What James Somerton can teach us

Hbomberguy's video on Somerton's plagiarism: • Plagiarism and You(Tube)
Todd in the Shadows' video on Somerton's lies: • I Fact-Checked The Wor...
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[@addiedee]

I see a lot of people in the comment sections of these vids (Hbomberguy’s and others) saying they are ashamed that they were tricked into believing James. I just want to point out that James plagiarized some really good sources, so there is no shame in responding very positively to what he was saying. The words coming out of his mouth were often well researched, just not by him. The shame belongs to James, not his audience.

[@jdkessey]

If people see this, don't feel shame for being tracked, treat it as an opportunity to see the world as slightly less hostile and more worthy of curiosity. It's okay to feel guilt or trolls remorse. Its not okay to let it destroy you or the people around you. You owe it to yourself to forgive yourself.

[@alexvan5]

In an earlier comment i called his factual problems “insidious”… the fact that so many people were fooled is exactly why! ppl who were fooled weren’t *taken* advantage of so much as he fucking *took* advantage of them. dude knew what he was doing the whole damn time. the constantly changing stories re the re-uploads, the mysterious nasty straight white women… he’s a goddamn conman.

[@sleepykitty1985]

That's what got me. It sounded brilliant, because someone who is worked really hard to make it that way. Just wasn't him.

[@Shivafiregoddess]

Genuinely, thank you. I needed to hear that. I've been beating myself up for the past few days, and even more so after Todd's video dropped, because I used to be such a big supporter of Somerton. This is helping to somewhat ease the guilt I'm feeling.

[@snakesnoteyes]

@@Shivafiregoddess H-bomb’s video hurt my heart because I trusted and recommended James’ work to people I deeply respect. Tod’s video hurt me in ways I still can’t define because I caught the factually incorrect things he was saying and chose to view them as jokes, human error, or a mix of the two because everything else was so well researched (because he evidently stole it from very good writers). I feel like I can’t trust myself anymore.

[@allyson87]

I’m glad Harris addressed James’ misogyny. I stopped watching James long ago because he often used his queerness as a shield to hate on women. James also contradicted himself all the time, but the misogyny was the easiest issue to see at a glance.

[@calebmarmon1310]

I was still subscribed to him, but I hadn’t watched his videos in a long time. It’s possible something he said felt off and that’s why I hadn’t made the effort.

[@FOJO27]

Same - the misogyny was incredibly off-putting to say the least. 😔

[@janepearce5382]

​@calebmarmon1310 I'm the same. There was just something off, so I stopped watching. Right around the time, he started complaining about how he couldn't make enough money on KZbin because of all the work he had to do!

[@deeznoots6241]

>contradicted himself all the time A common problem plagiarists have, since they are copying the ideas of multiple different people they inevitably copy contradictory ideas unaware of the contradiction since they haven’t meaningfully engaged with the ideas

[@calebmarmon1310]

@@janepearce5382 Yeah I think I saw 2-3 videos of his. And now I don’t know if those didn’t have anything egregious, or if they did and I just went “obviously he didn’t mean it THAT way. He’s one of the good ones.” And I don’t want to go back and find out. Which all sucks, because I try to give benefit of the doubt, since I often watch these video essays (especially from LGBTQ+ community) to get a perspective outside my bubble.

[@tmage23]

What can we learn? 1) Cite your sources 2) Have sources to cite

[@CouncilofGeeks]

Could you not show me up in my own comments section by being wittier and more succinct than me? Rude. (This is a joke, you pretty much nailed it.)

[@danielbroome5690]

It kind of goes beyond citing sources in this case. To cite sources, he'd have to have actually written his own content in the first place in which to place citations.

[@BlazeMakesGames]

And if you have an opinion, actually write your own opinion instead of stealing someone else’s lol

[@seraphinw1]

3) Don't be a misogynist either

[@nick.hammes]

And as a viewer, we should check sources occasionally. I wasn't familiar enough on the topics he made videos on to notice where he'd made things up.. if it's a topic I'm interested in learning more about, I'm going to try and look at the sources to learn more in the future.

[@esserefveermold]

I'm honestly ashamed of how much the intellectual persona of this guy tricked me into believing his shit for so long

[@sophiaruizuvalle2523]

Same honestly

[@ArrowOdenn]

Is there a term for it? Like academic grooming?

[@snorpenbass4196]

I mean, look at Steve Jobs. He pulled the exact same trick - black polo sweaters, glasses - and people bought his lies by the billions of dollars.

[@blablablair1]

You’re human. James is good at manipulating his audience. It’s a good lesson and reminder that everyone is vulnerable to scammers.

[@CorwinFound]

Yeah, but to give him credit, he stole from the best. He sounded intellectual because he was often stealing from highly respected queer intellectuals.

[@CorwinFound]

I was a huge Somerton fan, including through monetary support. I've seen a lot of comments like, "We can excuse young queers for believing his lies because they didn't know better." Left unsaid was the idea that if you are older, you should have known better. I'm 48. Here's the thing. "Young" in the queer community is very relative. I came out as trans 3 years ago. So my knowledge of the queer community and history prior to that was limited. I lived through the AIDS crisis, so I have some knowledge there. I knew the biggies like Stonewall. But largely I was ignorant. So for the past 3 years I've been ingesting queer content as fast as I can and generally trusting those who seemed knowledgeable. As Somerton did. Queer history is disparate, often biased against all or part of the community, or destroyed and covered up. I don't know how to fix that. I'm sorry I supported this lying grifter. I'm even more sorry that I've repeated opinions and "history" that he presented. Even worse I'm not totally sure what opinions/factoids I have are from him. I've been watching so many creators and reading so much that I don't know where I have all this info from.

[@tananario]

Maybe it’s time to read a few books. Ones with footnotes and a bibliography. They are easy to find.

[@tetitous]

@@tananario maybe it's time for you to learn what empathy means somewhere other than a dictionary if this is what you have to say about the situation.

[@ClayScarlett]

Very valuable to share your experience here, thank you for sharing your perspective ❤

[@lysandrskavada]

@tananario I know you may have made this comment with good intentions but some things that may be valuable to keep in mind with these kinds of statements. You know hardly anything about this person and what appeals to them about the video essay format over potentially reading books. Do they have poor eyesight or dyslexia? Do they have ADD or ADHD? Do they have a lot of requirements on their time and energy, so generally don't have the mental energy to sit down and read a book, let alone non-fiction, which, if it includes citations, can be very dense and very dry depending in the author. On top of this, there is actually accessing the books themselves. Not everyone has the finances for audiobooks or to buy books themselves - especialky if any of these books lean into the more academic sphere, and libraries do exist but not all library systems are equal. My local library system for example is very open and supportive but the wider community is not, so it only has 1 book that is about queer/LGBTQIA history with citations. I do know that you can request for libraries to get books in, but I don't aseume everyone knows that nor do I assume all library systems are as accepting as my local one. Books are an invaluable resource, and ideally, it would be great for more people to be able to read them, but to say that "it's easy" doesn't consider many people's realities and the difficulties they may face in making reading more accessible to them.

[@YourWaywardDestiny]

@@tananario This human being decided to open up about their journey with misinformation, about how ashamed and regretful they have been feeling for the non-crime trusting a fellow queer, and how much catching up they had to do as a person who made life-altering discoveries about themselves at the age 45. You read that comment. You thought about that comment. You had enough of a reaction to it that you decided to reply to that comment. And yet, somehow, between all those factors that you had to contend with, you _still_ went: "yeah, being condescending is the right move here." What a waste.

[@cosmichal9548]

As someone who watched a lot of James' videos, I think he also managed to hide a lot of his misogyny and bad opinions behind his persona of being a "sassy" gay man. There was a lot of metaphorical winking at the camera whenever he said something derogatory, like it was supposed to be a bad joke rather than something he actually meant. It's that same philosophy right wing trolls use of deciding if something is a joke or not after they see how it lands.

[@dinosaysrawr]

Yes! I'll admit that I've fallen for that too many times in my life, because it can be hard to read when someone is joking vs. joking-not-joking. I'll also admit that I excused/dismissed the misogyny because it was wrapped inside taking the piss out of cishets, conservatives, Karens, Tumblrinas, and suchlike.

[@emilyrln]

Omg yes! Thank you for pointing this out.

[@K.C-2049]

yes! there were definitely a few times I was giving him side eye. I think at some point I unsubscribed because he said something sus and I was like "huh... I don't like that." tbh, I also found him just kind of boring.

[@voidify3]

Yeah the misogyny was always with a sort of 💅 “this is a witty sassy snark” vibe to it. For someone who complains so often about straight women wanting a sassy GBF he sure does know how to use that persona as a mechanism of Schrödinger’s douchebag

[@nare_a]

It was always weird to me, when he would say "something was done mostly by straight women". I always thought: "How do you know people's sexuality just like that?" But didn't expect the situation with the author, who has been out exactly because of such comments.

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

I seriously hate how easily fooled I can get. I literally have a degree in communications and studied film/tv/media. You really hit the nail on the head about how presentation and production value contributes to how easily we can believe somebody or a body of work. I found James Somerton from the algorithm while searching for video essays talking about Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. To quote Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice: "The more I see of the world the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense."

[@TheNortheasternWind]

I am constantly one well-edited documentary away from believing anything and it's terrible because I barely have the energy to cook my own meals much less verify everything I look at!

[@molluscumlore]

Yeah, it's quite painful so i just treat video essays as entertainment I can use to fill out my tbr of stuff that's actually trustworthy education. Unfortunately humans will absorb shit regardless so i also tend to stick to essays of stuff that's a little lower risk and presented more casually. Something about ultra professional sets and editing makes my skin crawl with distrust until I can actually motivate to check sources. It also helps to have a couple of interests that are niche enough to go unnoticed by the mainstream population, but mainstream enough for video essay content farms to try and fail to cover. They slip up even more on that kind of stuff which can be the canary to not trust anything else they do. For me it's anime and wildlife biology. Though my specialty is yuri anime I still knew enough about yaoi to get suspicious from the killing stalking video. Furry fandom also works for this Thank god he didn't get to release his utena video, because it was fixing to be a mess of misinformation and just plain lesbophobia poisoning utena discourse forever.

[@marioVSN]

Don't blame yourself... that guy CRAFTED his lies... it was his business model and not a 'mistake'... it was made to fool as many people as possible.. Sending hugs..

[@devononair]

Imagine if we found out that the warographics guy had been lying or plagiarising. The internet would implode 😆

[@JulesIsaVerhulst]

I watched the Todd in the shadows video and this guy was SO obviously a fraud. So many of his claims make absolutely no sense (Soviets had less visual appeal because they wore coats and this was an important factor in the optics of the cold war? I'm SORRY?!), and I don't fully understand the "production value" argument either because the only thing he had going for him visually was, at times, his lighting. I'm aware this is harsh but if you actually have a degree in communications and were a fan of this guy you should be embarrassed by this and use it as a serious learning opportunity.

[@AnotherAndrea]

Once my husband was like, "Hey, I watched that video you sent me. It was pretty good." And I'm like, "I sent that video to you a year ago!" His watch later list is out of control.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

I wish I didn't feel this so much.

[@xxProjectJxx]

I'm not a part of the LGBT community, and I had never even heard of James Somerton before hbomberguy's video, but I'm still shocked by how utterly brazen he was, and by how long he got away with it despite that.

[@Lexi_Zone]

He stole from small queer creators, and small queer creators are sadly easy to silence. We know we'll get harassed, even if we're in the right.

[@TheRodentMastermind]

@@Lexi_Zone It does feel an issue with KZbin that it's so easy to put a wall between your followers and any dissent. Multiple people saw the issue, called him out on it, and he just blocked them and deleted the result, then claimed they were threatening him.

[@otsoko66]

@@Lexi_Zone He started off by stealing from dead gay creators and then branched out from there -- I made comments on a couple of his early videos pointing out the major sources of his plagiarism (I had the books on my shelf) and linking to the books -- but the posts just got deleted.

[@omensoffate]

What do you do in the community?

[@nomindseye]

@@omensoffate I'm also not in the community either. But like any sensible person, I listen to people from other communities and backgrounds to get an idea what's going on. Everyone should get out of their own echo chambers. Also, I'm here because I watch to hbomber since year stone and spear, and I also occasionally watch to Council of Geeks videos.

[@angiep2229]

This is a great takeaway. I hadn't thought about it until HBomberguy brought it up, but I realize now that quotes need to be visually cited in the video, not just verbally, because of the possibility of accessing them out of context. I've learned a lot here. I hope this is a step toward making things better for us all.

[@GrayYeonWannabe]

because i listen to videos mostly rather that watch them, tbh i assumed he had been doing that bc... why would you not 🤦‍♂️ i guess i rly should start watching bc same thing happened w iilluminaughtii (altho i stopped watching her when the content mill really revved up, i had already noticed some p weird errors at that point)

[@angiep2229]

@@GrayYeonWannabe H.Burgerguy has another, way shorter video about Illuminaughtii up now. I just didn't have any idea. She was not a favorite of mine, because her delivery didn't really keep me engaged. But I was one of many people who had no idea how shady she was until this past April when everything hit the fan.

[@basicindiebro]

Fantastic rule of thumb from Harris about what if something gets taken out of context. It’s great.

[@mxpants4884]

​@@angiep2229 I think I probably assumed that she was working with a team of writers... or maybe didn't think about it at all. My big takeaway from this has been that I should think about how frequently people are putting out videos relative to the number of books (and research) they are claiming has gone into each of them. I did appreciate that hbomberguy specifically said that he's not faulting the audience for believing stuff. I think it's important to avoid the tempting retcon of "I realized there was a problem". Another thing I will try to keep more explicitly in mind in the future: What is this person's expertise? How are they sharing it with me? (Do they highlight areas where they don't know something for sure, or possibly even CAN'T know something? Kaz Rowe has done a lot to improve my understanding of how history sourcing works.) [Tangent from queer history] I went on a huge binge of archeology content when I had my most recent bout of Rona, and miniminuteman does a lot of bite sized chunks both debunking/dunking on the ancient aliens/pseudo scientific crowd, while explaining why it's such a toxic and racist way to dismiss the competence and intelligence of "primitive" societies.

[@angiep2229]

@@mxpants4884 I had thought the same thing about Illuminaughtii! I'd heard she had ghost writers. So that makes it somewhat surprising to me how much of her content is just ripped off. It leads me to wonder what her staff actually does. Just the video editing? I agree with your take-away here. Really everything you've said here is great. Kyle Hill and Simon Whistler also dunk on the ancient aliens crap a lot, for the reasons you've mentioned. On the topic of frequency, Kyle Hill's new stuff comes out once a week or so, which seems reasonable. Simon has several channels and is really prolific, but he's very transparent about having a team or writers and researchers, and he makes it clear that he's reading their script, so I feel like he's fairly trustworthy. I'm just rambling at this point if that wasn't already obvious, but I really appreciate everything you've said here.

[@DrewDesign]

James did NOT pass my smell test. BUT... I initially found hm through his impassioned JK Rowling video and I found it so moving, so REAL, that it made me look past his self-important air, his laughably slick title sequences (where his self-creditations might as well read 'Un film de Somerton') and his overall pomposity. 'SURE', I thought, 'he's clearly got delusions of grandeur, but anyone willing to be that raw on camera about a creator he used to love can't be ALL bad, can he?' I stuck around. The quality of his writing pulled me in and kept me there. It even made me overlook some odd outbursts, such as the rant about Nebula & his constant begging for money. But now it transpires that the writing was never his. And that JK Video? it was one of the titles that turned red in HBomberguys essay. I didn't listen to my instincts and I got suckered GOOD by this guy. I feel pretty stupid.

[@leonkfox3606]

I want to know where he plagiarised the JK Rowling video from because yeah, it was so raw and emotional and was what suckered me in as well, so I can relate.

[@DrewDesign]

@@leonkfox3606 i don’t know how much of it was plagiarised- it wasn’t one of the focused upon essays. Maybe most of it was him. Maybe not. I guess we’ll never know now.

[@dodixaverius9176]

@@leonkfox3606 i think someone on twitter had come out about it and hbomberguy do a retweet. What's sad was, even the one who are not marked does not mean it was free from it, it could alse meant that the source on the topic no longer exist.

[@christineherrmann205]

I didn't think that was one that turned red. That sucks; that's the one that caught me, too.

[@K.C-2049]

it was a really good essay to be fair! I enjoyed that one as well (and by enjoyed I don't mean enjoyed - I just felt it), tried to watch a few more from him but they were just lacking the passion, and the off colour remarks about women really grated on me.

[@modelmajorpita]

I think the biggest takeaway from Somerton, and also AVGN and Illuminaughtii, is that if you see someone is putting out a lot of videos to the point where you wonder how they can make so many videos so fast, you really should wonder how they manage the quantity of videos at the quality you are seeing. It's not impressive it's a red flag.

[@Alias_Anybody]

With the latter two, we knew they had writing teams behind them, but not how large the group of writers actually was. This majorly obfuscates things. Especially considering that with AVGN, it wasn't Rolfe but his writer who was stealing without the former's knowledge, while with Sommerton it was the other way around.

[@celisewillis]

Don't forget Internet Historian! He didn't even have the shame to rearrange the texts of his Concordia or Cave videos 😅 just read the article into the camera

[@andrewmathewson341]

I've been burned by KZbinrs that I loved but turned out to be dodgy three times now. First it was Dream, then Blair. But this one hurts even more as a young (ish, early 20's) queer fan of James. To think the person who'd introduced me to so much queer history in media/analysis of queer themes has turned out to be such a blatant plagiarizer is a real gutpunch. He's talked about the negative stereotype of gay villains, but has become one himself. I haven't seen H's or Todd's videos yet but I trust them and when I feel like I'm emotionally ready, I'll give them a watch.

[@Pooglian]

​@@ravenwilliams7636LOL, here we are somehow recommending the OP watch the opposite videos for different but (IMO) equally valid reasons. 😅

[@Pooglian]

🤔 Is KZbin not showing me everything in the thread, or did my first reply (recommending Todd's video) get eaten? I've had that happen when I tried to link to things, but not with plain posts like this before...

[@tetitous]

I can say that Hbomberguy's video has a pretty long intro, so you'll be eased into the situation, but Blair is also mentioned, so take your time with it

[@thewanderers97]

​@@PooglianI can confirm your first reply got nommed by youtube

[@Pooglian]

@@thewanderers97 That's bothersome. I basically just recommend Todd's video because it's focused more on the made up "facts" than the plagiarism (and is shorter) and also recommended Matt Baume's channel as a better source for queer history. Hopefully this one doesn't get similarly eaten...

[@tommylakindasorta3068]

I appreciate that you pointed out how we're all capable of being fooled. There's no ironclad method to prevent ourselves from being taken in by a slick operator, but remembering how easy it is to be fooled can help.

[@ItWasSaucerShaped]

james randi was such a good communicator on that topic, when he was around. he would open almost all of his talks by immediately fooling the audience in a low-stakes manner, and then use that as the bridge to talking about how being fooled isn't as much of a problem as refusing to accept that you were fooled you will be tricked sometimes; it can't be helped. but you can also discover you were tricked, and that comes much easier once you tame your ego and invite the possibility that neither you nor anyone else is or can ever be made to be immune to being tricked

[@beybladebaby]

Are you saying we are not immune to propaganda

[@REvoLverj98]

As someone who has fooled with the false ProJared allegations, as well as someone on the autism spectrum (no, I don't care if it's an outdated system,) the feeling of being fooled is punishment enough. Some people really need to chill and not resort to literal death threats if they disagree with someone else

[@MossMothMyBeloved]

@@REvoLverj98 Not very familiar with ASD, why is it outdated?

[@booluther]

If you’re looking for a great queer video essayist, go check out Matt Baume. He mainly focuses on queer pop culture history and it is always very well researched from what I can tell. And he cites things properly including on screen

[@Dani_77709]

I would also like to add Kaz Rowe.

[@Leo-Galaxy]

I recommend Rowan Ellis

[@ohdarah]

yes!@@Dani_77709

[@MsSarahJosephine]

He's also just the complete antithesis of mood to Someton's - I actually feel like Im in a good mood and have hope for the lgbt movement and world at large by the end of his videos.

[@ellagage1256]

Matt Baume was how I found out that Kevin Conroy was gay. His videos about queer history have such a hopeful vibe in comparison to the videos James "wrote"

[@lousielouise8716]

I don't know if James abused confirmation bias so much as he abused his audience's good faith. It's good that, generally speaking, people do not assume other people are lying. Having trust and faith in people who ask for that trust and faith is a vital part of building community. I think what Hbomb and Todd did is a really good way to handle the situation of an authority figure misbehaving. In communities built on good faith, it's necessary to have *abundant* and detailed evidence of bad faith, compiled and put in a public place. This is the purpose that used to be served by "content cop" videos. This is how communities stay alive and resilient-- by enforcing norms. James got "called in" by people in his audience. He had chances to address it. And when that failed, he got run off the platform by people in his community. Self-enforcing norms is good. It's kind of wild west of Internet justice on a for profit platform-- I think Hbomb and Todd gave James due process.

[@BeautifulEarthJa]

Indeed. I think it was more about 'appeal to authority' fallacy (he's gay and he's talking/presenting in an 'intellectual' way) rather than confirmation bias.

[@blackosprey2219]

He can do both!

[@jdkessey]

A sad thing about it is that it feels and to a certain we wanted to believe him. Unfortunately, the world is more complicated then that.

[@BeautifulEarthJa]

@@blackosprey2219 agreed. But as someone with little knowledge of his topics he wasn't confirming anything I knew other than gays were (and still are) treated poorly in most countries. So for me personally, I thought I was learning new things and I guess some of them were true...just plagiarised.

[@goopah]

Yes, hbomber and Todd handled it right. However both of them put a TON of work to make their cases, similar to what lawyers would need to do. And that kind of work still only brought down one bad actor (maybe a couple others as well, but those got overshadowed a bit). There are a lot of these "content mills" out there, farming KZbin for money, and these kinds of research pieces cannot be done for each one of them. Instead, the viewer needs to be more critical of what they are watching.

[@thomasdegroat6039]

I think the James Somerton situation is an excellent case study as to why video essays are not respected by academics even while we have excellent essayists like Philosophy Tube or ContraPoints. It’s just too easy to skip citations and since there’s no review process, you have to rely on layman to catch it. Just don’t put the citation on the screen or description and no one’s going to notice that it’s missing. However, in published papers, it’s very noticeable when an in-text citation is missing. It’s one of the first things you’re trained in in academic writing.

[@Laurabeck329]

Also both Contrapoints and Phylosophy Tube have degrees in phylosophy and have actually done academic writing before. James is a business major

[@TimothyCHenderson]

"I think we forget sometimes, how much professional appearance and confident presentation can trick us into just accepting someone's authority" Say it again and again. Anyone who's had exposure to professional business culture (corporate America) knows this is the life blood of the industry. The backbone of modern grift culture.

[@HaShomeret]

"I didn't feel like prettying myself up" as an NB, I am obessed with this look. The hat, the vest, the shirt, the nails. Omg so good. And the ring.

[@JabberWicki]

And the lipstick!! 😍

[@CouncilofGeeks]

That's actually my natural lip color.

[@JabberWicki]

@@CouncilofGeeks Oh I'm sorry! Mine are so colorless and bland without lipstick, so I apologize for the assumption

[@knitandcatboodle]

As someone relatively new to learning about LGTBQ+ history, especially as it pertains to media, I just trusted James at face value. I'm glad that Hbomberguy and Todd in the Shadows put out the videos they did and also showed other content creators that I can follow. I'm also really excited to read Tinker Belles and the Evil Queens and Celluloid Closet (two things James did ctrl+c, ctrl+v in his essays).

[@tananario]

Eh. Read up on Celluloid Closet first.

[@mastelsa]

If you like the medium of video essays, you should check out Rowan Ellis and Kaz Rowe for queer media analysis and history. Both are good communicators with interesting ideas, and they actually read and watch (and cite) the things they're discussing.

[@mikeymullins5305]

Good luck getting your hands on celluloid

[@elif6908]

If you can please buy the books, but they’re easy to find in e-book formats if you know where to look. I wish I lived in US or Europe and could buy these books but as it is I got them as e-books.

[@MarshmallowAlien]

It is really annoying that I learned in school from teachers that in order to avoid plagiarism that all I need to do is "put it in my own words."

[@JenniSeven7]

This is actually the biggest personal takeaway I had from Harris' video. You can't actually put each sentence into your own words. You have to understand the topic so well that you can produce the whole thing with your own words and structure.

[@MarshmallowAlien]

@@JenniSeven7 Same with me too! I'm glad I learned now instead of later, especially since I'm just starting college.

[@CampingforCool41]

@@JenniSeven7tbh when you’re in middle/high school it’s pretty hard to do the research and internalize all the facts to the point where you can write your own synthesis of them because the time frame between learning topics is way too short and there’s not enough time. Which just leads to shallow understanding and soft plagiarism being used to cope.

[@starrychan33]

I was burned really bad by James Somerton, not only did I donate money when he made the sob story about his mother's life insurance not getting paid out and then increased my donation when he made the video about how his channel was struggling and he might not be able to continue making his videos, I have also unknowingly spread misinformation from him. As someone who has read a lot of queer theory the vast majority of what he said made sense and was decent with most of the conclusions. This is because he was pulling directly from queer theory without properly citing the authors and other contributors, But as someone who was familiar with these concepts and some of the material I recognized it and knew that at least most of it was solid, so I assumed the rest of it was also at least mostly solid. Now I'm mortified that I've accidentally spread misinformation, I had even cited his lie on Rocky Horror Picture Show saving Fox last week

[@jdkessey]

It's a very unique pain to deal with. Thankfully I dodged him because I prefer to read these things rather than watch a video on it. Its easier to see errors and it feels more personal in regards to memoirs. Don't beat yourself up over it. Your curiosity is a good step in the right direction

[@photofreak56]

You shouldn't feel bad for falling for someone's bulshit. Your reaction to wanting to help someone that you admired and trusted while they talked about going through a hard time shows that you have compassion for other people. I'm just sorry that you got burned it's shity that you had to go through that and I'm really sorry

[@oleeb4279]

I mainly support queer creators on Patreon, Somerton was one of them, not anymore. What I used to give to him, now goes to someone else. He has cheated his supporters, exploited the talent of other creators, and done it all by mainly using the support of the queer community. He has done a lot of damage with this, I think people's trust will suffer significantly, mine certainly will. Thanks for the video.

[@lukesmith556]

What did he do?

[@marocat4749]

alexander avira former are they gay is great , and maven of the eventide if you like vampires or horror :O given todds remarks james pissed her off too, she is eliza

[@Pokemonleafmon]

​@@lukesmith556TLDR lots of plagiarism

[@oleeb4279]

​@@lukesmith556kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3XTZJZ4ast7jrMsi=gJUwiRgyu0eRaC5m The 2nd half of this video explains lot of it.

[@vvitch-mist20]

I remember him complaining about not having enough Patreon supports and how his work was "hard to make" his videos and such. I remember giving him support and thought about supporting his Patreon but after these videos I will not be doing that.

[@Noxofspades-lh7bj]

Not only did i feel like an idiot for blindly accepting what he said, but i feel so upset about how many times i ignored my gut instincts that something was wrong about James . Cuz I've been horribly gaslit by my family and society that i was inferior to everyone around me. Every time i felt something was off with James' opinions and information, I'd think "I'm being too sensitive. He is older, more put together." This especially happened when he talked about women. I noticed he contradicted himself, but then let it slide cuz i didn't want to be nitpicky. I thought how ppl are inconsistent at times. How I'm more inconsistent than the average person cuz of mental and physical disabilities. So i didn't want to be a hypocrite. I had to give ppl benefit of the doubt. I'm queer but not biologically male. And so when he talked about gay male topics and it felt off, i told myself i had no right to doubt and question him. I wasn't a gay man so he was immediately more knowledgeable on this than i was.

[@searchingfororion]

I want to reply to this for a few reasons (one of which is that no one else has), secondly - and I know it's harder than it sounds - *please* don't blame yourself regarding the toxic actions of others. I'm going to share something with you: My background is in Psychology. I've been at it for over 20 years. Here's the thing: I had no idea. I keep seeing all of these people talk about "when they knew something wasn't right" (now statistically I'd say it's unrealistic 100% are telling the truth, but it's embarrassing to admit being fooled). I had no idea. Observing and analyzing human behavior is *what I do* and I had no idea. My point is; you're ahead of most of us. There is absolutely nothing about your trauma or disabilities that made you "fail" to see trick. I frequently talk people through how to spot deception and microagressions and *I still didn't notice it.* The only "faults" you made were trying to respect someone else's unique experience as well intentioned and questioning your inital instincts because you wanted to give the same understanding to someone else that *you* deserve. That's it. You were manipulated. So were numerous others. That *is NOT* a personal failure. I know this was long but I wanted you to know that.

[@mikaylaeager7942]

@@searchingfororion This is a very kind comment. Thank you for taking the time to put it out there. ❤ I was also fooled right up until the HBG video. I was even skeptical going into the video. If it hadn’t been recommended by other creators I liked and trusted I may even have dismissed it as an over blown Lindsey Ellis type controversy. I’m glad I watched it even though it made me feel like an idiot for ignoring so many things that I remember bothering me when I heard them.

[@searchingfororion]

@@mikaylaeager7942 Your comment is incredibly kind as well. Thank you for posting this. Your comment massively improved my day. Anyone can troll, but I try to do something positive for someone else every day. While it may seem small, a YT comment can be exactly what someone needs. (Just like how yours was for me - but I don't do it for acknowledgement or praise, I just want people to feel seen and heard.) I found out in an unrelated YT comment about James, and even then my brain went into such hard denial it took several re-readings to absorb they were referring to *THAT* James Sommerton. I'm going to post some recommendations, but on an untagged comment so OP an others can see it as well. (I really hope you watch Sara's - I think you'll like it. Also if you liked what James pretended to do I recommend her video on Pleasantville)

[@searchingfororion]

For further viewing I recommend Todds video (his approach makes a nice pallette cleanser after the Hbomberguy one - it's the "spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down" that helps start coping.) Then Sara at The Fat Culture Critic (it's body positivity) did a response talking about how she was fooled by James. She goes into the red flags and why she kept excusing them.

[@mikaylaeager7942]

@@searchingfororion That’s a lovely philosophy. I try to do the same. I also have a policy of never keeping a positive thought I have about someone to myself. I’m familiar with Sara. I’ll give her video a watch!

[@bekkers29]

I've actually watched a couple of his videos, and he said at least one thing I knew was incorrect in both of them. I found that concerning, so I didn't watch any more of his videos. It is genuinely alarming to consider how many people didn't know that he was getting things wrong.

[@ArrowOdenn]

The incorrect information that got me was: Neil Gaiman nervously asked Terry Pratchett if they could work on Good Omens together. Both discussed this in multiple places (including Neil's website). Neil had written the beginning and asked his writer friends to look it over. Sometime later Terry phoned Neil and said he had some ideas. Did Neil want to sell the premise to him or write it together? '"Write it together," I said, because I was not stupid and because that was the nearest I was ever going to get to Michaelangelo phoning to ask if I wanted to paint a ceiling with him.'

[@doug7897]

More alarming: people like me who for god knows what reason just... kept watching. I'm realising I've raised an eyebrow at a few things in his videos but never did anything about it.

[@TheWesterlyWarlock]

Same here. I was intrigued by the first one I watched because I enjoy charismatic people doing queer critique of things. Then I started to get bothered by how many things he was saying without any sourcing. Then I began to suspect he was just making things up and borrowing things from other people's work without giving credit so I told KZbin to stop recommending the channel to me.

[@GrayYeonWannabe]

i think i overlooked a lot of his misogyny bc 1) i dont watch all of his stuff and 2) some of the stuff he has been criticized for re: straight women in ""yaoi"" (fanfic and web comics) spaces perfectly aligns with my experiences as a transmasc bi man trying to read gay stories. ofc some str8 women do an excellent job, and his inclusion of the author of that tv show that is bi is really gross. idk, i dont wanna understate his misogyny but i think burried in there (from other ppl's work no doubt) is a subject that there has been a lot of discourse around for at least a decade (which is when i was introduced to it) edit: re: incorrect info, legit everything that i watched of his where i might have noticed an error, the info was completely out of my wheelhouse so i would have had no idea, rip

[@Xanthe_Cat]

I had the same experience, of noticing some point being badly wrong and misrepresented in the very first video of his I watched, and in retrospect this made me unwilling to watch anything else of his. I went back to look at it and the point he gets wrong appears to be one of the few parts of the video which isn’t plagiarised.

[@Claeleth]

I feel almost lucky that the first video of his I was recommended contained some weird ass takes on asexuality. As an ace person myself I basically went "He has no idea what he is talking about" and told youtube to not recommend him to me anymore. However, if he didn't get stuff wrong that had to do with my personal experience and a community I know and care about, I do think I could have been fooled. His presentation really made it seem like he was knowledegable

[@frmaha]

I felt similarly. I found that video so odd. The thing that bothered me the most (if I remember correctly) was that he claimed that because he wasn’t hypersexual and had to like someone to be sexually attracted to them, and hypersexuality is a stereotype of gay men…so that must mean he’s asexual? Sure, maybe he is demisexual, but the whole thing just sounded like he wanted to make the issue about him.

[@jaybee4118]

Yeah, as a cis woman, I’m pretty sure that part of the reason I didn’t get into watching him was because I bristled at something I felt was a little misogynist. I wasn’t keen on his style anyway but I stopped watching because, though I wasn’t sure if I was really reading it right as misogyny it added to my feeling I didn’t like his style much. I didn’t think too much about it though as misogyny is so common I can’t get angry about every little instance I see or hear. Something about asexuality might have gone straight over my head though. I hope not as I try to keep myself educated despite being 50, but it’s definitely possibly, but it is so easy to miss it when it’s not close to home.

[@lowkeyproductions6681]

The thing is that I am so used to bad takes and misinformation about asexuality even from knowledgeable queer people, I (an asexual) actually gave him a pass for this one. With too many people thinking that asexuality doesn’t even exist, the bar is unfortunately on the floor.

[@Ollie_Unlikely]

I feel that. The thing that tipped me off was him giving conflicting information on asexuality, especially in later videos when he had an opportunity to correct his information and just… didn’t. That was really weird and in hindsight it makes a lot of sense. *sigh*. I just wish people would look into asexuality more before acting like they’re so special for talking about us.

[@SimberPlays]

Was it the one about the queer erasure of asexuality? I was recommended that one first as an ace person and was like....what?

[@bethoraathkorius7005]

Thank you. I wasn't a die hard Somerton fan, but I did watch his videos and enjoyed them, too. I wasn't very attached to him so I wasn't as hurt as some of the other fans were, but it did shock me that he managed to pass my "bullshit" meter. I love the majority of the subjects he talked about and on some I have even professional knowledge. That's why Todd's video shook me more than hbomber's. I'm not a native English speaker, so the theft of other people's work managed to pass me by, but the multitude and multitude of facts he got wrong? That one got me, especially when Todd used clips I watched myself and either excused James' mistakes, or thought he presented something new I haven't heard of before. I kept thinking and thinking how could I fall for this? I usually have a good nose for liars, especially of the Somerton like levels of bullshit. In watching your video I realised that yeah, you're right! His presentation as an intelectual got me. His calm way of speaking and professional presenting were the resons I let it all slide. Even the misoginy, which I gas lit myself into thinking I imaganied. Someone in the comments on Todd's video pointed to an instance of acephobia, which, being ace myself and having had (and still have, sadly) people doing it to me I'm very sensitive to. Yet, I didn't clock it with Somerton. Only in hindsight, after reading that comment.

[@christineherrmann205]

This is the closest to my experience I've seen, except I also recommended several of his videos, and I feel bad about that.

[@mikaylaeager7942]

Don’t feel too bad. He plagiarized the majority of “work” for respected queer creators. So it was good and legitimate stuff. It just wasn’t his.

[@mikaylaeager7942]

Also as an ace person myself who aspires to be sex-positive, I have a unfortunate habit of giving highly sex-focused people a pass. I have a hard time distinguishing between allo folks seeming obsession with sex and body/sex positivity in a healthy way and inappropriate acephobic behavior.

[@jackskellingtonsora]

The anti-ace thing was when he said that only the "boring queers" survived the AIDS crisis. Which is just so fucked up on so many levels, not just for the acephobia. Asexual gay people are "boring" now, I guess.

[@bethoraathkorius7005]

@@jackskellingtonsoraYeah, I know. I even remember thinking it was an insensitive thing to say... I talked with my sister about it and she also remembers thinking it was cruel. And STILL... we let it slide! The rollercoaster of emotions I've gone through since Sunday - shock, anger, shame... There are moments when I feel so dumb, then angry at myself for not checking certain things. I don't have Twitter (it was never that hot in my country), and I mostly listen to KZbin on my phone, but not through the app, but on Chrome browser, where you can't see the community posts. But I WOULD have looked into the plagiarism accusations if I watched "About those death threats video!". The thing is, I didn't want to watch it. I didn't want to hear another queer person suffering through hate, assuming that it was the regular suspects and that I'll just watch James' next video to make up for the negativity. I don't watch streams either, so I missed the chat and talks about it there, too. I know a lot about vampire lore, including the queer analysis present in some of the works, so I put off watching that video, a video where it would have been impossible to not see the factual mistakes he made. I feel so much shame over the fact that I got duped. And mind you, I was never a hardcore fan. I haven't even watched all of his videos, because I would sometimes find his delivery boring (gee, I wonder why?) and I never gave him money. Seeing through what I'm going, I can't even imagine how the more invested fans feel right now. My heart goes out to all of them.

[@Geospasmic]

Never forget, confidence is the "con" in "con artist".

[@Leo-Galaxy]

*If you're looking for LGBTQ content creators who are actually reliable, I recommend Matt Baume, Rowan Ellis and Alexander Avila.*

[@FOJO27]

I'd like to add Khadija Mbowe, Kaz Rowe, Verity Ritchie

[@mastelsa]

+1 for Rowan Ellis--I haven't seen her included on a ton of these lists. I became a Patreon donor for her when one of Somerton's videos made me think, "Rowan made this point and did it way better and more thoughtfully--I should go support her."

[@Thegoofygobber]

Here to recommend Jessie Gender, One Topic At a Time, and Jamie Dodger Edit: I thought of more: Philosophy Tube, Sam Collins, Cops Hate Moe

[@bettyp5669]

Yeees

[@youshouldreadmore6382]

@@Thegoofygobber Not to be that pedantic person, but One Topic at a Time isn't LGBTQ, he's straight. He is pretty based, though and deserves the support.

[@fionatastic0.070]

I think one of the other issues that made me miss Somerton’s lack of intersectionality is the issue of people being half-right. Like cishet women fetishizing gay men isn’t a non-issue. On the other hand, neither is gay men being misogynistic. There’s like this phenomenon of people using intersectional language to be non-intersectional. Like I see a bunch of men say white women instead of just women to pretend like their being anti-racist when they’ve said something that’s just straight up misogynistic. I think that’s why I didn’t pick up on the misogyny, acephobia, etc. in the clips of his videos that I saw, even when he didn’t show examples, because I’d seen it before.

[@carolscarlette]

Thanks so much for putting into words what ive been feeling.

[@JohnBainbridge0]

I'm a little disappointed with myself for just eating his content uncritically, but I'm obviously more disappointed with Somerton. But I'm most disappointed with Nick Hergott (Somerton's co-writer). "I don't do research." WTactualF, Nick?!

[@danielbroome5690]

Eh, at the same time, he doesn't seem to have done anything personally wrong, and if he's not being paid to research things, he shouldn't be doing extra work without extra pay. Personally, I say not guilty in his case. Personally, I'm going to blame the actual plagiarist rather than the person he conned into believing he was doing his own work/writing.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

I'd say there's blame to go around. Nick may not have been aware of the plagiarism but he seemed fully aware that big chunks and key claims had literally no supporting evidence. You can argue it wasn't his job to do research but if he knows that James wasn't sourcing anything and he's writing stuff that he's not sourcing either then he's knowingly contributing to the problem.

[@JohnBainbridge0]

@@danielbroome5690 Nick also admitted that he often wrote based on his intuitions... Basically he just made stuff up and passed it off as fact. Having watched a lot of James and Nick's livestreams, I know Nick was more responsible for the scripts than James. James was the face of the channel and the director, but Nick was the voice.

[@JohnBainbridge0]

I should clarify the above that James was also the creative director. He came up with the video ideas and did write drafts, but Nick did the bulk of the writing and editing.

[@ContextWrench]

@@JohnBainbridge0 shades of Illuminaghtii ugh. all the worst ways. Their partnership seems complicated I hope Nick is ok too, whatever his role was

[@SarahJo]

The thing I appreciate most about this video is you critiquing yourself about your citations. I think in general people need to be able to look at ourselves critically and not go "OMG I"M SO HORRIBLE FOR THIS!" but just be able to go "oh, I could do x thing better, I'm gonna try to do that" and it's not a big deal. I applaud you for that.

[@K.C-2049]

right? it reminds me of the knee jerk reaction to hear a joke avout your race or sexuality or gender as a member of the social majority. you can sit there and get defensive and go I DON'T DO THAT @NOTALLWHATEVER or you can be like "I don't think I've done that, but I should definitely try to question that bias if my brain ever does think that." I'm an obnoxiously self reflective person, but yeah dang a lot of folks really don't seem to like looking inward :(

[@nemoignorat2443]

I usually don't watch your content as something I should fact check since most of it is so much opinion (which is why I come here, I want your opinion on a movie/TV show etc.). But I also appreciate it when creators either have a doc file in the description with the sources or directly in the video. I can always pause the video and read it better/easier. But as an academic, I really love it when creators show their sources.

[@oftinuvielskin9020]

Both in the video and as a list is best, since that means it is easy to find the research whether you're currently watching or coming back to a video. That is also closer to academic standards.

[@KarolYuuki]

I prefer it a lot when they have a doc with all the links l, cause it's way easier to access after you've seen the video than trying to remember when they mentioned something and going back to note it down and search.

[@thriftyfibres]

A thing that drives me nuts as an academic is when creators put their references behind a paywall. I get it, creators should be paid for their work. But especially when talking about something historical or divisive, claiming the authority of research without letting people see your research is just a cheap appeal to authority. Personal bugbear. I've stopped following creators because of that.

[@austinluther5825]

​@thriftyfibres You mean a link to a paper in a journal that you need to pay for? Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of that. I appreciate when creators who use paid journals also include an article discussing the paper or something like that. I've seen Tom Nicholas do that.

[@voidify3]

I remember a while ago being uncomfortable with his uncharitable characterisation of women and girls who explore their sexuality through content about male-male relationships. I left a comment about how it’s valid to want to explore sexual thoughts without the emotional exhaustion of thinking about how gender and sexism factor into a hetero story (or even a lesbian story). And honestly I made it more measured than I perhaps should have, because I didn’t want to come off as invalidating a gay man’s opposition to the actual fujoshi types who actually do embarrassing homophobic things. But now I know that this stance of his was based in a pattern of misogyny (and might have been copy pasted from a blog post anyway) I feel vindicated

[@jomaq9233]

I think he was trying to make an equivalence to the whole “straight men fetishizing lesbians” phenomenon, but really missed the mark on that

[@anierrn6935]

hi i just wanted to say that your comment made me realize why i too enjoy male-male relationships in media (and have read a ton of fanfiction in this area) despite being a straight(-ish) woman. so uhmm thank you

[@FirstnameLastname-zq8oy]

@@jomaq9233 straight women fetishizing gay men definitely does exist though, im a woman myself and Ive seen it happen quite alot ESPECIALLY in fandom communities online. Not saying that any straight girl reading queer romance / smut between two guys is automatixally fetishizing them, but it would also be disingenuous to act like it isnt a significant problem. The problem is that James used that as an excuse to mischaracterize straight women in general and hate on them.

[@FirstnameLastname-zq8oy]

if gender and sexism factor into lesbian stories, they definitely also factor into stories about gay male relationships as well though. Idk if you meant gender and sexism in general, or gender and sexism specifically against women, but even in fiction about gay male reationships its not uncommon for the one whos the "bottom", or the "submissive" one, to be written as highly feminised and basically just a self-insert for a woman. Not all gay male stories are like this of course, but ive noticed that the prevelance of these gender roles and gender stereotypes (i.e. one person in the relationship being stereotypically masculine and the other person in the relationship being stereotypically feminine) are still fairly common in fiction about gay male relationships.

[@voidify3]

@@FirstnameLastname-zq8oy the difference is the exhausting emotional labour of writing characters who experience disempowerment under patriarchy in the same way that you the author or reader do. True the bottom is sometimes a reader insert but he doesn’t have to deal with gender creating a power dynamic between him and his boyfriend Also yeah I was more measured than I should have been because I know that fujoshi types who genuinely fetishise do exist and are annoying and embarrassing

[@bookworm209]

Feeling uncomfortable about disliking something that "bad" people don't like or that people are disliking for unfair reasons is such a relatable feeling. The first example that comes to mind for me is the movie Turning Red. I didn't like it for a mix of purely subjective reasons (I've never enjoyed classic teenage girl fangirling over celebrities even when I was a teenager girl whose friends were doing it) and more objective reasons (plot issues), but when I learned about the controversy about people hating on it I was suddenly very wary of saying anything negative about it. And that's just a movie! Going up against a popular creator in the age of Internet hate mobs is terrifying!

[@c.w.8200]

I unsubscribed Somerton after watching a few videos here and there because as a straight woman I got sick of being hated on. As a long time fan of queer manga, anime and pretty much all media it was obvious to me that he invented a lot of straight women hatred against gay media for whatever reason, who tf knows with him. Never experienced anything like that from other LGBTQ creators. I'm especially fond of Kaz Rowe, they should have a million followers, I think their research is impeccable.

[@carolscarlette]

Hi friend. I'm sorry for what happened. We need more curious allies like you and we genuinely appreciate your solidarity. You didn't deserve to be alienated. His words hurt me too, even though I'm not straight. I was vaguely uncomfortable by how he talked about women but I didn't recognize it as misogyny. Watching all this come crashing down for him was a little vindicating for me because now I don't feel like i was crazy to feel so uncomfortable by him.

[@Twat_Dirt]

Why do you straight women support gay men so much when they hate you guys? I’ve even seen you girls go as far as to defend their misogyny.

[@NateDHWT2023]

I think it's worth interrogating as well that Somerton felt he'd get away with misogyny in the lefttube space so long as he largely directed it at 'fangirls' and alike. Like, what does it say about the spaces he was trying to enter that he thought that would be accepted? Especially as, in my opinion, a good chunk of lefttube have a pretty disdainful attitude towards fandoms in general that comes off as a little... smugly superior. I think it comes from a place of wanting fandom spaces to interrogate their own behaviour at time (Sterling is right 'the fanbase is exhausting') but does not mix very well with the lefttube snark sometimes.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

Yeah, that is worth looking into. My own read on that is two-fold. Going anecdotally (mostly from the comments I'm seeing on this very video) the misogyny seems to have been a pretty common reason for people to bounce off of him, so I think it'd be an overstatement to say it was fully accepted. However, going past that we're left with a situation where it went largely unchallenged (at least in any sizable way) and I see three likely factors in that. 1) Some people didn't like it but liked everything else he said enough that they were willing to overlook it. 2) Some people worried that calling it out would get them dogpiled. 3) Some people either wholly agreed or at least accepted these things. It's impossible to know what the percentages would be on that, but all are problems to varying degrees. And it's difficult to know how to address them, because I don't think "more callouts" as a blanket approach is going to be healthy in the long term. Especially as some ostensible leftists already seem more eager to weaponize accountability against others on the left than challenge the right (I did a whole other video on that earlier this year).

[@tananario]

@@CouncilofGeeksOr. People not wanting to bring up the misogyny that so many gay men indulge in.

[@NateDHWT2023]

@@CouncilofGeeks I agree, I think the reality is his misogyny was always going to be rejected, but I do think there are behaviours and attitudes that can create that illusion that maybe need to be analysed but definitely not in a call out but more in a 'I think we all need to pause and reflect on our own attitudes towards this'. It's a learning experience on many levels.

[@amw6846]

...not just that he thought it would be accepted, it WAS accepted.

[@Badficwriter]

The fan community is international, and some are coming from communities where homosexuality is not accepted or persecuted. I think things are better than they were 20 years ago. There is some unpleasant history.

[@llamacj]

I was a supporter and fan of JS for his video essays on different manhwa/manga/anime, interview with the vampire and gay film history. I am a straight black woman and I want to support lgbtq creators because the world really needs their stories and perspectives. So this was a bit of a blow. I will learn from this experience. At least, I still have Kat Blaque, Contrapoints and Princess Weekes. I will search for others.

[@ukchanak]

Hbomberguy ends his video with 10+ other queer creators to follow. I searched them all on youtube and am following them.

[@nilladrawsstuff]

I recommend Alexander Avila !! ＼⁠(⁠^⁠o⁠^⁠)⁠／

[@alim.9801]

I love all those other people you listed!! Jessie Gender is also awesome and I think friends/friendly with Vera :)

[@floraidh4097]

All this has been a good lesson for me. There were so many times in watching Somerton that he said things that didn't seem quite right. His misogyny was part of it and I assigned my misgivings to that. Then I saw the videos and now I realize that if it doesn't sound right I have to do my own research. Usually I only check things out when it just seems absolutely absurd.

[@leonkfox3606]

I subscribed to Somerton after his video discussing the emotional difficulties of being a lifelong Harry Potter fan after Rowling went full bigot. I don’t doubt that was genuine in terms of the sentiment…but now I’m paranoid even that may have been plagiarised. EDIT: So it turns out it was. Now I want to know where from…god fucking damn it James.

[@Grounded_Gravity]

Ugh that's the one that drew me in too! Wtf even THAT? It wasn't even academic... Like, James, you couldn't even just have one genuine opinion? 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@Appletank8]

@@Grounded_Gravity Of course he has one genuine opinion! It's misogyny.

[@Alias_Anybody]

​@@Appletank8 That was actually the most damning part. His only genuine opinion is bigotry. Thieves and bigots are a dime in a dozen on KZbin, being a perfect fusion of both is an accomplishment.

[@carolscarlette]

That was the video that the algorithm suggested to me too. I am so angry to hear it wasn't even his own writing.

[@garryd7748]

The winner out of this mess will be content creators like yourself. The LGBT+ community needs and craves authenticity. I love how open you are, and I love hearing your thoughts. I hope some of the vacuum left by the Somerton explosion gets filled by intelligent and thought provoking creators that have the voices we need to hear.

[@Unsure_Auklet]

With all the videos coming out, I'd not be supprised if Megan Phelps-Roper would invite him on her podcast called something like "The witch trials of J K Somerton"

[@emcrolls]

thats funnier than it should be to be

[@SpoopySquid]

"jk" is right lol

[@TheBonkleFox]

Watch him become the daily wire's new darling.

[@emcrolls]

ick ollie London remix you are prolly right @@TheBonkleFox

[@Unsure_Auklet]

@@TheBonkleFox Too real, please stop :S

[@HudsonMedia]

Man ‘confirmation bias’ is the most infuriating common issue with the world atm 😭 it feels like even though everyone knows about it, it somehow doesn’t affect people’s attitudes? Also love your videos on this stuff btw.

[@Przemko27Z]

Part of the issue with confirmation bias is it's often a useful default. People just assume things are true if they seem to fit their understanding of reality, because the alternative is interrogating every claim anyone makes. And even if you fact check everything, it's often gonna boil down to whose "facts" you trust more. And it seems completely reasonable from the biased person's view, because it's basically just checking if the new information aligns with one "knows" to be true.

[@devononair]

As a psychologist, I can confirm that yes, there is tons of knowledge about how thinking works that is completely ignored by most people. It feels rather futile! 🙄

[@KentuckyKaiju]

That's because we are not thinking machines. We are pattern recognition machines. If the majority of things we surround ourselves with fit our experience then it gets a pass. Breaking that pattern requires a preponderance of evidence to definitively say that the pattern isnt working, evidence we don't naturally look for since that requires great time and effort. So unless it directly affects us or someone else puts in the enormous effort to collect the necessary receipts, we don't notice. That's how brains work. That's what evolution has primed us for. Including you and me. Fighting biases takes a huge amount of vigilance and effort. They're just not things that people are equipped to fight naturally.

[@riccardoleone4265]

The lesson to take is "doubt of every video essayist that manages to pull more than 6 hours of content per year." He made an insane amount of video. One per week, almost one hour each. Where did he and his writer find the time to even watch all those just-released movies and series?

[@quinnfarris]

Don't forget that some creators have teams behind them that can help with a lot of the in-between work. Editing, research, writing, etc

[@Ellie-rx3jt]

If you assume that the two guys were both working full time on the videos, one hour a week isn't really that crazy. It's 80 hours of work for research, script writing, recording and editing. Which probably isn't a crazy long time in which to produce an hour long video essay. But probably isn't an unreasonably short timeframe either.

[@mouse9831]

​@@Ellie-rx3jtwhere did you pull that eighty from (/not suspicious, genuinely want to learn more if you have it)

[@Sl1mch1ckens]

​@@mouse9831im assuming its based on a full time job typically being 40 hours so with james and nick both helping create videos that would be 80 hours a week if we say its like full time job. Not the original commentor so im obviously assuming what they mean by 80 hours but i think this is probably what they meant.

[@Nassifeh]

@@Ellie-rx3jt They were also streaming, recording podcasts, supposedly getting a film studio going, so that's probably a little overly generous. And with media analysis--I think one of the big problems here is that 80 hours sounds like a lot, but if you assume probably max half that is for research, you run into a much bigger problem if around 30 hours of James' allotted time to work on that video has to be spent watching Attack on Titan, and that's assuming no rewinding and no pausing to take notes. There were probably more hours of the TV show Merlin than could reasonably have been devoted to the entire research process for a video, and I'm pretty sure that video wasn't just on Merlin. It'd be less of a big deal if Somerton seemed like an avid consumer of the kind of media he talks about, but he clearly wasn't. Much less suspicious that FD Signifier turned out an Attack on Titan video quickly as it ended, for example, because I assume he was just... watching it? Like a normal person. But you can't do that for every possible piece of media ever forever.

[@DerangedDurain]

James Somerton was so good at manipulating his audience (myself included), and even sneaking his misogynistic views into his videos, specifically because he mixed plagiarism and misinformation. He took the words of smart, well-respected people, passed them off on his own, and sprinkled some absurd lies and straight-women bashing between the plagiarized parts. This way, when he said something that would sound awful in isolation, it blends into the reasonable words that he stole. Because how can he be sexist when he also often uses queer media analysis to discuss strong female characters? But once you take out the media analysis, all that's left is his own "original" misogyny.

[@LadyofBakerStreet]

As a queer person I understand the impulse, even need, for queer people to put a queer lens on history. Hypothesis through speculation using one’s own unique perspective can be a great launching pad for investigation. Unfortunately it seems Somerton never made the leap to research. Maybe the informality of the internet did this to us (or maybe TV talking heads started it) but it seems like we’re losing the norms around using language that distinguishes between fact and just.. fun ideas. Not that this line hasn’t been blurred before - Somerton reminds me of Camille Paglia, who I think, similarly, has been more queer steam-of-consciousness than she is academic. That was pretty measured of me, yeah? As an AFAB person though… $&^% that guy.

[@baashasucks]

Besides the point, but... AMAB and AFAB uphold the gender binary and the concept of gender prescriptivism. - Love, an enby ❤

[@YetAnotherWittyUserName]

This is an excellent take. Thank you.

[@AdumbDriver]

The bigger problem with Somerton is that even with the lack of research any of the valid or lucrative commentary he had was also stolen. He failed to even do the smallest step of adding his own thoughts and opinions of his stolen work. The only times he had any of his own writing at length was when he told unverified anecdotes (mostly complete lies) or went on long unnecessary misogynistic rants. Everything people like about him is stolen.

[@kasia2750]

​@@AdumbDriveryea, is clear as day now, that this is the case. I was wondering how somebody can be so productive to put long video after long video after long video with only short breaks between them, but I assumed maybe he had somebody making research for him and has killer work ethic when writing. But no, he just needed to slap paragraphs stolen from others together and occasionaly make some shit up.

[@LadyofBakerStreet]

@@baashasucks Also enby here, but old and clearly behind- I suppose my perceived gender isn’t really necessary for making the quip and I could just say “as a feminist” (because I think as long as some still perceive an “F” subset of human traits we still call it feminism?) - anyway thanks for the message, I’m trying

[@ziwuri]

"I don't have the spoons for that right now, I'll get back to it when I do" is maybe the most relatable thing I've heard anyone ever say about their youtube viewing habits

[@marenjones6665]

You said, "We need to police ourselves," and I agree wholeheartedly. KZbin is not, and should not be, an enforcer of journalistic integrity. It seems to me that most large institutions are too prone to corruption at the moment; that we cannot, in our current day, rely on appeals to authority (in both senses) to promote justice, peace, or general welfare.

[@PandoRem]

I think one thing that audiences and fans really need to learn the most (me included tbh) is not to rush to defend your creators if you aren't going to actually look into what actually happened. Obviously I don't think harassment or threats are ever ok but even misinformed but well meant defence/criticism can turn into dog-piling or at the very least spreading bad misinformation about another person's character and intentions. I think the most frustrating part of Hbomberguy's video was seeing fans of James take his word at face value that the author of Love Simon ripped into him on twitter for not liking her book or actively dogpile someone with a far smaller platform into locking their account and changing their username because he weaponized his fans by saying that he received death threats and harassment. The comment showing that Becky Albertalli was upset because he referred to her as a straight woman (or at least implied she was, he read the wikipedia pages on film theory, so he surely knows about how using voice-over paired with visuals from the film of her book creates a connection in his audiences brain between what hes saying and what he's showing), seemed to be up for a while, given that Hbomb found it. Or that the twitter user he accused of stalking and harassing him was at the least pretty polite and reasonable for someone supposedly doing that and bringing up some valid criticism, which made Somerton's behaviour pretty suspicious in hindsight. This isn't me trying to blame anyone for being tricked by him. Unless they actually went out and harassed people on his behalf I think that it's understandable to have trusted Somerton and taken him at his word. I KNOW how we are all pretty defensive of queer creators (and should be, to an extent) given that harassment campaigns do happen, and I don't even think it should be a fan's responsibility to look into every bit of 'drama' that happens between people on this platform and come to their own well researched and well informed opinions on it every time- that is unreasonable. But at the very VERY LEAST, I think one take away from this we need to learn as fans is that if you are going to spread information to others about this kind of thing, and especially if you are going to contact one of the parties involved about it (especially ESPECIALLY if that contact is an emotion driven defence of someone else) you should try to be sure you know what you're talking about. It's understandable to trust the creators you like about what they say happened. It's completely understandable to not have the spoons to go digging on this kind of thing. But if we don't have those spoons or the ability to look into it, it's really not our place to comment. I try not to ever comment on that kind of thing anyways, partially because of how often it's turned out to be something like this, but I think going forward I want to be more aware of this kind of thing even if it's just how I talk about it with friends or even feel about it. Just because a creator I like says "oh yeah, this happened, this is how it went down" doesn't mean it's true, and even if I'm not in a position to look into the other side of the story, it still only is one person's word. Sorry this is so long, your vid just got me thinking about what I can learn from this as well. Thanks for the thoughtful take!

[@Badficwriter]

There is always a percentage of people gleefully waiting to self-righteously harass others in every community of sufficient size. Hbomberguy's fans had a mission to INFORM and were brigading pretty hard yesterday. I'm not a fan of the "Let's have a thousand people make the same comment joke!" spam.. The single guy suggesting Todd in the Shadows for non-plagiarism related misconduct was the only one I found useful.

[@jonathankinsman9330]

I think it's a good point to say that it's difficult to be critical of something on your own, knowing that you will be misinterpreted/represented, and to go against the grain. My parents had to move house a couple of years ago because they refused to keep their mouths shut about the horrible treatment of a couple of our neighbours by the entire village. When I asked them why they were doing this (they just made themselves the next targets and it honestly got scary at points), my Dad sat me and my siblings down and said "their will come a time in your life when doing the right thing will cost you something, and you have to decide who you want to be." Doing the right thing is sometimes very, very difficult, completely without reward and might not even change the outcome of the situation at all. That's how people get away with being called out, they try and limit the damage to a single person/group and make them look ridiculous for some reason, and then will spin it around and call harassment (am I talking about James Somerton or my parents getting run out of the village? Trick question, it's both). Going against your community is the hardest thing of all because you standing up for yourself/someone else is costing you something. That's all the more reason for us to take it seriously when someone does.

[@JohnBainbridge0]

I'm really curious how Somerton is going to react to this. Public apology? Ignore it and hope it goes away? Double down and go on the attack? Quietly disappear from the internet? Buy a fake mustache and start a channel called Sames Jomerton? Whatever he does, I know I'm going to need some popcorn 🍿

[@CouncilofGeeks]

The tactic appears to have been "run away." He's deactivated or privated all his social media, turned off comments on the KZbin channel, nuked his Discord server, and even his Patreon is shut down.

[@seraphinw1]

I think about a month from now he'll upload the classic boilerplate apology video that begins with a beleaguered sigh, and people will joke about how he probably plagiarized that too.

[@SabiJD]

​@@CouncilofGeeksI guess there's no way for anyone to try to legally claw back money they contributed to him? If I had supported him, that's at least what I'd have *felt* and wanted, even if it might not be possible.

[@azombiecactus]

maybe he can ask iilluminaughtii to hire him as a writer for her new Prism of the Past channel

[@cholzkohle1475]

@@SabiJD Elsewhere on YT, somebody was writing that they're trying to talk to Patreon about exactly that and they even posted a template for others to message Patreon as well. I guess if enough stink is raised, they'll have to address this in some way. Probably depends on what exactly he was "selling" on his Patreon and on their policy.

[@fluffycrumpetbaby]

When you mentioned you hadn't hit 100k subs yet i had to do a double take! I had forgotten how little you had for such an insiteful and entertaining channel! You deserve so many more subscribers, you really do. This Channel is a great mix of facts and opinions (stated clearly as such) all wrapped up in a lovely package that is you! You really have a way of making me feel like my opinions are valid, even if they differ from yours, and your pressence is often like a warm hug, making me feel welcome in this space; even when your complaining! Haha I swear... The most boring channels get to 1m so fast! Who cares though, they're obviously just missing out ❤

[@Fyrsiel]

One of the biggest takeaways I've gotten from the whole ordeal is to definitely raise a brow at any KZbinr who continuously publishes DOZENS of "well researched" videos within short spans of time... it's sadly a red flag to be considered now. That said, although I've never put out any videos myself, I DID try the KZbin essay thing once. I got as far as researching the topic, writing the script, and recording the voice over, but unfortunately, I simply never finished the video aspect of the video lol. But one day I'd really like to, and with this new insight, I'll be going back to reorganize the sources I gathered for it and to make sure I cite them...!

[@CouncilofGeeks]

Yeah there’s a reason folks like Dan Olsen only put out a few videos a year. I mean, I’ve got pretty steady output but it’s also mostly openly my opinion. Partly because the few times I went out of my way to up the presentation it didn’t pay off in views, but that’s another thing altogether.

[@M_M_ODonnell]

As a viewer, I appreciate the visual indicators of source not just for the plagiarism avoidance but because it helps me differentiate in my memory what's coming from where (and who). Some more elaborate means in the same vein (from a quick-but-helpful caption indicating source, to graphics for the quotes, having other people record the reading of quotes from different sources, all the way up to mini-interviews with the people being quoted giving their own version) are more practical for the more highly-edited/scripted long-form video essay format, but they're all details that turn the necessity of effectively crediting sources into a better video.

[@alexquinn2390]

Atun-Shei is so good with that, I've even used some of his sources in my essays.

[@dharusiokay9426]

Actually, Archaelogy Tube did a video on lessons we can take away from this, kind of. That is, he did a video on possible ways how to do citations on youtube and used Somerton as a hook to pin it on. ETA: thank you for putting in voice my thoughts. I watched JS regularly, because it was presented well (for a certain value of well). He spoke with such a seeming authority that i never questioned that he would of course have done his research

[@ems9616]

I also think one part of the problem with Sommerton was that the effects of his plagerism lended cover for his lies. What i mean by this is that he was stealing and passing off others work as his own- and that work was done by thoughtful people who DID do the work. So my experience of james was that he had interesting ideas that could be worthwhile- but he also seemed to repeat things that didnt seem likely. I saw a 'competant' person that makes mistakes rather than a liar, i think, and even then i avoided some types of video (the anime vids especially) entirely. With hindsite i think id be more vigillant to the lack of clear on screen quotes and throwaway unsupported comments. Being less forgiving of the discrepencies between portraying yourself as deeply researching things (and appearing to have good insights) only to make plethoras of casual mistakes. I dont think it ever can be perfect, but i think itll help

[@fyxation]

What Somerton did well was speak as if he were an authority on any subject he presented. It makes it that much more insidious when you find out what content was his and what content was ripped directly from other people. The few moments of his actual thoughts and opinions, which are generally a sentence or 2 per video, were usually dripping with derision toward women. Even those hot takes were presented as facts.

[@MrPooleish]

I work a warehouse job and have hours with no noise doing repetitive mind-numbing work. For that reason, I listen to a lot of media analysis and video essays and podcasts. I don't always catch everything the person says and sometimes I leave a video with no real memory of what was said. This whole thing has caused me to rethink that, and reconsider who I'm listening to and what they're saying. James' misogyny was obvious to anyone listening and thinking critically, but I didn't catch it because I was half-listening and half-thinking.

[@CasperOliver]

As both a viewer and a creator, I'm so glad someone I follow on Tumblr shared this video! I can't wait to watch your other ones. Thank you for talking about these points, especially about the importance of everyone having room to improve!

[@Skippyboy2348]

Your videos have come across my feed a few times and you always come across as your opinions and have been pretty open that these are your opinions. Being open, honest, and self reflective while making an effort to be better is 100% the basis of integrity. It's amazing to see, and earned a follow (for what it's worth)

[@quinnsmusings]

The sheer integrity having this take-away shows is incredible and you deserve more than the 100k!

[@Moonlitwatersofaqua]

In regards to confirmation bias, people need to understand that confirmation bias isn't something dumb people do. It's something people do. Everyone does it, even if you don't think you do. Most decisions we make about something, or opinions we have about new information, we make immediately with our emotions and then our brain comes up with premises to support that conclusion after the fact. We do this because its easy. Meanwhile, Fact checking, doing research, and challenging your own beliefs are all hard things to do. They are extremely mentally strenuous and sometimes even hurt to do. If given the choice, the brain will take the easy way. And It will take the easy way because it is less strenuous. The body has only so many calories to serve the body, not all of it can go to extensive critical thought all of the time. There's no shame in succumbing to confirmation bias. There is only shame in not trying to do better in the future.

[@TheDyslexicCosplayer]

Hey, thanks for the shout out about Todd and the shadows video. Apparently it didn’t come up on my KZbin recommends. I’ll go check that out first and then I’ll be back.

[@user-eq8ww1gr6v]

Was checking back in takeaways from Hbomberguy & Todd in the Shadows works other creators were having. There was some focus on the drama as such. But I saw great reflections on different aspects, such s from Jessie Gender After Dark on community, how plagarism has impacted people and how to cite better with Cass Eris. @Council of Geeks yours was another great perspective, sharing how you took it as an opportunity to check in on your approach and what you can take away from it and your thoughts on how viewers can be more wary. I've gone off to another couple of your videos and decided I needed your content in my feed, so definitely subscribing. Thank you for your content.

[@ALonelyNightingale]

I can always trust you to have a nuanced and level-headed take, thank you Vera. I feel really stupid not noticing the signs that something was off, as someone who was a subcribed to his channel and watched quite a few of his videos. It makes me feel a bit better seeing a lot of similar comments (here, and in both Hbomberguy's and Todd's videos) and realizing I was hardly the only one who fell for his schtick. I guess the only thing people like me can do is try to do better in the future, in ways like what you stated here. A great video!

[@Darinadon]

I really really love how you always approach all these challenging, sometimes scandalous situations, not from the drama angle, but from the angle of what lessons we can learn, you included. It's a very humble and thoughtful way of going about it, thank you❤ as for JS, I do feel personally offended, because I did watch his videos for a few years, did buy into his confident, professional delivery, and I do feel quite stupid right now for feeling genuinely sorry for him, when he was vague-posting some time ago about being attacked on social media. I did immediately trust his claims because this, as you've mentioned, happens often, happens to KZbinrs I love (like Jesse, for instance), and I had no reason not to trust. I even felt initial resistance to watching hbomberguy's video, because I like and trust this creator as well, so I was pretty sure he was coming with receipts, but I really didn't want to be disillusioned.

[@Badficwriter]

Todd in the Shadows fact check is painful to watch, but its not 4 hours and has time stamps for each datum. He also notes when there is doubt.

[@Darinadon]

​@@BadficwriterYeah, I've watched it as well. I have no doubts but deeply saddened

[@layliwhyteoliver7545]

I had never heard of James Somerton before this all started, but your take on using this extreme example as a way to improve yourself is an example we can all follow in our everyday life. Thank you as always for your thoughtfulness. Introspection and honesty is such a gift.

[@KiahRenamae]

I watched a bunch of his videos months ago but haven’t lately since they haven’t been popping up in my recommended. Honestly this is my first time hearing about this. Thank you for sharing your take. I’ll definitely be looking at the other two videos you linked in the description.

[@ThoseShouldBeRPandas]

Honestly, this makes for a great companion piece to the two other videos by Hbomberguy and Todd in the Shadows; they both tackle what's been done wrong here, but you explaining the why it's *important* and the why on how it took so long for someone to notice and call out (at least someone who had a big enough platform to make waves) is another great facet to the discussion being had. Also, I LOVE your she/they pin and I'm super jealous of that shirt, it's so cute.

[@nicolefess7227]

Man, I am so happy I watched the whole video because the creator part was the most interesting. I have so much respect for you as you are sharing the lessons you took from these videos about Somerman. To share how you maybe didn't do the best with citations makes me want to be a better writer and be more picky with what content I consume. Your content has now set a new standard and I have only watched 2 of your videos before.

[@lady8jane]

I love how you approach this. Not pointing fingers but honest self reflection and the drive to get better. That's why you are awesome!

[@greyfade]

WRT citations: What I really like to see, and I've only seen three or four youtubers that do anything like this: When citing an article, name the publication, the title, and the author. If it's scientific, include the DOI number. A DOI number takes you straight to a scientific publication. When citing a video, name the video and channel, and provide a running timecode. Every video editor supports this. When citing a book, name the book and author, and provide en edition and page number. When doing several citations, number them and repeat the citations both at the end of the video and in the description or pinned comment. Yeah, it's a lot of work, but goddamn does it show you did research. Thank you for making this video. It's valuable.

[@airquotescomedian]

I’m not saying the HBomberguy video made me leery of KZbin content or anything but I did type of some of what you said into a search engine to make sure it didn’t come from somewhere else.

[@CouncilofGeeks]

And you know what? That's no bad thing.

[@gamewrit0058]

I'm 28 minutes in, and this is a beautiful media literacy video, Vera! Per usual, using your own work here on Council of Geeks is a great case study, and it's memorable to hear your considerate, compassionate, insightful takes.

[@leehurst172]

"Am I as bad as him? No, but that's not the base-line." I have no idea who the fuck you are, and I only heard of Somerton through watching Todd's video yesterday, but you have earned so much respect from me. I'm proud of you, and I'm proud for the greater community of video creators. I just wanted to highlight this truly wonderful sentiment.

[@makinghistoryYT]

This is such a helpful discussion to be hosting! I am a pretty new KZbinr, and even though I come from an academic background, and have had aaaaaallll the training on proper citations, I've been struggling to figure out the conventions and the lines in this new medium. I don't think anyone would want video essays to be as full of footnotes as academic papers 😅 But there's an ethic behind all those footnotes that I really value, of honestly reckoning with where someone else's thinking ends and mine begins, which I think is so important.

[@Badficwriter]

I hear a channel called archaeology tube reacted by doing a video on how to do video citations.

[@rafaela00002]

that's a great takeaweay, i hope more youtubers also reflect about how they cite their sources, and more viewers are aware of the necessity of good citation

[@Brunoxsa]

Thank you for the video, Vera! As a big fan of James Somerton and his work, I am very sad! As Vera explained, if a content creator who belongs to a marginalized group is acting in bad faith, any fair criticism and/or accusation towards them will also bring in bigots to pile over that person. However, that still does not mean that we should let their wrong actions slide without they facing any repercussions for them. Right now, I would wish for James Somerton to publish an apology and promise do better in the future (if people should accept his supposed apology or not is a different conversation). But considering what usually happened in similar cases with other creators, he will probably disappear or just wait a bit until the "heat" of the controversy goes away and try to act like nothing happened. And that is dumb and awful! Including sources of citations and quotes in the video descriptions or pinned commentaries is not just good for full disclosure, but it is also very good for accessibility, especially for disabled viewers using assisting tools. [Update] I did now watch hbomberguy's entire "Plagiarism and You(Tube)" video and... Holy F*cking Sh*t! Even being an adult and being aware about parasocial relationships dynamics on social networks, watching an almost four-hours video exposing James Somerton and his plagiarism was heartbreaking (especially having watched most of his videos, including livestreams)! Even if he chooses to acknowledge his mistakes and tries to compensate everybody who he did steal from, I do not believe that to be longer possible!

[@Badficwriter]

He could absolutely come back as a disgraced black sheep commentator. He'd be constantly harassed, but engagement pays the bills. I hear a lot of people who weren't subbed criticize his boring delivery, however it worked for at least 300,000 subscribers..

[@namjoonssexybrain1679]

If you haven’t already Todd in the Shadows video focuses more on factual errors made by James and to a lesser extent his co-writer. For a guy who almost exclusively does music content it’s really good. Love me some Todd.

[@tarabound]

I could only watch 20 minutes of hbomberguy's video, I skipped to the beginning of the Somerton section. He was a little bit to "yelling" for my tastes. I love calm voices (which is why i have always enjoyed somerton's stuff). I am so glad Vera did this episode. It was calm, rational, and well reasoned.

[@normative]

I think there’s a point at which someone has so thoroughly discredited themselves that the correct response is not to “do better in the future” but step aside, find a different way to pay your bills, and let other voices fill the vacuum. There are no shortage of smart queer media analysts who have not spent years stealing and lying, and I can’t see any reason why Somerton deserves a second, third, fifth, whatever chance more than they deserve a first one.

[@tarabound]

​@@normative I don't like your answer, but I suspect you are right. I am a sucker that gives people way too many chances as a general rule.

[@blastlightstar]

I love seeing this message going around, especially in this period of revolutionizing internet theft in various ways. Gonna check some more of your videos now. Good luck remembering all this 🤝

[@wab6556]

Thanks for this video! While a good number of hot takes are damning the Somerton situation due to its blatant audacity. You really provided context on how the audience who supported, subscribed, and brought into his platform. You provided a good take on how to proceed forward and the current flaws of current video essayists.

[@robotbirb7321]

I love that you're able to take this whole negative thing and spin it into a positive commitment to better yourself! This is the kind of integrity KZbin needs more of.

[@Nathanatos22]

15:31 Apparently some of James’ more invested fans actually did attempt to blow the whistle so to speak, but they were always blocked by James. I think people might be more willing to listen to fact corrections than you might think-but they’re not going to be heard if they’re blocked.

[@darricshhh]

This came up in my feed today. Nice job. I hope it gets more views. You deserve it.

[@wintergirll]

I always like and appreciate hearing your take on these topics and how you approach it.

[@RocaBOT]

I'm glad to see people like you with some amount of self-reflection on those subjects. We may not be perfect, but we can learn, and that is a mindset I can very much agree and relate with. If anything, I'll try to think about reminding you kindly in the comments if I ever notice you missed a source link for something you cite in a video in the future, because there's no reason to not help someone who is trying and doing things right in good faith :) No promise though, I will very likely miss a lot of them too :p Thanks for your transparency about all that!

[@antant6217]

He really took advantage of the queer community's goodwill. He spoke with so much self-importance and gravitas that it's no surprise that people just accepted his videos at face value.

[@KawabaraPUNCH]

I think you’ve made some really important good points here. I’m currently in a masters program and have myself started to wonder about things like video essays as valid sources depending on what you’re doing (I’m doing media and culture so you can see why this is especially a big question for me). We’re now in an era where KZbinrs and podcasters and the like can basically be amateur/independent documentarians, journalists, historians, thinkers etc. things like hbomberguy’s vid on the oof sound or defuntland’s vid on the Disney channel interstitial are both engaging, educational and currently the only way we know about who actually made those pieces. There are people on here who have like, Actual Real Degrees in the things they talk about (legaleagle, Abby Cox, etc) and they can and really should be seen as valid sources that are allowed to be cited but that means that we also need to be even more vigilant about people like Blair and James. Perhaps it’s time for video essayists to consider making a union or something to help regulate or just make self policing easier. Anything that helps set up ways of identifying someone’s credibility.

[@Ashaasmith2]

Thanks for making this video because I was a watcher of this guys videos and hadn’t heard anything about the other videos until today

[@MikiaStorm]

Here's something that I always ask myself when stuff like this comes up, even outside of KZbin. " I didn't do what they, did butt what am I doing and how can I improve?" I think that's something that we all should be asking ourselves whether you're just a KZbinr, an engineer, are anything else in this world. Keep up the good work.

[@DangerPinsX]

This reminds me of a debate I had with a fellow athiest where I argued that on a certain level you have faith science because you trust that the science was done correctly or the information presented is factual without reading the papers and conducting your own experiments. And he was like "No, I read and fully understand every journal" And my point wasnt to argue in favor of just letting people believe conspiracy and all that, but to admit we aren't immune to propoganda or bias and to just be weary of arrogantly proclaiming we know the truh about everything.

[@nancyjay790]

My daughter is in med school, and she triple and quadruple checks so much of what she includes in her work. Especially after someone in her year admitted to her that they (being deliberately vague about gender) just took information from Wikipedia.

[@psybertao]

First time viewer, first time commentator. I enjoyed this video, i enjoyed your presentation, I enjoyed your sincerity. Most of all I enjoyed your message. Good creators, such as yourself, reflecting and lifting standards is fantastic response that improves the entire platform.✊

[@jennshine8777]

Found you from my recommended and already pretty engaged with your video. Once I finish your video. I’ll post an update with my final thoughts. I also feel guilty for being douped by James. It has given me time to reflect with hbombs video about where their resources are coming from and to try and read more than I already too! (I am now a subscriber of your channel 😊)

[@Arexion5293]

Even if one quotes a source and a line from it that seems to back up their statements, the source itself might have more text that shows it doesn't actually mean what the speaker has claimed. This isn't an uncommon phenomenon and it's usually a mistake the person does, and sometimes it is a malicious act to try and push a deceitful narrative. This happens everywhere, from people quoting Bible to people citing academic papers without understanding them, or quoting a very questionable study that isn't even that good to begin with. All in all, these are videos on the internet. One should always treat them with a pinch of salt since they're not accepted as academic papers. Those that claim to be educational need to prove their worth with their sources and evidence so people can fact check them to make sure they are indeed accurate.

[@radicalpasta7040]

Hello. Great video. Heads up, Hbomberguy has a playlist of videos made by good LGBTQ channels. I think its a good playlist that more people should see. In the Hbomberguy subreddit, they are taking recommendations for more videos to put on the list. I recommended Dreamsounds, James Woodall, Hana Hyperfixates and others. There are so many underrated channels out there. I encourage everyone to go recommend other underrated LGBTQ creators. Lets overcome the harm caused by Somerton by uplifting marginalized creators. A wave of positivity to wash away the damage.

[@amw6846]

I really appreciate this take...its easier to be fooled than most of us like to admit. From the fan side, I'd like to include mention of bias against outgroups when approaching comments about something being off -- a thing might not be wrong just because someone you dislike is saying it. I forget whether you included that or if you lumped it in with fan culture. I really appreciate your commitment to citing more extensively going forward, and to doing so within the video itself. It's not just the right thing to do so that we can follow up and in term of honoring other people's work, its the right thing to do in terms of honoring your own work. And that work deserves respect!

[@Rathdrgnknight]

I feel devastated I was duped for so long--I'd even stopped watching his videos for a bit but then a month or two ago started watching again because "Maybe he's gotten better" or something. I was EXCITED for upcoming videos. And now I feel like a clown. I know he's a grifter and he's extremely good at his grift but like, it's that sense of feeling like I *should have known better* that won't go away. You bring up voices that WERE saying things much earlier than Hbomb's video and the issue is they were so small and so effectively bullied by James and his followers that I didn't even KNOW anyone had said anything because I was just a casual viewer. I didn't go to his livestreams and I generally stay off of Twitter for my own mental health, but these facts basically kept me in the dark about what was actually happening. I don't WANT to go on Twitter. I think it was a toxic platform even before Elon made it worse, but I feel like I would've had some forewarning about James' bad actions beforehand if I had.

[@Grounded_Gravity]

YES exactly. I watched James for like two years but literally never heard about the accusations until THIS. His bullying really seems to have helped him cover his tracks for a while. Edit - adding that yeah, most of us aren't going on livestreams, twitch, subreddits and are just watching some videos. So it's easy to miss that conversation.

[@ProjectEchoshadow]

I’m so glad he wasn’t plagiarizing his misogyny. Just the good stuff he said was other people.

[@nataliejarosz9360]

He also didn't plagiarize his N*zi fetish.

[@st.anselmsfire3547]

James Somerton and The Illuminaughty going down in the same year is kind of frustrating. On the bright side, it did help me with deleting a few vids from my Watch Later queue.

[@packman2321]

In addition to credit, one real advantage of sourcing is availability. I've hit a lot of times where I want a quote, clip or so on for a reference or joke between friends, or seen a character design in a clip and thought 'Hey that animation looks cool' and being able to track those back to their source, even for totally inane reasons is so much easier with citations than having to (to pick an example here) having to page through the whole Jimquisition to find it.

[@itsjusteddie7384]

My watch later is absolutely my “I don’t have the spoons for that” list too.