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YouTube, a video-sharing website bought by Google, has taken over the world with 300 hours of video being uploaded every minute. With so much content it can be hard to monitor, but this case study made the public ask if they let larger content creators like Logan Paul get away with more than the average user would.
December 31, 2017
The initial crisis occurs when Logan Paul posts the video featuring a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest to his YouTube channel, which boasts more than 15 million followers. The thumbnail of the video, what people see before even watching the content, is the dead body.
January 1, 2018
Paul removes the video, which had already gained over 6 million views. He then takes to Twitter to post an apology that many criticize as missing the point and being self-centered. Celebrities such as Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner and Breaking Bad actor Aaron Paul, who shares no relation to the star, tweet their reactions to the incident.
January 2, 2018
Paul posts another apology, this time in the form of a video, to his YouTube channel, where he tells viewers, “I’ve made a severe and continuous lapse in my judgment, and I don’t expect to be forgiven." Numerous other YouTube personalities, such as Ethan Dolan and Alisa Marie, continue to tweet their disdain and disgust over the situation.
January 3, 2018
Paul takes to Twitter once more, this time to announce that he will be taking a break from YouTube and his daily vlogs, tweeting that he is "taking to time reflect."
January 4, 2018
Japanese Suicide Prevention Group Ova slams Paul, telling The Japan Times that Paul’s video “raises serious issues from the point of suicide prevention,” and is in clear violation of the World Health Organization guidelines on how the media should report on the issue. YouTube users call for Paul's channel to be removed.
January 10, 2018
Logan's channel is removed from Google Preferred. YouTube also announces that the movie he will be starring in will be postponed indefinitely.
January 24th
Paul returns to YouTube on Jan. 24 with a video raising awareness about suicide and shedding light on suicide prevention. He spoke with experts on the subject and delivered an informative video, and Paul even said he'd donate $1 million to organizations that help prevent suicide.
February 5th, 2018
Logan posts a video featuring him shooting a taser at a dead rat. In the same video, posted on Feb. 5, Paul removes a fish from his pond and attempts to resuscitate it using CPR.
February 9th, 2018
YouTube suspends ads from his channel in response to the video from the 5th.
February 27th, 2018
YouTube resumes running ads on the channel, roughly two weeks after it cut the promos off. He is then put under a 90-day "probation" that prevents his videos from showing up in recommendations for non-subscribers (both in the trending tab and notifications) and disqualifies him from the Google Preferred ad program.
October 17, 2018
The Thinning: New World Order, a YouTube original movie starring Logan Paul, releases. YouTube announces that this movie was never cancelled, just postponed due to his actions earlier in the year. His follower count has increased by a million since the December video.
The 4 Steps of Being a Good Spokesperson
Logan Paul became his own spokesperson during this crisis, a move that perhaps was not the wisest on his part. Looking at the 4 steps of being a good spokesperson according to W. Timothy Coombs, author of Ongoing Crisis Communication, will help reveal the areas he did well and areas he was lacking in.
1. Appear Pleasant on Camera
As a YouTube creator, Logan was already comfortable being on camera. He understood how to deliver the message, both over social media and on the platform where the original content was posted, but his delivery fell short. While his initial apology and video on suicide prevention were very well presented, in his first video back in his regular content he showed that he had not learned anything from the experience. Tasering animals would not be something I would file under ‘pleasant on camera.’
2. Answer Questions Effectively
During his apology video, he answered the question on what to do with his supporters that were defending his content. Wisely, he said that no one should be defending his content because he made a mistake and it never should have been uploaded in the first place. During his longer response video, which featured different people who either had attempted or are knowledgeable on suicide, he addressed why he thought he was so ignorant on the subject. “I was shocked to discover just how big this is,” Logan said to Bob Forest, founder of Alo House Recovery Center. “You’ve never known anybody that killed themselves?” Bob was surprised when Logan answered no, he had not. Logan explains how him not knowing anyone affected by suicide as part of the reason he uploaded the video, that he was ignorant of how big the issue was.
3. Present Crisis Information Clearly
The day after the video was taken down he released a tweet outlining his mistake, why he made the mistake, and that it would never happen again. In his video released the following day, he explains why they continued filming the day they found the body and goes on to say that he will be better in the future. He covers his bases of what, when, why, and how this crisis happened very well.
4. Handle Difficult Questions
The difficult questions came in the form of tweets and YouTube comments, with people demanding to know why he did what he did, how he could be so insensitive, and if he was really going to learn from this experience. While his responses, the YouTube video addressing suicide and how to help prevent it, were good his actions did not match them. After his break from creating daily video content, he came back with a video that was, to some people, equally disturbing. This video posted in February proved that while you can answer difficult questions well, it needs to be reflected in your actions for the public to take you seriously.
My Takeaways
I try hard never to hide the fact that I struggle with anxiety and depression. It has always been a part of my life and probably always will. I do not let it define who I am, but it is part of me. This crisis hit close to home for me because there was a long time where I did not tell very many people in my life about my struggles because I assumed they would not understand. I assumed that they would have a response like Logan Paul, where they would make a joke of it and use it against me. As I have gotten older I realize that with each person I explain my story to that does not understand it, I can use it as an opportunity to educate them on what a lot of the population goes through all the time. Logan's video interviewing people related to the topic was a wonderful response and something I would like to see more people of influence do. However, his actions after the video was released including the February 5th video shows to me that some people can "talk the talk" but can not "walk the walk." Basically, they can convince everyone they learned their lesson for a while, but eventually, it will become obvious for why there was a crisis in the first place, they just do not have the respect for others that is needed to prevent crises like this one.