Later edit: This post refers to the false accusations against James Jackson/Onision and his spouse. At the time I felt uneasy about using names. They have since been cleared of these accusations (the police report was recently released to the public).

Arguably, there have been cases before when the platform descended into madness, with click-hungry creators goading their audiences into wild speculations regarding the lives and troubles of others.

None, to my memory, has been quite as revolting as the current situation.

A variety of creators, including big names with followings in the hundreds of thousands, are sustaining a feeding frenzy not only around one guy they despise and deem criminal, but around his family as well.

This, with scarce, barely noticeable criticsm here and there, although the mass exploitation of this case should be obvious to anyone with two neurons still able to communicate.

Although this saga has been going on since last year, with deserved criticism towards the individual in question (who along with his spouse is accused by various women of luring them into romantic relationships while underage and mistreating them), things took a darker turn earlier this month, with a journalist and large YouTube audience seeking to see everything around this person burn. My goal in skimming through comment sections has been to measure the level of insanity per capita. It should be somewhere near Jupiter by now.

As a precaution, I need to mention I don’t support the two individuals in question in any way or defend their previous actions; this circus is simply out of order and no one should be targeted in this manner.

Viewers’ ravenous consumption of such material quickly became profitable, with any further detail on this individual and his family being a prized truffle to hunt for.

The latest was the discovery of an accident from last year, involving one of his children. A common opinion was “if it had happened to anyone else I’d say it was unfortunate”. Because, of course, events are to be classed according to who they happen to.

A number of crazy theories immediately ensued and are still widely circulated, in spite of the official report classing the event as an accident, which seems clear enough. It’s feeding time in the piranha tank, it seems.

Naturally, I imagined many of the people covering the saga to date, some of whom I had a modicum of respect for, would recoil and realise such things were not to be distorted, embellished or exploited for clicks, and implicitly for money.

Well imagine my shock, in the words of PJW.

One after another, without fail, they rushed to usher in the demented fantasies of their followers, which included attempted murder and the parents trying to cash out on an imaginary life insurance (this came right out of someone’s behind).

Increasingly, members of said audiences are starting to call vor a vigilante attack on these individuals. First it was a call for deplatforming, then for prison, and now the “k” word. A natural progression when crowd hysteria is fed.

Without doubt said creators knew this would happen before they even covered it, and as they saw it escalating, instead of tempering their viewers’ worst instincts, they kept making video after video and stream after stream (where donations are common).

Lo and behold, brand new channels emerged like rats in a sewer, based on this issue exclusively, given the traction. It’s akin to getting into the latest craze or business while there’s still some interest to be milked.

Need I mention that unlike those commenting, whose age (and potential diagnosis) is unknown, the people making money off this are all adults in their full mental capacity?

I rarely, if ever, use the words pond scum, but there you have it.

As mentioned in the title, this case was a litmus test, and hopefully, when the communal fever decreases, more people will see things clearly regarding these creators.

Crickets

Very recently, proof has emerged that the stories of alleged victims were being exploited for money by the famous TV journalist seeking to restart his career on YouTube. Besides other shady behaviour, one of these women was lied to regarding evidence she had sent to this person’s team, to be passed on to the FBI. Apparently, the devices were stored in an office for months and then returned to her, without ever reaching their destination or being used for any purpose whatsoever.

Everyone has been crediting him this whole time with the investigation being opened in the first place, when it actually predated his involvement.

So what did this guy achieve exactly? He put on a show and built his channel on the back of these allegations.

One would think the same wave surfers would jump on the story and cover it in their hundreds, as they did when exploiting a child’s accident for clicks.

A couple did, besides the handful of people being critical of the way things were being handled already – but for the most part, crickets.

Why not, you might wonder. It’s clear enough. This disrupts the narrative they were looking to keep sponging on in the near future.