Hasan Piker on the problem with YouTube debate culture
1Reported today on The Verge
For the full article visit: https://www.theverge.com/22556239/hasan-piker-twitch-gore-vidal-steven-crowder-sam-seder-h3-podcast-ethan-klein
Reported today in The Verge.
Hasan Piker on the problem with YouTube debate culture
Last week, a pair of YouTube's most popular creators was set to spar in the marketplace of ideas in a debate over the government's simple, common sense advice to wear masks during a global pandemic to stop the persistent spread of COVID-19.
The spat grew from a series of videos between right-wing provocateur Steven Crowder and the host of the H3 Podcast, Ethan Klein, calling one another out for their purported bad takes on mask-wearing. In March, Crowder called out Klein for saying that "you shouldn't think about" what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells you and just wear the mask, rather than criticizing the agency and its scientists.
Crowder, who is widely known as the face of the "change my mind" meme, has challenged people to debates in the past, including college students on campuses all across the country. Klein, known for his comedy skits and pop culture commentary, is admittedly not the best debater. So instead of debating Crowder himself, Klein looped in Sam Seder, popular leftist host of The Majority Report, as a surprise guest to take his place.
The "debate" immediately flamed out. Once Seder appeared on-screen, Crowder got squirrelly, slinging insults, and ultimately ditching the entire debate. Soon after recording, both Crowder and Klein released the footage. Both believed to have won by "owning" the other so publicly.
The whole fiasco raised serious questions about debate culture online and how platforms like YouTube and Twitch are influencing politics at large. I asked Hasan Piker, a popular Twitch commentator and former Young Turks broadcast journalist, to talk about it. Piker has been a vocal critic of debate culture without shying away from his channel'