美国国家公共电台 NPR YouTube Stars Stress Out, Just Like The Rest Of Us

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Just try getting that phone out of a typical teenager's hand. They are texting, posting or watching video clips at all hours. I mean, not that we adults are much different. Still, the stars who reach teens often reach them through the small screen. In survey after survey, many of the top teen celebrities¹ are YouTube stars. They make money offering makeup² tips or filming themselves playing video games. But stardom can come with its own cost. NPR's Neda Ulaby tells us how Internet celebrity³ can affect mental health.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE⁴: The obvious thing to do if you're a YouTube star having a bit of a meltdown is make a YouTube video about it. That's what Australian YouTuber Essena O'Neill did when she realized she was suffering signs of depression and anxiety a few years ago.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)

ESSENA O'NEILL: The only time I felt better about myself, really, was the more followers⁵, the more likes, the more praise and the more views I got online.

ULABY: O'Neill had plenty of followers and likes and praise for her vlogs. More than a million people watched her last online video where she lamented⁶ the mental health pull of living a curated life.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)

O'NEILL: Wishing that people would value me, that people would hear me and that people would just know me.

ULABY: O'Neill quit social media, including YouTube, back in 2015. Living professionally online has also been a challenge for 23-year-old Lauren Riihimaki. Six million people follow her YouTube channel.

LAUREN RIIHIMAKI: You can never just kind of turn it off and be like, OK, today I don't want to be me because like that's your business.

ULABY: Riihimaki's business is making videos under the name LaurDIY. Her videos range from home decorating tips to the time she and her boyfriend adopted an adorable little dog.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)

RIIHIMAKI: It's puppy day.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It's puppy day.

ULABY: Riihimaki is managed by Adam Westcott. He runs a talent agency just for YouTube stars. Unlike movie stars or rock stars, he says, YouTube celebrities do most of the work themselves.

ADAM WESCOTT: They're responsible for everything from developing an idea to physically⁷ producing it to starring in to directing it to editing it to programming it to promoting and marketing⁸ it.

ULABY: And they do all that at least twice a week, endlessly developing original content where they have to seem accessible and transparent⁹.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)

RIIHIMAKI: Oh, my gosh. Baby, be careful.

ULABY: That's why Lauren Riihimaki came close, not just to burning out, but breaking down. She's been open in her LaurDIY videos about the mental health pressures her work entails¹⁰.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)

RIIHIMAKI: I have overcome and pushed the boundaries of my anxiety so insanely since I started YouTube with all the traveling and saying yes to things I never thought that I ever would.

ULABY: One Los Angeles therapist named Dana Julian has worked with a number of famous clients. She says one of the hardest things about managing a life as a YouTube star is making a career out of something that can be an addiction¹¹.

DANA JULIAN: Our phones have become our dopamine. And getting those clicks and likes and followers is also that other dopamine.

ULABY: A rush of neurotransmitters familiar to anyone on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. But how do you maintain your sanity¹² when that's magnified by millions? One way, says Lauren Riihimaki, is by filtering out commenter's negative language.

RIIHIMAKI: Oh, my God, like - ugly, fat, stupid, loser - just any bad word. Like, I have like 200 words filtered out because it's just like anything negative. It's like if you don't need to see that, then it's like might as well not see it if you have the option to (laughter).

ULABY: The upside to managing YouTube stars, says Adam Wescott, is he can generally tell how his clients are doing because they're on social media all the time. When they're clearly overwhelmed, he tells them get offline for a while. Stop being a brand. Take some time just to be a person again. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

1 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

2 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

3 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

6 lamented   

adj.被哀悼的，令人遗憾的v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• her late lamented husband 她那令人怀念的已故的丈夫
• We lamented over our bad luck. 我们为自己的不幸而悲伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

8 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

9 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

10 entails   

使…成为必要( entail的第三人称单数 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• The job entails a lot of hard work. 这工作需要十分艰苦的努力。
• This job entails a lot of hard work. 这项工作需要十分努力。

11 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

12 sanity   

n.心智健全，神智正常，判断正确

参考例句：

• I doubt the sanity of such a plan.我怀疑这个计划是否明智。
• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。