 Whenever I hear somebody talking about wanting to be a YouTuber, I can't help but think of this clip from Billy Madison. Gee, I can't wait to like... Become a YouTuber. Don't you ever say that, stay here, stay as long as you can, for the love of God, cherish it. What is up everybody? This is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem, but focus on the solution. And if you're new to my channel, what I like to do is take a look at the YouTube community and pull different topics and try to see what kind of lessons that we can learn from it through some commentary and just spreading ideas. So if you're into that kind of stuff, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell. So yeah, I know the intro was kind of like lighthearted, but I want to talk about something a little bit more serious. I am a lighthearted guy though. So anyways, yeah, I am done covering this Etika story until the dude gets help and he's back in a state where he should be, alright? I hope the best for the guy, I hope he gets the help that he needs, I hope everything chills out. But anyways, there's two things, there's two things that sparked this, then I'm going to circle back around to just the mental state of YouTubers and people wanting to be YouTubers. But anyways, I watched the interview Etika did with Keemstar on Drama Alert and then I watched a video from this YouTuber named Gooseboose, alright? So touching on the interview with Keemstar on Drama Alert, Etika still not in a place where he should be doing interviews. So I'll just share this with you. Again, I'm not a licensed therapist or psychologist. I'm somebody who worked at an addiction treatment center for three years, I've been sober for almost seven years and I've worked with a lot, a lot, a lot of people who struggle with mental illness as well as addictions. Rule number one, rule number one, especially when it comes to addiction, is you don't talk to somebody when they're drunk or high. But that is the same thing where it goes further into somebody who's having some kind of mental episode, alright? So in that sense, like Keemstar, it was in very poor taste, in my opinion, to do an interview with Etika. Like you watch it and you see Keemstar's face and just, the way he's smoking and smiling, it just really didn't sit with me well, but I'm like, holy crap, like this dude is not in a place to be doing interviews. And when you watch that interview, you'll understand why. You'll understand why. This is a time for professionals to be talking to him, maybe even like friends and family, but this is like, this kind of shows, this whole situation kind of shows why it's so important to get help and understand how to have interventions, who should be having interventions and things like that. Like again, this is why wellness checks exist because sometimes friends, family, we can't get through to a person and sometimes it takes a professional. Sometimes it's, you know, EMTs, sometimes it's police officers, sometimes it is firemen. I don't know how many of you watched the Etika livestream, but there was a dude just passing by and like, he was the right person to be talking to Etika and he actually almost got him to come down. But anyways, that interview was awful in my opinion. It was exploitive. It was terrible. It was like, I made a video about Kanye West when he went and spoke at the White House and it was just, I felt bad. As somebody who was a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, I just think about if somebody would have like, back of my day, if like social media was a big thing. Like if somebody tried having a conversation with me, well, I was just not in the right state of mind and how degrading that would feel. And for Kim Star to put that on this platform, just kind of disgust me. But anyways, Gooseboos never heard of the guy before. I was just, it got recommended to me. The YouTube algorithm knows how to recommend videos and it recommended me the video from Gooseboos about Etika and should people be on YouTube with mental illness. And it was such a good, well thought out video. And I also dug it because he talked some trash and I dig that. So I subscribe to him, even though I don't know if I'll like the rest of his content. But hey, he sold me on this video, but he just talks about the mental state that being a YouTuber puts you in, right? Being in the public spotlight, being in this position. And before my channel blew up and before it got started crashing down because of all of my own personal controversies. I remember looking at other YouTubers and just saying, like, did you not know this was going to happen? Like, did you not know it was at the top of that, on the top of that mountain? This is something that I just want everybody to think about. Like when you look, when you look at the person you want to become, whether it's like a specific career or whatever it is, like look at the stresses and the things that they have to deal with, right? Because we all look at rich and famous celebrities and we're like, oh yeah, it must be nice, it must be a great life, right? But every new thing that you reach, like every new milestone or every new level that you reach, it comes with new stresses. It comes with another, another toll on our mental health. And I consistently seeing people who say they want to be YouTubers. Anyways, Goosebooth talked about how the, how YouTube kind of keeps you in this in this state where it does affect your mental health. And I thought he was going to be talking about how like the rigorous upload schedule and things like that, but he didn't. He talked about, you know, wanting to top your last video and get those views and, you know, the validation that we look for. And he kind of gets into the mind of somebody like Etika where, you know, the whole goal as any kind of social media influencer is to be the topic of conversation. Like Etika was trending and everything like that. And in my opinion, like I've talked about this many times before, we are the people who created Jake Paul. We are the people who created Logan Paul. We're the people who created Danny Cohn and Tanamongu and Mojo, I would be pronouncing and every other YouTuber out there. I'm not necessarily saying this is a bad thing. This is a form of entertainment. It gives people an opportunity to hop on in front of a camera and do, you know, do what they love or do what they think. But here's the thing. So I was just doing some research because I saw Sam and Colby were trending and I went and watched and see what was going on with them. I'm going to watch that video tomorrow. Not sure if I'll do some commentary on it or not. But anyways, I was watching that. I came across, I just started going into this rabbit hole. And I saw, I just came across a video of somebody like saying like, hey, I want to be, I want to be a YouTuber. I want to be a YouTuber. I'm like, and that's where it comes back to that Billy Madison clip I use. I'm like, oh, sweet mother. No, no, no, no, no. Like when I first hopped on this platform, my son, my son was really getting into YouTube. He was really getting into streamers. He loves video games and stuff. And we started a YouTube channel together and, you know, everything like that. I thought it'd be a fun thing. And I, back in the day, I've made videos about this in the past, but I as a teenager actually became famous in the eSports world for a game called Counter-Strike. If any of you remember that. And it was cool. It was like amazing. Like they say, if you're doing something that you love, you never have to work again, right? And like, I want to show my son like, whatever you love, you can do as long as you're willing to put in the work, right? But now I have this whole new perspective on the YouTube thing, especially just from my own personal experience. But you got to sit back and think like, us who are on YouTube, like, there's something wrong with us, man. Like there's something wrong with us. Like I'm speaking for myself too. Like what kind of person, what kind of person wants to record themselves on camera or record their lives or whatever it is and just put it out there, right? And put it out there constantly because most YouTubers, even the biggest YouTubers, they are still very independent, right? It's not like you're working for like a news organization. But anyways, I was talking with another YouTuber the other day, it's something that Shane Dawson touched on in like one of the first episodes of the Jake Paul series, right? Like he's like, there's something that's got to be a little bit off with YouTubers. And I absolutely agree. And I wish, I wish there was more like psychological studies on this, right? Like we got to be a little bit narcissistic. We got to have some sort of ego. And like part of it is like, it's part of the game, right? Like I see smaller YouTubers. I watch some smaller YouTubers. I just kind of pass by, check out their channels. I like supporting small creators and stuff like that. But I see them and I see what they're doing. And it's kind of like when you watch a child and everything's like easy breezing. They're like, well, wait, it gets a little bit more stressful when you grow up. And that's kind of the way I see it with smaller creators. Like there's just something that you can't even properly describe to somebody about the pressure that you get put under. I've talked about this in previous videos, but there was absolutely nothing, absolutely nothing that could have prepared me for what I've been through since becoming a YouTuber. Now then comes the question, because I don't want to discourage anybody from becoming a YouTuber, but the question is, is the thing that you're doing or you want to put out there so important that you're willing to put up with this stuff? My truth, my answer is yes, all right? Like I want people to consume content in a different way. I want people to look at content and ask themselves what they can learn from it. I found that this is a platform where I can get my thoughts and opinions, things I've learned and put them out there, share my own personal experience. So I keep doing this in hopes, in hopes that this might be able to help somebody else, right? But when I look at it, when I look at it, and this is kind of the world that we live in, even though there's more opportunity than ever before, and I think it's just the most beautiful thing, like never before in the history of mankind, can you just take something you love and you're passionate about and potentially reach thousands or even hundreds or even millions of people and spread that message? It's never been easier, right? But, but, and this is just some real talk, okay? I feel that there are a lot of people who want to become a YouTuber just because they think this is like the easiest best thing on earth, right? Like I feel that a lot of people are just like, you know what would be great? You know what would be great? If I could just record, if I could just record stuff and work from home and just record my life because my life's interesting and I could make a living off that and be rich and famous. I feel that's what a lot of people think and a lot of people don't take into consideration the blood, sweat and tears that goes into it, the hard work that goes into it, the resilience and perseverance that goes into it. Like I'll be completely honest, I got lucky. I got lucky with the way my channel grew, all right? And a lot of this little thing is luck based. I don't think a lot of people are prepared for that. I've seen a lot of people stop. They've left before, you know, they've put in the right amount of work. You know what I'm saying? So anyways, I do want you to take this all into consideration because I just watched Glam and Gore, Mikey with my beautiful girlfriend Tristan and she's taking a break from YouTube. Thinking about doing a video on that. But Mikey is definitely a woman who is just putting in the work and I'm very happy that she's taking a break but I don't think a lot of people realize everything that comes along with this, you know, just from the work ethic that comes along with it as well as the toll that it takes on your mental health. So I guess the moral of this story is like, really think about where you want to be, what you want to achieve in life and take a look at other people who've already gone down that path and see if they're happy. See what makes these people happy. You know what I'm saying? Because, because like Edeca and many others are an example of what might happen, right? If you're not mentally ready to do this thing, okay? But let me know your thoughts on this subject down in the comments below. Again, I am done with the Edeca story until, if he gets help and he comes back better and everything, I might do a follow up but until then I'm done with it. All right, but anyways, that's all I got for this video. If you liked this video, please give it a thumbs up. If you're new, make sure you subscribe and ring that notification bell because I make a ton of videos. And a huge, huge thank you to everybody out there supporting the channel over on Patreon. You are all amazing. And if you would like to help support what I'm doing here, get involved in my monthly Q and A, some other perks and benefits, please click or tap right there on that little Patreon icon, all right? Thanks again so, so much for watching. I'll see you next time.