Thank you for this post, specifically the first paragraph. I started seeing some comments earlier in the thread about how it was no different than people consuming TV, etc., and I was scanning the thread to see if anyone actually pointed out there is a huge difference.Yes. The previous model of corporate media inculcated something resembling agreed upon principals and adults were in control operated as moral arbiters. But now you have people bypassing that system and being famous for ??? like Jake Paul; Jake Paul who doesn't know anything about morality becomes that moral authority. Also, I feel like there might be something psychologically instructive about media with a narrative structure vs game streams and YouTube vlogs and endless Instagram stories. I feel like this stuff turns your brain to mush. (Note that corporate media is not faultless: it's inherently conservative, capitalist and facilitates a patriarchal power structure that allows for endless abuse.)
Also, this might be a contrarian position, but: Epic Games isn't faultless here—they created a game with a purposefully designed gameplay loop designed to trigger dopamine reactions and be addictive. It feels immoral to me that gaming companies employ psychologists to make products to exploit people like this.
Simply put, YouTube is the wild fucking west. That is the big difference with kids consuming it these days. There is no comparison to kids 20-30 years ago consuming TV instead. Literally the only comparison is they are consuming something. What they are consuming is 2 wildly different mediums. One that was fairly regulated and only a very small percentage had access to, and one where any fucking idiot can post content. It is such a paradigm shift it is insane.