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Shirley Curry (video game grandmother) is taking some time off from YouTube due to her health diminishing in reaction to some comments on her videos

delete12345

delete12345

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 17, 2017
19,693
Boston, MA
Update: Shirley has responded to an article by Kotaku. Image was taken via Twitter.


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(Credit to /u/Almighty_H for the title)

This is the video announcement from Shirley, an 84 year old grandmother who loves to play, and now record, games.



Close if old.
 
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Dukie85

Dukie85

Chicken Chaser
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,533
Gamers really are absolute shitheads... when you target an elderly woman who's just having fun with what she loves, you need to get your fucking priorities, or even existence, in order...
 
Owlet

Owlet

Owl Enthusiast
Verified
May 30, 2018
1,931
London, UK
I hope she takes the time she needs and stays good and healthy.

I want to see her around for TES VI!
 
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
Poor lady, it's probably a good idea for her to just post videos with comments disabled......or have some kind of appointed moderator.

This video is probably only going to encourage the worst people.
 
OmegaDL50

OmegaDL50

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,685
Philadelphia, PA
First reply in this thread wasn't in the best taste considering the point of the thread.

It'll be nice to see her character in Elder Scrolls VI. I hope she'll be an important NPC.
 
Daysean

Daysean

Member
Nov 15, 2017
7,392
Can y'all not do the usual constantly quote a bad reply thing, instead of just reporting it

I'm also mad interested in what games she plays and will be watching her, thanks OP
 
NinjaScooter

NinjaScooter

Member
Oct 25, 2017
54,156
That's not just the gaming community, it's the internet in general, people race to post the most hostile, or hateful shit because they are desperate for attention and that's the easiest way to get it. This thread, ironically enough, is providing a microcosm of that.

The internet in general as a social space is a relatively miserable place. Everyone just wants to tear everything and everyone down and the ones that do it the loudest get the most attention.
 
kubev

kubev

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,533
California
It should be noted that she's not being harassed. Her issues with the comments seem to revolve around people telling her what to do, whether it's telling her how to play or telling her what to play. I feel as though a lot of people don't seem to understand how inconsiderate that sort of thing is. That said, it's still a shame she's stressing out over analytics and allowing that to control how she approaches her content going forward.
 
Sanctuary

Sanctuary

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,228
Lant_War said:
Why would you harass an 84 year old harmless YouTuber
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Going by what she actually said in this video, she just doesn't like any form of criticism on what she is doing, and she doesn't want to explain herself to those she flat out says "no" to when they ask why. Also, it seems like she is wanting comments from her Youtube channel, just none that criticize or recommend anything at all. Otherwise, why not just turn comments completely off?
 

Mattersnotnow

Member
Jan 15, 2018
1,003
Sucks that she feels that way about comments.
But I don't think first reply meant much more than a joke or was as offensive as people quoting make it out to be.
It's been called out, no need to dogpile
 
night814

night814

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 29, 2017
15,040
Pennsylvania
NinjaScooter said:
That's not just the gaming community, it's the internet in general, people race to post the most hostile, or hateful shit because they are desperate for attention and that's the easiest way to get it. This thread, ironically enough, is providing a microcosm of that.

The internet in general as a social space is a relatively miserable place. Everyone just wants to tear everything and everyone down and the ones that do it the loudest get the most attention.
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Yeah I can't be on any social media for more then like 2 minutes without seeing some awful shit spewing for no reason. The internet just lets people be hostile to each other without any repercussions.
 

Deleted member 19070

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,681
NinjaScooter said:
That's not just the gaming community, it's the internet in general, people race to post the most hostile, or hateful shit because they are desperate for attention and that's the easiest way to get it. This thread, ironically enough, is providing a microcosm of that.

The internet in general as a social space is a relatively miserable place. Everyone just wants to tear everything and everyone down and the ones that do it the loudest get the most attention.
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agreed. There's a lot of good people in gaming but like most of the Internet the shit rises to the top. It's still the Wild West where ppl can do whatever they want with no repercussions.
 
Van Bur3n

Van Bur3n

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
26,089
There is this dense group of gamers who feel like they need to subject people to their ever unimpressive amount of knowledge that have on a video game, and any rejection of what they have to say is met with stupid, hostile behavior. Platforms like Twitch are ripe for this behavior, but individual viewer bases can be moderated. On Youtube, you're left wide open to a god awful comments section. No doubt, the perception a man has on an elderly woman who needs his help playing his favorite video game doesn't help with that.
 
Ab4dd0n

Ab4dd0n

Member
Oct 25, 2017
941
I was thinking this was something like "kill yourself" comments.

I watched the video, she takes some time off because pople are backseating and ask her to play other games a lot.
And the Analytics show that people dont watch more than 5 mins, when her videos are like 30 mins.

Better explained:

Notably, it's also because she notices the average viewer watches for 5 min, meanwhile she's roleplaying and creating 30+ min videos and most will never see the full progressive story. She also says she has 830k subscribers, but each video gets 3-4k viewers. I totally understand where she's coming from, no point in trying to create elaborate stories while roleplaying, just to look at metrics and notice so few really pay attention. It's why so many youtubers succeed based on one-off videos that have very little importance in the long run, then later crash as their videos essentially all become click-baity and stylish rather than substantive.
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And yes, people are still shit, but this is different, she have problems that others streamers and youtubers sometimes have and lost the joy of doing content.
 
Border

Border

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
14,859
The strange thing is that she isn't even talking about the usual sort of YouTube comments toxicity -- she just doesn't seem to like it that people tell her what items to use, what quests to get, or how to play the game.

She also seems dismayed by the disparity between her subscriber count (800K+) and the viewcount on an average video (5K). She has the fairly typical YouTuber problem of having amassed a ton of subscribers on a viral novelty, and then being unable to repeat that success.

She's cutting back to 4 videos per week, which is still a ton of content by most standards.
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

Two Pieces
Member
Apr 16, 2018
43,589
Ab4dd0n said:
I was thinking this was something like "kill yourself" comments.

I watched the video, she takes some time off because pople are backseating and ask her to play other games a lot.
And the Analytics show that people dont watch more than 5 mins, when her videos are like 30 mins.

Better explained:



And yes, people are still shit, but this is different, she have problems that others streamers and youtubers sometimes have and lost the joy of doing content.
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It's a shame it upsets her, I would bet most youtubers have similar stats. But I'm sure many people love to watch her role-play.
 
Digital Dinosaur

Digital Dinosaur

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,047
Rita Repulsa's Moon Palace
Just because people aren't simply expressing hate at her, doesn't mean what they're doing is neutral or harmless. The internet makes people believe every little thing they can think of is some kind of valuable critical opinion other people must listen and respond to. It's well known this destroys the enjoyment of people who perform or create for an audience.

It also sounds like a lot of commentators on her content display that inability many have to understand what they're watching. Like never grasping that she is role-playing characters, and thus playing Skyrim "suboptimally".

What we're seeing here is an honest look at how much that really hurts people's mental state. Younger streamers and personalities just try their best to look as if they can weather it. But in private I never hear anyone say they aren't bothered by it.
 
GillianSeed79

GillianSeed79

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,371
God, why does the internet keep ruining good things. Sometimes I'm glad I didn't grow up with the internet and social media. Glad people are being supportive though.
 
Voytek

Voytek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,811
Oh hey look another first post made by an unfunny people trying desperately to be funny.

Anyway I hope this new plan works out better for her. I watched a few of her Skyrim videos in the past and she seems like a sweet person who really enjoys what she does.
 
Regiruler

Regiruler

Member
Oct 28, 2017
12,293
United States
Sanctuary said:
Going by what she actually said in this video, she just doesn't like any form of criticism on what she is doing, and she doesn't want to explain herself to those she flat out says "no" to when they ask why. Also, it seems like she is wanting comments from her Youtube channel, just none that criticize or recommend anything at all. Otherwise, why not just turn comments completely off?
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To be honest I'd like to see the comments.

She's old enough that people should generally respect her time and wishes though.
 

Deleted member 3010

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,974
People suck, and kindhearted people unaware of how toxic internet is, such as this nice senior lady, will inevitably end hurt by it.
 
Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
Sanctuary said:
Going by what she actually said in this video, she just doesn't like any form of criticism on what she is doing, and she doesn't want to explain herself to those she flat out says "no" to when they ask why. Also, it seems like she is wanting comments from her Youtube channel, just none that criticize or recommend anything at all. Otherwise, why not just turn comments completely off?
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Yeah seems like backseat gamers is what frustrated her on the comments. And I understand that perfectly, especially at her age she probably doesn't want some whippersnapper telling her what she should do. Part of it can be people passionate about Skyrim wanting her to see some cool things they loved. But I'm also certain that there's a good bunch of more toxic elitist gamers who just can't stand more casual playing. "There's only one way to play the game and it's my way or just watch Youtube" (see easy mode threads). The video is a bummer, sad to see her so down on something she used to love to do.
 
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thepenguin55

thepenguin55

Member
Oct 28, 2017
11,815
Can anyone explain the value of YouTube's comments section? Would anything of actual value be lost by Google just disabling comments?
 
waugh

waugh

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt-account
Banned
Feb 21, 2020
1,401
MasterCheeze said:
Thread closed before it started? She is 84 after all.
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Why is this post getting so much hate when its a simple play on words joke?

I don't know I chuckled at it. Still feel bad for the creator. Some people seek humour when confronted with stressful information.
 
Soriku

Soriku

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,905
NinjaScooter said:
That's not just the gaming community, it's the internet in general, people race to post the most hostile, or hateful shit because they are desperate for attention and that's the easiest way to get it. This thread, ironically enough, is providing a microcosm of that.

The internet in general as a social space is a relatively miserable place. Everyone just wants to tear everything and everyone down and the ones that do it the loudest get the most attention.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

This. Definitely an internet and human thing at large. And it's sad and pathetic.
 
Budi

Budi

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,883
Finland
ComradeDoge said:
Exactly these kind of comments are what she was talking about in that video.
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Not really, until I missed something (got a timestamp?). She was talking about backseat gamers and "gamesplainers". Which is not a word, but kinda like mansplaining. She plays what she wants and how she wants, she isn't looking for advice.
 
TheBuck

TheBuck

Member
Jan 22, 2018
275
Budi said:
Not really, until I missed something (got a timestamp?). She was talking about backseat gamers and "gamesplainers". Which is not a word, but kinda like mansplaining. She plays what she wants and how she wants, she isn't looking for advice.
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I should've worded it better.

I meant that people are giving her ideas about how to play the game because they think that she's old and doesn't understand the game. You wouldn't find such comments often in other channels even if they're playing the way Shirtel Curry is playing the game.
 
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