YouTuber MrBeast, who has 264 million YouTube subscribers, is calling out content creators on the platform who "copy and paste" the style of his videos.
MrBeast, who’s real name is James "Jimmy" Donaldson, makes content on YouTube that mostly consists of stunt videos, expensive sponsored giveaways and philanthropic efforts.
Related: MrBeast’s net worth: How much does YouTube’s top creator make?
Donaldson recently did an interview with YouTuber Jon Youshaei where he revealed the difference between content creators copying and pasting his style vs. copying his style with taste.
“If you watch someone's video and you can't tell the difference between their video and my video besides the budget then it's like yeah you're copy and paste,” said Donaldson.
Donaldson then referenced his “$1 vs $1,000,0000 Hotel Room” YouTube video, which has almost 350 million views on the platform, where he rents a hotel room that is $1 million a night, as well as others that are cheaper but still expensive. Donaldson claims that YouTuber Ryan Trahan made similar videos, but did it with “taste.”
“Ryan will go visit scary Airbnbs, and it doesn't feel the same,” said Donaldson. “That's the thing, like Ryan has his own voice, he's quirky and he lets scenes breathe more … Our style is a little bit quicker, and just show you cool things, and spending more money and making it epic.”
Donaldson claims that there were many content creators who copied his viral hotel video by visiting the same hotels. He also said that creators even tried to speak and act like him in their videos and used the same text overlay and video cut style.
“Be more like Ryan, invent your own style,” said Donaldson. “We need more people like that. We need less people that just look at Ryan, look at me and other big creators, and just, you know, literally copy and paste. Like if people wanted to watch my style video, they'll just watch my video. We don't need someone else doing my videos with lower budget and less effort. We need people doing their own version of it with their own unique spin and taste.”
Donaldson is one of the highest-paid content creators on YouTube, he has an estimated net worth of around $100 million. His recent comments come after he told fellow YouTubers in March to slow down the pace of their videos on the platform as the “ultra fast paced/overstim era” is over.
This past year i’ve slowed down our videos, focused on story telling, let scenes breathe, yelled less, more personality, longer videos, etc. And our views have skyrocketed!
— MrBeast (@MrBeast) March 3, 2024
My fellow YouTubers lets get rid of the ultra fast paced/overstim era of content. It doesn’t even work 💀 pic.twitter.com/J7IBwHF6Jj
Donaldson has also been very outspoken about the blossoming social media industry. He previously called out the growing popularity of people quitting their jobs and dropping out of school to become full-time content creators “before they’re ready,” claiming that the trend is “painful to see."
“For every person like me that makes it, thousands don’t,” wrote Donaldson in a post on X. “Keep that in mind and be smart plz.”
Vlogging/Youtuber/Professional Streamer was the top career choice by American teens in 2021, according to YouGov data.
Many Gen Zers are also considering leaving their corporate jobs to become social media influencers. In a 2023 report by business intelligence company Morning Consultant, 53% of Gen Zers in the survey said they would quit their job to become an influencer, and almost 30% said they would pay for the opportunity to influence.
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