<
https://skepchick.org/2023/01/big-oil-bought-my-favorite-science-influencer/>
"Hello there, I’m Rebecca Watson and I’d like to first welcome new viewers to
the channel before I immediately dismiss you in order to direct a question at
returning viewers: have you ever wondered why you’ve never seen [me] stop
mid-video to tell you to sign up for a certain VPN provider, or to eat a
certain kind of cereal, or to buy a one-square-foot piece of property in
Scotland? Instead I get by with whatever ads YouTube thinks you might like to
see, plus my Patreon, even though I get emails every week from companies who
would like to sponsor this channel. Today’s video is a very good illustration
for why I send all those emails right into the trash can.
Despite being extremely old on the YouTuber scale, I try to keep up with what
the kids are doing and so I have a TikTok account, which I occasionally
remember to post to. I quickly found that I hate most things on TikTok, but I
was able to follow some people I already know and like, mostly friends and
fellow science communicators. Like “The Space Gal,” aka Emily Calandrelli, who
is very bubbly and fun and smart, especially (as you might guess from her
handle) about NASA and other space-related stuff. I immediately knew that I
would never, EVER make videos that look anything like hers, which is why I will
probably never achieve true TikTok fame, but I kept following her and when I
think to look at TikTok once a month, I’m pleased when she pops up in my feed.
That is, until I saw a very peculiar video in which Calandrelli is talking
about propane. Now, there’s only one influencer I fully trust to talk to me
about propane and propane accessories and he does not look like that. So I was
immediately a bit skeptical, as Calandrelli is an expert on space and it’s
always worth having your guard up when you see someone speaking on a topic that
isn’t in their expertise. For instance, I’m an expert in nothing, so you should
have your guard up for every one of my videos you watch. I know, it’s
exhausting but if you think of it like a brain workout then you can feel good
about yourself when it’s over. That’s why I’m so popular here on YouTube.
Because my videos are like a workout you don’t want to do."
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
