Talkative Tuesday: Apology Rights and Wrongs

I’m sorry. A common way to ask for forgiveness. Many people have said it for the smallest issue to the biggest problem. I wanted to cover apology videos from the YouTube community. This article will point out the do and don’ts in apology videos. I recommend watching these videos to get a clear understanding.

Let’s get the most popular apology out of the way. Laura Lee video. Here are a few facts about Laura Lee. She is a beauty content creator. She has about 4.4 million followers on YouTube. She had a line with Ulta, but they dropped her due to previous tweets that was directed to the black, fat, and Asian communities. Let’s go over all the don’ts in her video.

1. Is to not to cry during the entire video. It is going to be hard for your audience to understand you. You cannot convey or try to trick your audience with a sad song. Be real with them.
2. Own up to your action. You are the only person to blame. You may have not blame anyone, but you did not address the main issue. Being dumb in the past is common. We may feel invincible in the moment, but it will nip you in the butt. Do not assume that your audience knows what the main issue is. It feels kind of sketchy.
3. Ignore the main issue. YOU tweeted insensitive tweets that you created not retweeted. The main issue is not that you tweeted that. It’s that people think that you are a racist and a body shamer. Prove them wrong. Tell them that you said things that are not okay but state that is not who you are TODAY.
4. Bringing up family death threat. If you are in serious danger of a threat, report to the police and do not say anything. The police wants to investigate the situation without sparking attentions. Bringing up that your family is receiving threats shows 2 things. You are either lying about it or you are making the problem worst by letting the viewers know that your family is vulnerable.
   That is all that needs to be covered for Laura Lee. This is a great example of what not to do for an apology. Overall the video is a hot mess. Feels kind of fake.

Next person is Brittnay Dawn. I do not know too much about her. She is a Instagram fitness influencer that has over 500k followers on Instagram. Known for creating a positive fitness page for women empowering them to be happy with themselves. How she does this is by embracing positive body image, informing them about healthy life choices with products, workout tips, and motivation. Well, a lump sum of her customers got scammed from her when they signed up for her coaching. All these complaints started stirring up with her calling her a scam artist. We will go over her don’ts. Here is her apology video

1. Most of her apology followed the same format as Laura Lee’s video. Same point. The major difference is that Brittnay reads off a script. I get it. Some people can’t hold themselves together. But having this factor makes it feel phony to me. Almost like a robot is reading the speech. I do not feel the empathy she has for the situation.
2. Stating that you are showing your raw emotions does not carry well to the audience. It sounds very artificial. It is like an actor stating that they are sad during a movie. We do not need someone to tell us that you are being emotion when you are showing it. Remember action speaks louder than words. Show the audience that you are being real instead of stating it.
   Overall, Brittnay’s apology was similar to Laura’s both seem staged or fake. At least with Brittnay she took responsibility for her action and has a solution to her issue.

These two showed a great way to make a bad apology. However, there are great ways and tips to make a progressive apology. Jenna Marble is a great example. One of the original Youtubers starting small and now slowly climbing to 20 million subscribers. I have been such a huge fan of Jenna since 2010. She has been a great inspiration to many viewers with her funny videos, quirky personality, dramaless life, passion for animals, and so many more. If you hearing how great she is, why did she even make an apology video? Well back in November 2017, she made a video called “So we bought fish”. The video displayed how she bought some fish and she did some incorrect purchases that caused the fish stress like a round fish bowl. Making her seem like she made the pet decision like a foolish purchase. She did not do too much research going in this purchase or new addition to the family. To be fair, we are not all experts in everything. This is why we need to seek for advice for topic that we are unsure about. Her feedback on the video was not really too negative but more like constructive criticism. Here is the video for reference. Let us go over everything she did right in her apology.

1. She addressed why she deleted the video. This helps the viewers to assume that she is not hiding anything this action does not seem shady at all. It is very important that people do not try to cover the truth.
2. She talks what she did wrong AND what is the main issue with her action. Jenna admitted at fault, and she tells us why what she did does not represent her true self. She is an animal lover and she treats them as family no matter how small. What she did wrong was that she did not learn about the fish requirements to a healthy living style. Then, she talks about how making impulsive pet purchases can be an issue, but reassures the viewer that she cares about every animal.
3. Fixing the problem. Instead of returning the fish with shame or keeping them in the same condition, she purchased all the items the fish experts said to buy for a better living space. This shows that Jenna truly cares about her fish and there is no price that is too much for her pets. This has been shown multiple time with her dogs and hamster. She made them homemade treats, took them to vet and paid for any surgical procedures to have more moments to share, she made a living space for her pets, she feeds them high quality meals, and so many loving and caring actions. It was not a surprise to me that she went out and bought the new supplies immediately, and I respect her even more.
4. Making her mistake as a lesson for a teachable moment for future pet buyers. Jenna said her sorry and fixed the problem so why does she need to do more? Well, she explains to her fans that she wants to make this moment a teachable moment. She wants people to use her video as a reference when it comes to buying pets. I love this idea. We make mistakes everyday, but the point of having these mistakes is to make sure that we learn a lesson from it. I find that beautiful that she was able to teach the viewer what are the dos and don’ts.
5. Showing that she is being raw and real instead of saying. She is not wearing any makeup, no script, no flattering angles, and looks like she just got out of bed. If this does not show real, I don’t know what does.
6. Keeping her original video at the end. Jenna’s video is about 30 minutes long for just the apology portion, then 15 minutes for the orignal. She wants people to refer to that video instead of her just telling the video.

Jenna is the realest Youtuber out of all them. It was no surprise that she knows how to be professional when addressing the issue. I truly feel like she is very sorry for her actions. She is a great person and shows it too. I will always be a giant fan of her work.

Lastly, the next Youtube channel has been a channel that I have followed since it first started. The GameGrumps is a wild gaming channel that pushes the boundaries of let’s play channels. Saying, doing, and playing the craziest things from race jokes, sexism, homosexuality, family issue jokes, and so many more. I will say take their jokes with a grain of salt. The people on the show are no means racist, sexist, homophobic, or anti anything. This is what makes GameGrumps who they are. Jokesters talking about controversial topics in a funny matter. This should be a great way for us to perceive the world. We all have to laugh about something once in a while. With a following of 5.5 million people and over 6000 videos, you might be thinking their apology is something that they said. However, it was about the channel not uploading a week holiday special. They have a week segment dedicated to Halloween during October. They will play usually horror games or Halloween related games. Making the holiday more festive. In 2018, fans noticed that they did not do a Ghoul Grumps that year. Making fans reaching out to Arin and Danny stating that they don’t care. My issue is not with GameGrumps but their fans. I will address later why us fans were in the wrong at the end of the post and why I am defending Arin. But let’s go over his video addressing the problem. (I do get emotion with this video because I feel like Arin is saying sorry for something he did not do)

1. Taking the entire blame for his team and redirecting the issue to mainly him. Arin is a grown man that can be perceived as a child due to his tone in his funny videos. When he stated that he is the only one to blame shows that he cares for his company and team. I truly respect him for that and makes me feel warm and teary.
2. Using a proper tone and showing anxious body language. This shows that Arin is really serious about the matter, and he’s truly showing that he is nervous about the issue. I find it remarkable that he is being open about it. This is how you show emotions. It helps remind the viewers that he is human.
3. Explains why he did not upload it. He took on so many new project that people don’t realize that he does more than play video games. He helps with his wife’s channel, started a new segment, goes on tour, records numbers of episodes for GameGrumps, and so many more. He is a trooper for growing this company.
4. Offering us options for solutions. Arin made it open for debate if viewers wanted to receive Ghoul Grumps in December for like a Nightmare Before Christmas theme. It is very admirable that he gives us a choices to help solve the problem.

His apology was real and makes me so emotional. I love that his apology is the same rights as Jenna’s. My opinion on the matter is that this apology was not needed for us fans. As a fan, we DO NOT have to right to call out a creator for forgetting a segment. It is rude and toxic. We do not deserve Ghoul Grumps. Think of Ghoul Grumps as a dessert. It is not necessary for a human to indulge in desserts to finish a meal. We get it as a treat and if we do not get that treat who cares. We are not entitled to Ghoul Grumps because WE DID NOT create the segment. The only one that has the right to make or skip Ghoul Grumps is Arin. Unless there is a pure reason why we deserve every year, I am content with having the Halloween special in or not having it. It makes me upset that the fans had the audacity to go to Danny’s channel and complain about it. That is complete wrong for fans to carry an issue to a different channel to spread. I felt so ashamed at the community that we would do that. I am using we because we all go down together. I felt like people treated Arin like a servant. Demanding the Halloween and complaining about it.

Arin, if you are reading this, I want to apologize for the rude and brash behavior that us as a community treated you. We know you are truly passionate about GG. You may feel like you needed to apologize for this but in my opinion you didn’t. I am glad you addressed this issue and took blame, but I think the real blame goes to the fans that assumed the worst out of you. True fans understand that you are human and a busy guy. I know you helping out other people other than yourself and I think that just adds to your character. I am so happy how much this channel has grown from Goof Troop and Kirby to this amazing channel that has a taste of everything. I will always be a fan you and I hope you accept this apology to understand that this would have never happened if people didn’t call you out, brought this issue to Danny’s channel, and made terrible assumptions. I cannot wait to see you perform live for the Final Party. I got a VIP pass and can’t wait. PS. Wolf is not a clone of Fox.

To my followers, I want to explain why I have not been posting on a daily basis. Blogging has changed my life and shows that I love writing. My issue is that I have a full time jobs that is 40-45 hours a weeks, a part time job that is on call when I am free, I work on commission, and I have been writing my books. Thank you for your patience and I hope you like this post.