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the stories of "influencers" preying on their minor fans has always made me upset but now that im an adult that has that potential influence & know exactly what that abuse of power would look like from this side of the coin, it makes me physically ILL. that shit aint "mistakes"
i used to think that sometimes its blown out of proportion, that they just didnt know the power they held, that they didnt know they were talking to a minor- No. They know. Its impossible NOT to be aware of the power imbalance & the level of responsibility you have.
I didn't even realize until recently how far our of your way you have to go to deliberately be predatory to your underage fans but it is not an act of ignorance, it is not getting in over your head, its being completely aware that the kid in your dms WILL NOT SAY NO TO YOU. EVER.
& its not just the overzealous 9 yr olds defending tony lopez, its the 17 year olds following any mid grade creator & making a video saying 'omg ___ liked my comment on an unrelated post!! this is the best day ever!!!" yall arent safe from being cooerced by these creators.
the amount of kids that have told me, completely unprompted, thatd theyd defend anything i did and that in their eyes, i can do no wrong, is so genuinely heartbreaking and worrying. yes, theres an overarching culture to blame, but creators NEED to be held responsible.
