Dr Miller Investigates MrBeast, YouTube, and New Forms of Philanthropy

GSEJ founding member Dr. Vince Miller and Dr Eddy Hogg have examined a new form of philanthropic fundraising pioneered by MrBeast, also known as the YouTube’s biggest philanthropist. Their research has recently published in Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies

The paper points out that while MrBeast’s revenue-generating philanthropic videos is the latest of a long line of initiatives that have been loosely termed ‘cause-related marketing’, its ‘warm glow’ approach represents an evolution from conventional philanthropic television programmes. That is, ‘audiences are now knowingly generating charitable income through their own self-exploitation as a valuable audience commodity which creates revenue for others.’ By binding the production of wealth to the practice of charity as ‘the solution’ to societal injustice, the new philanthropic logic pioneered by MrBeast also closes the space for debates around the most effective ways to address thorny social problems. 

Read the press release here.

Read the full open access paper here.