The recent news and complaints about LMG are concerning and do need to be addressed, and if we are to believe the statements of LMG, they are. They hired a third party investigator (whatever that means) and they halted all production on their company, in order to work on their methods.
While I don’t take everything they do at face value, I do think that those are the right steps to solving their issues (besides maybe going to the police about the sexual harassment allegations, but I’m also not sure they can without Madison filling a complaint).
The main criticisms I’ve heard from people is how they joke around about sponsors and shove their merch and FP down our throats in an apology video. While it is in bad taste, I don’t understand why people are surprised, have you been paying attention at all?
You see, LMG presented itself as a media corporation from day one. They were always profit oriented and their goal was always to make money. They have two sponsor reads, one floatplane ad and at least two lttstore.com mentions in every single video. Linus clearly states whenever he can that he’s here for the money and nothing else. He also says that he believes that maintaining trust with his audience is the way to make more money, so our interests align, but he really states that journalistic standards and accurate reporting are not his motivations, money is.
This along with the statements about wage discussions and Linus’s disdain from workers unions, and the fact that they don’t use twitch bits or superchats but the leave them open, really shows how the company thinks and operates.
So I don’t think the criticism is well placed, they were upfront about their intentions and you should have known what company you’re following.
As for their handling of the recent news, there is no way of knowing what will happen. It seems like they want to do the right thing but we can’t know until they finish the process.
They hired a third party investigator (whatever that means)
It means exactly what it sounds like…
They were always profit oriented and their goal was always to make money.
Yeah I mean that’s the goal of most businesses…
There are lots of ways to make money, and to do so with integrity. Making money isn’t an inherently evil thing.
Linus clearly states whenever he can that he’s here for the money and nothing else.
Well that’s “clearly” just a blatant lie that never happened.
The fact that they shut down production for a week I think is a pretty good indication that that’s not true. Most companies would have just carried on with business as usual and never even publicly acknowledged such criticism.
Linus’s disdain from workers unions
This nonsense needs to die. Linus never expressed disdain for unions. The only thing he said is that if they wanted to unionize there was nothing he could do about it, but that he would consider it a personal failure.
I’m glad I’m seeing responses like this, while I’m not a ride or die ltt fan, I really dislike unfair criticism getting mixed in with reasonable criticism, it muddies the waters.
What I hope will happen is:
- They find the problems internally that lead to Madison’s experience (amongst others we may not know about).
- address them
- contact the corresponding authorities if necessary
- they get more serious about doing things right
- they somehow make it clearer that their YouTube channels are more entertainment oriented than technical, that not all of their videos featuring tech are reviews and that they attempt to bridge the gap between the two leaning on the entertainment side (I’ve seen way too many people talking about journalistic integrity and reviews and stuff like that, it’s evident many see any of their non reviews as reviews)
- make private (and public if the affected are okay with it, remember not everyone wants that and a victim’s retribution is not yours to receive)
- they slow down on the videos, holy fucking shit, I get they want an element of chaos and casual disorder but they should always be in control at least after filming.
I am 50/50 on whether I think they will do what’s right as a priority, maybe even less given the severity of what Madison described, though hopefully the situation was a bit less horrible than it seems from her retelling of the events and more fixable than just firing a bunch of tech bros that are unable to understand the line between sexual harassment and playful banter.
Linus never expressed disdain for unions. The only thing he said is that if they wanted to unionize there was nothing he could do about it, but that he would consider it a personal failure.
You’re right in that he didn’t directly express being anti-union, but if he genuinely would take it this way, he’s most certainly not pro-union either.
I want to upvote this so many times, but one will have to do.
Thanks for being reasonable, I’m so tired of seeing uninformed hate bandwagon comments.
Linus said many times on the wan show that he wants to make money, and that he believes the way to do so is by gaining the trust of his followers. I think that’s true and that we have our interests aligned, but he may change his mind some day. The fact remains that his main motivation is to make money.
Why would someone consider having a worker’s union a personal failure? You are one person (or a board of like 10 directors) you can only really know a handful of people. When you decide things you cannot really take into account all your workers, especially when you have so many. If workers have a representative in your board that has the sole purpose of taking care of the workers and is appointed by the workers, then you can mitigate that. His position comes from a twisted look at unions as if they can only work against the management. But usually unions work with management to make things more efficient while also making sure that the generated wealth is spread more evenly.
The fact remains that his main motivation is to make money.
It’s a fact I’ve already acknowledged. I’m not sure what your point is or why you insist on harping on this.
Why would someone consider having a worker’s union a personal failure?
Having a union is not a failure. Having a business where your employees are so dissatisfied to the point that they feel the need to form one is the failure.
Counter point - just because they said “they’re in it for the money”, it doesn’t make it right. If anything, it makes it worse because they’re putting out a bad product.
Criticism comes from the circumstances that LMG found themselves in. Most people aren’t surprised, just disappointed.
It does not make it right, but you knew it in advance. They are well within their right to act as they do and they did announce it beforehand.
I think people thought that the corpo stuff was a means for some nerdy guy to do videos as a full time job. It may have been partially true at some point, but the actual goal was always money. The corpo stuff was not only the means, it was also the ends.
Nobody is arguing what their rights are. If someone is, then they indeed don’t understand what makes a company.
People criticize companies usually for things that go against the basic human values (ethics, morals, etc.) and by doing so, they’re being kept in check. And this is exactly what is happening to LMG.
As for those emotional extremists who want LMG cancelled over this because it went against their beliefs of what they are - yeah I see where you’re coming from. Those people really should calm down.
LMG is a corporation and as Steve put it, they should be held to scrutiny just like any other. That doesn’t necessarily include immediate cancellation, though.
There is distinction between “we are in it for money” and “we are in it for money at expense of correct information and our workers”
You should have known what company you’re following.
Issue is that most people didn’t. They watch videos, laugh and move on.
It seems like they want to do the right thing.
They had numerous opportunities to do the right thing. They chose to ignore them or made compromises.
All of the problems didn’t arise in a month, they were cultivating for years. Small issues get overlooked and keep piling up into one big dumpster fire. They should’ve dealt with them long ago without drama and outside critique. But I guess money is more important to Linus than his own company.
They watch videos, laugh and move on.
Thats exactly what you’re supposed to do now imho. They’ve been outed for inconsistent or incorrect data, so the only thing you need to take from this channel is the entertainment (if you find it).
Just think of them as you think of Disney or EA, they are a media entertainment corporation, both can be thought of as actually evil in the name of profits. But I really like Jedi Fallen Order and I also kind like Marvel movies (but not as much as I used to), so I watch and play them.
I also really like the wan show and the silly Jake+Linus videos, so I’ll keep watching them.
besides maybe going to the police about the sexual harassment allegations, but I’m also not sure they can without Madison filling a complaint
How exactly do you think that would work?
“Hi police, an ex-employee said on social media that she was sexually assaulted but didn’t give any details or say by who”
What good would that do for them?
I think that’s the point of a third party investigator, collect information to deliver in a usable way that they can act upon.
Whether they’ll procede correctly to that is to be seen, I just don’t like how people are bloodthirsty more than they are wanting justice and corrections, that will certainly color their reaction to whatever move they end up making.
Before anyone jumps at my throat, if they fall, I’m okay with it, though losing the promise of the lab is disappointing.
A lot of people have a strong opinions about people they know only from watching every other day. There are obviously issues at ltt, just like in any companies, but attacking them endlessly isn’t helping anyone, nor is blindly defending them. They are human, they can make mistakes, they can correct them, they can be held accountable, and that’s what they seem to be in the process of doing. Things need to change at ltt and it’s a shame it had to come to this, but people anonymously jumping on the bandwagon pointing fingers seem detestable.
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I said it seems. They did halt production for a week which is big for every company in any industry. They also hired a third party investigator which can mean that he’ll say whatever they pay him to say or that they have no control over him. I think that if they don’t do right they can no longer exist, them making things right is detrimental for their money making goals.
