Tom Scott is a brilliant (subjective opinion) YouTuber, and he seems to be the “Simpsons Did It” YouTube equivalent to unique and interesting topics to cover.

I was super surprised to hear him basically say - and I am paraphrasing because I forget the exact video to reference - “I don’t want to meet all my fans, you don’t know me, I’m a YouTuber putting on a polished front to make good videos”, and it was beautifully brutal in how honest he was in keeping that distance between him and his fan base. I think it’s nice to ride the wave of being cool and famous, but there must come a point where nobody’s interested in who you are, they’re just in awe of the channel you embody. That must be super tough - and it’s a tale as old as time in showbiz but for the first time, it seems like the everyman (other genders and identities are available) can end up going through this on their own without the glitzy PR campaign behind them, without easy access to medical staff paid for by big production studios, or without big Hollywood wages to cry in to at the very least.

Geoff Marshall is another fantastic UK YouTuber, someone I imagine I’d quite happily buy a pint and chat bollocks for half hour waiting for a train - but even he’s quite open about having his YouTube channel to address the world, alongside his own social media identities that are completely disconnected from his public-facing life.

I’m not sure if it’s healthy for people to have to go through this, or whether it’s just a necessary evil of wielding influence online.