Social Media- Assignment 7-MM 3503-Lucas Sharp

 Social Media 

    In today's world technology is everywhere, and social media is a big part of our everyday lives. We use it to get in touch with old friends, share events that are going on in our lives, keep up with what is going on in the world, and as well as many more features. Today I am going to talk about a scandal that has recently taken place with a social media influencer David Dobrik. 

    Who is David Dobrik? 

    David was born on July 23, 1996, in Slovakia, that moved to Illinois, and attended Vernon Hills High School. He began his social media career with the app Vine. Vine was a platform that people could make various videos whether that be comedy, lip singing, dance, pretty much all kinds of videos. David took the path of making of creating short, comedic bits that gained him a lot of attention. Once Vine went under, David switched to Youtube in 2017, and continued to gain a big following, due to his high energy comedic bits, with the "Vlog Squad". David now has his own podcast called "Views Podcast", that he brings on various popular creators. David has over 14 million followers on Instagram, 5.6 million followers on Twitter, 18.7 million subscribers on YouTube, and 20.4 million followers on TikTok. 

    David has always been on of my favorite influencers, he has always made very funny content that has always put a smile on my face. Here recently an article came out that has David in some serious trouble. Back in 2018, he made a video with one of his ex-members "Durty Dom" who invited multiple girls over to do sexual things with him. This is what was said in one article, "That night, according to the accuser, members of the Vlog Squad had pressured her to drink to the point where she could no longer consent. Per Insider, Dobrik was present and filmed the accuser, later using the footage for a consensual “threesome plot” in his vlog." There were also accusations that David had a couple of other Vlog Squad members buy alcohol to "loosen the girls up". All of this has been denied by David and he has made an apology video:

    Now that all of this has surfaced brands that associated with David, have been dropping him. These brands include, DoorDash, HelloFresh, Dollar Shave Club, EA, and SeatGeek is reviewing their partnership as well. This is what DoorDash had to say about the situation, "DoorDash profoundly condemns the behavior of the Vlog Squad members, and we have terminated our sponsorship of David Dobrik's podcast Views. This horrific misconduct is incongruous with DoorDash's values and does not represent the communities we strive to create. Our thoughts are with all those impacted."

    All of this is a horrible situation, especially for those who were involved. It goes to show that even the biggest stars are held accountable for their actions. Also that things posted on social media can back fire even if it was from years ago. After watching his apology I think he needs to do more than just that, he needs to reach out to the victim, and make amends with her. He also should try to support an organization that deals with victims of sexual assault. I hope the victims involved are healing and that David learns from his mistakes and does better moving forward with his career.