When looking through the online world, YouTube has grown to become one of the biggest platforms of entertainment and learning on the internet. People from all over the world can influence the lives of millions by simply posting a video. One of the most recent influencers that has been growing in popularity and impacting many lives is a man named Jimmy Donaldson.
Donaldson, better known on YouTube as MrBeast, has become one of the most well known YouTubers on the website. Known for his crazy challenges that give away thousands of dollars, he has helped impact the lives of millions through his channel. In one of his most recent videos, he tried to buy out five different stores, with all the stuff bought being given away to charity. One store in particular, he called up some local highschool coaches to get as many things they needed for their sports teams. One of the coaches said, “We have one of the lowest poverty areas in the county, and some of our kids go without equipment sometimes, and this is going to be a tremendous gain breaker for them.” (MrBeast, 2021). Some of the other coaches stated that they were touched that MrBeast was doing this for the community.
Not only has MrBeast given money away on challenges, he also has done insane giveaways of expensive items to random strangers that have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. As one article from Dexerto summarized one of his videos, “However, this time the huge creator wanted to share his wealth with total strangers, setting up his Uber driver account to meet with people who needed a ride. The twist was that at the end of every ride, MrBeast would give the passenger the car they were driven in.” (Smith, 2020). This video in particular showed MrBeast touching some of these people’s lives. Some were so full of joy they literally ran around having a hard time believing they just got a car for free.
Another video where Donaldson ran a car dealership which gave away free cars caused some to burst into tears after realizing that they got a car for free. One woman in the video stated, “I don’t know what to say.” (MrBeast, 2019). In the video, the woman started to tear up causing MrBeast to also start having watery eyes. These special moments are what caused Donaldson to rise up as a role model and a major influencer.
However, it’s not just him helping people’s lives that have caused him to grow in popularity, it’s what his main goal is that has inspired many people. The biggest goal MrBeast is aiming for is to help change YouTube for the better. In doing so, he hopes to be able to reach out not just to his main audience in the United States, but around the world. One of the most ambitious events that MrBeast did was to raise both awareness and enough money to plant 20 million trees. As one article by BBC wrote, “Alongside MrBeast, other popular YouTubers – like Mark Rober, who used to work at NASA – have also donated. Elon Musk, the leader of SpaceX has also tweeted out his support for the challenge.” (Associated Press, 2019). This goal was achieved by late 2019 with the grand total of 21 million dollars. Each dollar donated meant one tree got planted.
In the end, MrBeast has and continues to show no sign of slowing down growth. Each video has increased in every way possible: Bigger challenges, bigger prizes, and more money being given away. This is how people from younger to older generations have all been impacted by MrBeast in some way. Whether it be entertainment to watch Donaldson and his friends compete in some crazy challenges, or being emotionally touched to see people receiving money without even asking, have all shown support to him in order for MrBeast to aim toward his ultimate goal.
The Beat @APU 