Round Table 文本 第20190624期 想成为网络童星？你需要知道这些事

小和尚念经:

小和尚我看到了一线商机，隐隐感觉有人要请我去带盐。

头发没有可以再长，金主dad说啥就是啥。

正经:

今天有几个单词，是雅思, GRE级别的

1. Hedonistic:

享乐主义，有同根词汇 hedonism, hedonist. 词根hedon是pleasure，表示快乐，来自希腊语。

辅助记忆: he+do+(后面) 他想做什么就做什么，所以是享乐的人

原文挺好

You're trying to make them superstars and you’re steering them down a very hedonistic course

2.Pageant

这个是游行，盛会，盛大华丽的情景，可以这么辅助记忆，Page+ant, 整页纸都是蚂蚁。原文beauty pageant是选美比赛的意思。

原文

You put somebody in the little beauty pageant or in the parade, and that was sort of the showing off of a child who was 5 or 7 years old.

3.这是个习语Take it with a grain of salt

半信半疑; 姑妄听之

原文

But with all these surveys, you kind of need to take it with a grainof salt as well.

4. Internet Meme

网络迷因(又称网络爆红)指某个理念或信息迅速在互联网用户间传播的现象。

原文

Yes, it's crazy, and a Chinese primary school kid with an ID TianTianXiaoPengYou became amemeon social media in China.

还有些没听明白，我已经用灰色标注，大家可以交流。

【20190624 What does it take to become internet-famous kids音频】

// 到公众号 ENGLISHMONK上收听音频

【20190624 What does it take to become internet-famous kids文本】

Heyang: Gone are the days when children dreamed of becoming doctors and nurses or scientists. Today's children want to become a Youtube stars and bloggers you can get internet famous for doing a good one, filming yourself, applying makeup, or even for an exaggerated expression. The possibilities are endless. An internet fame is also having another effect that is making the idea of Internet celebrity so much more accessible and attainable to preteens. So now we're talking about kids. Ah, yeah, on the internet and doing all kinds of stuff. There's one boy, Ryan, a seven year old in the UK, and he's topped the Forbes rich list by rating boy, rating, excuse me, toys. you rate boys, don't you? Well, sometimes.. that guy from the last segment that you really gave him a... sometimes, you know, there is a number. There is a number when I see people, especially but you're not on the Forbes list. I'm not. I'm not making nearly as much as this boy Ryan rating toys on Youtube, with apparently there is a lot of money involved there if you convert it to Chinese yuan, it’s 145M as a lot of money. Yes, it's crazy, and a Chinese primary school kid with an ID TianTianXiaoPengYou became amemeon social media in China and its by imitating other Internet celebrities, and this is like something kind of big. Oh, yeah, so let's look at the situation and what's caught your eye with the Internet famous kids.

Niuhongling: I don't know I am torn by this, because on one hand, I do believe that kids nowadays are with the opportunity to do whatever they want, maybe they do want more people to see them. because as a kid, you're still exploring who you are, and if you realize you really want to dance and you want people to see you dance to find your skill and to maybe even in a sense investe to that skill, so in the future you can have more resources learning all that and you have the platform, you can easily show it to the whole wide world, not like in the past you can only dance and hope that you have the talent and you don't have mean to know if you're good to know if you really do have a future. So from that sense I feel like it's a good thing that it's the option there, but from another angle, I also think that kids are like boring people pleaser at the very first place because they started to know the world by the critics and also praise from their parents and not only do they have to deal with that that the common scene that the Chinese parents say to their kid. Ok, kiddie, now sing a song to the family in the family room, perform, to sing, I had lived that thing. I didn't really like it. Nevertheless, you don't only deal with that from your parents from your family relatives. Now you have to deal with that from the Internet, from strangers giving you bullet comment or just reveals under a little dense performance you've just uploaded on the Internet. It's strange.

Patrick: I think it's disturbing this global trend of just the want, the urge to go viral. I just find it extremely unhealthy. I don't even know how it really originated.I think Imeanmyearlyexample, at least in the UnitedStateswith someCanada, but Justin Bieber, became famous via Youtube, I believe the platform we used, and you know you're talking about a kid who played an acoustic guitar, and either his mom or dad put it out there, and now he's one of the biggest stars who has ever sold records, and I don't know, I mean, I know this kid, Ryan, I remember reading about this a few months ago and thought what he's doing has a semi-educational, semi-business expertise bent to it because you've got a young kid sort of instructing and where other kids might relate to that, and I think there is a healthy component to that. But even with Ryan, even in the case of Ryan, we are going, Why are the parents steering children to become viral sensations, I mean to me, It's a sickness, it says something about mom, you know it's to dads to moms, so mom and dad, whatever the parental structure. Why is it being diverted away from maybe organized team sports with other kids in the neighborhood, getting together with other children? Why the instant gratification or the seizing of this gotta have it now and you're a child. I can’t imagine if I went viral as a five year old. I wouldn't want any of those video tapes out there.

Heyang: well, do you think that this is more driven by the kids' own will or possibly just the parents, and also you are looking at some times the second generation of instagramers that the parents could, I don't exactly have the names right here with me? But they're these famous Instagram popular parents, and then they, when they have kids, immediately their thought, is to also put their kids out there too, and the kids get a lot of attention caz you know who wouldn’t like dude-gets right?

Niuhongling: Yeah, and also, actually 1/5 wish to start their own Youtube channel in a survey of 1000 children in the UK. and more than 75% of the youngsters say they'd consider a career in online videos. So I think maybe they, these are the kids with some ideasputting(put)in their head by their parents. But still, they are now voluntarily saying that they want to be in the business.

Heyang: But with all these surveys, you kind of need totake it with a grain of saltas well, and also talking about what you like and actually doing it, also there could be a big distance in between heaven we all wanted to like earn or I don't know. we have had those big dreams but not necessarily fulfilling the hard work to make it happen, but it is interesting to see that absolutely, I agree with you Niuhongling that today, these are often kids raised by Youtube, or you know, like parents would, this is not so big in China yet, but we'll see. when you see like parents put their kids in front of like the arm playing, Youtube videos and sometimes it's cartoons or whatnot. And then that's what can keep them quiet and keeps them busy. And we're talking about a whole generation of kids that grow up immersed in social media so comfortable with these platforms and when you see that one of your peers is doing this, and why not you do something similar and there is that all that profit aspect of that that's coming into and well, I don't know are we being a little too harsh and judging the parents or what when, Well, actually, there are a lot of parents that are rolling out their kids who are fresh to social media, in the sense that as content providers are actively doing that. Yeah, yeah, so should we judge the parent a little bit?

Patrick: No, I don't think we're judging them harshly. Go ahead, Patrick. yeah, let me just say my piece on this look, I think, okay, The four of us in this room and most people listening right now, we all experienced life in reality before, way before video offerings became available. Instant streaming of whatever I am doing became available, so for a 4 or a 7 year old. Let's just say let's take the child from the UK who was 7 years old. What does he know from reality now I mean to him, Reality is a camera and his parents sort of cheering him on and an audience. You can't really work back from that. There's going to be some psychological ramifications with the development of his psyche, the expectation that he'll set for himself, I mean at some point he will, He will hit the he'll go as high as the trajectory will take him. But then what? you know there may be it's going to end.

Niuhongling: Yeah, I agree, and I think it's very alarming that previously kids want to be, Let's say doctors or nurses helping people or teachers passing knowledge of human being, and those are the kind of occupation that needs you to need you to actually educate yourself. You need to prepare for it, let's say 10 years or 15 years to get into the industry, need to, you need to have the knowledge, and also you get to spend enough time outside that to take a look at the real world, like patrick has said. But for internet celebrity for the kids making money, you rely on your instincts you rely on who you are, and that is not something. it's definitely not something I want my future kid to rely on. You need to be someone who's more, let's say substantial or let's sayhalf morein you. You need to have allow your soul to grow. You need to allow your brain to absorb information, to discover really who you are, not the role cute and make people put a smile on people's face, kind of cute but really naive and innocent kind of you to be exposed to the whole wide world, and that is it, there's nothing more to explore.

Patrick: but that's it, the exposure of the whole wide world. How scary is that? Would you open your door and let three million people into your house that you've never met to watch your daughter perform or host a little show about you know whatever it is. I mean, It is, yeah, we talk all the time, everyone complains, Oh, we Facebook, everyone's in my privacy. What about this? I mean you're hooked children, you're trying to make them superstars and you’re steering them down a veryhedonisticcourse, and that sort of behavior. It's like look, kids can be talented, but remember, It used to be youput somebody in the littlebeautypageantor in the parade, and that was sort of the showing off of a child who was 5 or 7 years old. Now it's, oh man, I just don't know, I mean you put up a camera and you and you broadcast them to the world, and I just, I don't know what the value is, I don't know what the child is learning that they haven't, they just haven't lived yet.

Niuhongling: But what if that they are making a lot of money through experience. Let's say little Ryan here has already made a lot of money. Well his parents have made them money, and then he will be able to do whatever he wants in the future. He does not ever have to worry about put food on the table, he can travel, he can learn whatever useless, not really useless, but to the kind of major that makes really little money, he does not have to worry about that ever.

Patrick: well, I hope you're right because I tend to be skeptical on this, I think these things get mismanaged and abused, they’re not by the parrot's necessarily, but by anybody who's got a little stake in this kid, member Macaulay Culkin, I mean hecomes to myintuitslike man, well, his home father was just spending all the money, you know, it's these kinds of things where the parents are sort of now entering the realm of, oh, my son is doing this, and what could this mean. It’s not that they're necessarily selfish people, but this, this culture, this insatiable appetite for just going big having a big viral hit, it turned out. I think itturns people inside out a little bit.

Heyang: Yeah, and also I just like to point out one more thing, and because we only see the success stories and you don't see the many many accounts out there that’s got may be five viewings and it all comes from relatives. So there is lots of unsuccessful stories that are never told, and so there is definitely the survivors should buy us here when we, yeah, I'm always quite skeptical about making such easy money In the Internet age, so I mean who doesn't like the idea. I think it's particularly appealing to the young people today, on this, could be the parents, that is well when you can just set up a camera or just go on the Internet on your account and do some typing and you can make a living. That is so appealing caz who likes to go to work? Let's be honest.

Patrick: Yeah, yeah, it's how little can I do for the most money? I guess that's just that's that whole thing just rubs me wrong and like it, and now you bring in these children into that sort of worldview. I just, psychology today, there was the article we refer to earlier, stunt, It will stunt emotional growth because again they haven't. Their world is what? the kitchen table and video camera and school, and that's kind of it, it's distorted, it's not real.

Niuhongling: I think it's safe to say all of us sitting in the studio now, we are very skeptical and we see a lot of disadvantages of this, but I think about it. I don't really see a way out. I don't really see, how should we or how can we prevent this from happening? Because in the future, everybody, let's say if a kid as born now and from now on all the kids born from now on, they will have 5G data speed, they will have 4K definition. They will live in a world that if they want to, as long as they want, or let's say their parents want to, they can livestream their whole life to who ever is watching, and there's just no stop to that. and it will be the reality for each and every kid in the world in the future and who's getting famous is going to be either random or depending on who's talented enough in a very early age, And I don't really see a stop for that.

Heyang: or are we worrying too much about it? Yeah, maybe, yeah, just look at the just you know, rewind if we can a few decades back when there was all this discussion about the generation that's raised by TV in the U. S and well you know now the parents of these kids, or a lot of the millennial generation, well, you know, belongs to that generation. It seems like you know, we've got our problems, but it's not like you know, everybody's jumping off a cliff kind of thing, people still, persist and seem quite resilient and move on with life. So maybe this is just going to be one of the things that this generation will have to grow up and feel the pain as well as the glory that comes with it.

Patrick: I guess, and I don't want to sound like I'm just, I was coming down hard on any parent who’s interested and intrigued by sort of this notion of giving their child exposure. Look, if my son picks up the guitar and the piano when he's really amazing at it, And I posted a video on it. and it goes viral. That's kind of beautiful, but for me I think that's where would stop. I would not want to necessarily profit or turn it into some sort of a business. I find that a little bit perverse, and there's just something about it because you cannot explain to a child the intricacies of what a business is, and I guess just the contact that you you have with people who you haven't met, who were sort of watching you, you know, and I don't know you know, The Washington Post said, you know you should discuss these things if your child expresses an interest, you should say, Well, what's your favorite channel? what do you want a Youtube channel, it’s like, I guess that is a good question. Why do you want the channel? you know, you want to be famous? Do you want to teach something? If I saw a child, you know helping out other kids in their community, and that went viral. Cool. That's totally valuable, but that's not sexy. People don't want to see that.

Niuhongling: And one other thing I think I'm thinking about is that kids or let's say children celebrities in the old day and age, they make movies, they sing, they have, let's say, Mvs, and they are living in a total in entertainment business. They are taught by grownups who knows what the business is about, and they were telling what to do on the screen, but for kids nowadays they were actually influenced by millions of netizens, they get to see the reviews if their parents allowed them to and maybe for them to stay viral on the Internet, they will be told by their parents or just directly by netizens about what to do. And that is a very strange style of parenting for me, because it's like their influence to buy millions of strangers, and Idon't(am not)really sure whether or not the millions of strangers combined together wouldgive a very reasonable ways.

Heyang: That's a really good point, as and once you're once your stuff is out there on the internet, There's no turning back and don't forget it will be there forever and also once you're out there, you get such nasty comments. I've experienced that firsthand, and it took me as an adult some time to process and not really take it too personally. So I think for a kid to go through all of that is a huge challenge.

Patrick: That's a whole other discussion, right? It's how do you even brace a child for criticism of just nasty proportions.

Heyang: Just for your physical appearance, or for some of the things you can't change and you shouldn't change because someJoe Schmoin front of a computer once thinks this mad of you. So that's...

Patrick: That's what you invest it right?

Heyang: Exactly that's the downside, that's the price you pay.

Patrick: Step into that pool, you know, now you got to swim. I don't know.

Heyang: Ah, well, yeah, I think we've done a good job and pointing out the other side of the story.

Patrick: So, can I just promote my son’s Youtube gentlemen?

Heyang: Go ahead then, ah, there you go. Good, otherwise it would be like you know, like a suckerpunch in a way, after all that, Patrick, yeah, you're listening around table.