or fortune on the one hand, nor a purely charitable impulse on the other, but by the same adolescent compulsions that define his videos: How far does this go? to go? How big can this thing get? How many zeros?
Max Read is a journalist and screenwriter whose work has appeared in New York magazine, The New York Times Magazine and Bookforum. His newsletter and guide to the future is ‘Read Max’.