Not Just A Kick Problem
Yo, y’all likely heard of Kick. If not, it’s a streaming platform that started up a little over a year ago. It’s pretty much an alternative to Twitch, positioned as that edgier, ‘screw the man, we’re not going to bend the knee’ type of place to live stream.
Obviously, when you give that kind of vibe, you attract a certain kind of streamer, and Kick kind of did. While it attracted a fair number of gaming streamers, it also became home to the IRL stream phenomenon. That’s not to say IRL streamers didn’t or don’t exist on Twitch or YouTube; they do. But the kind of IRL streamers that found a home on Kick are the ones who really push and test the limits.
Notably, there’s Jack Doherty, the kid who went viral for antagonizing strangers in a mall and parents at some docks. There’s Adin Ross. There’s Neon, the skinny Indian kid constantly out in public getting into random confrontations with strangers. There’s Johnny Somali, who was going around harassing people in Japan before he got arrested and tossed in jail over his antics. And recently, there’s this kid whose name I fortunately don’t know yet (and hopefully never will) who, while live, was just being a straight-up jerk.
In all cases, Kick has gone ahead and banned or suspended these guys for some time, and even given them a good old finger wagging. But I’m not actually here to bash on Kick. I don’t think this is inherently their problem. While there may be some blame you can pin on the platform, I think this all goes well beyond that.
First and foremost, I think the blame starts with the parents. Look, clearly something went amiss. Maybe it’s nice to see your kid cashing in some big checks at a young age, and I’m sure it feels nice to have a kid who can pay out your mortgage, but seriously, where the hell are these kids’ parents? As a parent, I get that parents can only do so much for so long, but clearly that guiding compass, those early foundational stones that ought to help dictate things, are clearly missing here.
Now, while I genuinely think the parents failed these kids in many ways, I’m going to offer them a bit of grace. After all, they got stuck raising a generation far more connected and plugged in than anything they themselves probably ever experienced. These kids are the first generation that grew up in a time where they didn’t know life before the internet, let alone a life before social media. These kids grew up in a world where dial-up internet was already antiquated, and social media was so ubiquitous with daily life that they were raised suckling dopamine from a timeline.
They grew up in an era where parents, not knowing the effects that social media would plague on their kids’ mentals, equipped them with a smartphone as early as middle school. I grew up in a time where having a knock-off jersey would get you teased. These kids get knocked around for not having the most recent iPhone. Most people in my generation didn’t care or get their first cell phone until university, while these kids have cell phones right out of elementary to call their parents in case of emergencies or school shooters.
This is the first of a tablet-kid generation where parents would hand a phone or tablet to distract or subdue them versus sending them out to play, maybe as a means to protect them from the outside world or maybe to just shut them up. It’s only now that we’re actually getting to see the results of it all, the rotting fruit from a life dictated by likes, comments, and an algorithm. This is the generation with increased anxiety, higher depression rates, and higher suicide rates than ever before, not to mention they get to do this in some of the worst economic end times and amidst the most polarized of culture wars.
I’m just saying, as messed up as some of these kids are, it may not be entirely their fault. For the generation that grew up with access to more up-to-the-minute information than most reporters had in the ’90s, I just want to think a few shitty streamers are likely the least of their problems. After all, my generation had these guys, so maybe we’re not really ones to throw stones.
All in all, though, it’s why I welcome new legislation like the one being introduced in Florida, the type of legislation that is making an actual effort to protect the kids, attempting to block social media companies from preying on them by just not allowing them access, forcing some kind of actual age verification. I don’t know how that gets implemented, but clearly some effort needs to be made.
Up here in Canada, we’ve seen a similar outcry as teacher unions have issued a class action lawsuit against some of these companies for the harm they cause children. I have no clue how they quantify that damage into [monetary value], but I would hope it triggers some kind of change in policies, at least.
Look, I’m not trying to excuse these kids from being absolute doorknobs or let shitty parenting off the hook. I’m just saying there may be more to it than we give credit for. And yeah, the platform has its responsibility for not endorsing or branding itself in a way that may encourage these kids to use it in this kind of way, but clearly these kids got a whole lot of other issues that would have them thinking that this is normal and a proper way to act, regardless of a stream.
So, I’m all for Kick cracking down on them. I’m all for parents reflecting on how they protect and teach their kids about navigating the online world, and I’m all for finding ways to slow down the access to these online cesspools from an early age.
Anyways, if you made it this far, let me know what you think. Also, likes go a long way in helping the algorithm, so share this video with others by all means. Do that thing. Till the next one, though, peace!
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