Hi Pewds,
I have been thinking for some time of writing something serious that you can read, although with the strong content of memes and sarcasm that characterizes the channel, it is difficult to find a way to keep a message true to its content. So I will simply limit myself to writing this open letter, without really knowing if it will ever be read.
First of all I have to clarify that this is not an attack, or bullying, a questioning maybe. But not from the point of view of a company that seeks to clickbait with your name or a media source that seeks to fill an agenda with what will feed their ecosystem. I want to do it from the point of view of someone who has followed your channel for about four or five years, who applauded and respected the moment you decided to turn the channel in a direction with which you felt more comfortable and proud of its content and from someone that in general have a lot of respect for you and consumes your content almost daily.
It don't even have to say that I do not agree with the opinion of certain media outlets that just label you as a Nazi or racist to profit without even trying to give an objective opinion supported by facts. The only thing in which I consider these articles to be right, is the responsibility that falls on someone who holds the position of most influential figure on youtube (the 77M + all understand that is a deceptive data also, the percentage of active followers it's big, but not 77M). I do not think you are at all ignorant of this fact, I think you have it in mind and you have always been a genuine and open person when it comes to problematizing your own decisions, but with this I hope to provide a different perspective , because I am really interested in helping and I really believe that you are an intelligent and capable person. I'm not doing this because of the memes, not because of the attention, much less to get some kind of economic benefit from this, that is why I do it in an open platform.
You are angry and tired, I understand. But I have begun to notice that the jokes and justifications with which you defend yourself from some of these attacks have become a little more selfish and to some degree unconscious of the repercussions they generate. You have also made it clear several times that you have never explicitly expressed your political ideas and direct opinions on the issues that are accusing you, which is true, but what I do not know is if you are aware that it is not really necessary that you do that to have a political impact. Being the individual figure with the most subscribers on YouTube and with such a strong community with so much impact (which has been more than clear in the war against T-Series), the channel and your image is much bigger than Felix Kjellberg, it is bigger than your genuine political ideas and what you do off camera, but still you are the catalyst, more than that, you are a means, the way through which everything happens (I believe that at this moment we can be sure that your influence goes beyond youtube and it would not vanish if you disappeared from the platform).
The thing is that a single word or action of yours on camera, has the potential to trigger hundreds of repercussions very outside of your control possibilities, which does not give you guilt, at all, but the responsibility to remain aware of it. Memes and satire are a tool of influence and redirection of attention, is something studied and recognized, even used in current marketing strategies (sometimes more successfully than others), there are memes that have relived unknown songs and have led to be the most listened to in a year, that have brought forgotten ideas and yes, there are also memes that can redirect people towards certain political ideas, or at least, fix attention on them, either positively or negatively. No, I'm not saying that you're turning 77 million 9-year-old children into Nazis, that does not make sense. What I'm saying is that your videos have an influence on a large volume of people, which can be used by you, by companies, as well as by the members of your community, to give strength to certain ideologies and generate direct repercussions in society.
I think your channel has reached that point where its volume has become so massive that it really costs to be aware of what those numbers represent. As one is called "Pewdiepie has 77 million subscribers" but the mind imagines it as a few hundred thousand people gathered in a realistic physical space.
Let's put this in perspective, in the last two months, your channel has had an income of subscribers that more than doubled the population of the country where I live. Don't you think that in the gigantic volume of people watching your videos, there are undoubtedly many who would vote for a political party, or a plebiscite, or strengthen a movement “just for the memes"?
Which brings me to one of the problems I sometimes see on your channel: I think you overestimate your community. Maybe not directly to your community, to the entire YouTube community and social networks. More than once I have heard you say "These companies believe that people are stupid, but people are smarter than they think and are able to see through these lies." Are they really Felix? Or they move simply because of an influence different from that of companies. I do not dispute that there is a large percentage of people who are very intelligent and capable both in your community and in the rest of social media, but from there to consider that the community as a whole can really see in its entirety through these deceptions, the only thing we are doing with that it's hiding and giving coverage to hate groups and ignorance that simply stays silent at the right time, because they can spread their message without having any responsibility later, the responsibility will falls on you.
You are a potential weapon Felix, you are the visible figure and the head of a gigantic channel. You are a means of communication influenced by external forces. Your personal ideals, what you do in your privacy, that will always be yours, but the influence of your channel is far from being under your control, it is a constant struggle between your community, external references, those that seek to destroy you and those that show up on your defense. And in that game, even if you do not want to admit it, this is where our society is defined, ideas are disseminated, movements are strengthened, study models are built and research is done on how to influence the masses more effectively, we have seen enough of this this year to let us Ignore it completely.
You have a wonderful community, I'm not going to take that away from you, but it's massive and you can not really speak for them, in fact, most of the time they speak for you. And when your ideas and your postures remain in the shadows and the only thing that is in sight are the memes, the sarcasm and the news, you are even more powerful as a means to channel influences that are not yours, but that are supported by one or two things that you have said or mentioned, or someone that has appeared on your channel.
I do not ask you to become a serious channel and define your positions and ideologies, I would lose one of my favorite entertainments, I do not ask you to change and in fact I love the critical sense that you always try to have before anything else with yourself. I only ask you to be aware that you are not really in control of what your channel may or may not cause or catalyze, not at this time. When the media attacks you and you defend yourself from them, those who really spread ignorance and hatred continue to do so freely, and without a doubt some of them through your community, because not every joke is just a joke, more so when based on ignorance and bullying without any meaning.
I do not ask for anything specific, I am not the one to do it, but I am worried that you may not be aware of the way in which your image and your channel can be used. At this point I can say without a doubt that I care about you and I want you to be happy, but also I'm worried about the impact that this generates in other people and other cultures and realities that you will never experiencie yourself, but your channel is able to reach and influence.
When you have a channel with a larger audience than the population of many countries, nothing is "just a meme".
In any case, I think that thinking about these things does not hurt and is healthy if you know how to take it. Maybe you never get to read it, and if you do I really hope you don't take it as if you where the bad guy or a bad thing for anyone, that's not it.
For me it has been healthy to write it at least.
Greetings and I wish you the best.
PS: Seeing Edgar again in a video made me happy.
