Streamers who stream their own content are becoming more popular as Twitch grows in popularity. For example, Amouranth, HasanAbi, and Ludwig continue to receive mainstream media attention and coverage, which would have been unthinkable just a decade ago. However, much of Twitch’s coverage has been negative, and Internet celebrity has often proven to be harmful to both producers and fans. CallMeCarson, a Twitch streamer whose grooming issue has been the subject of much debate, is an excellent example of this.
Carson King, also known as CallMeCarson, is a 22-year-old content developer based in Indiana. He started uploading videos on YouTube in 2011 before launching his main account on May 10, 2012.
His YouTube channel once had over three million subscribers, but he only recently gained notoriety after allegations that he groomed young viewers. Many people are reconsidering the turmoil that has surrounded Carson as he returns to streaming and makes plans for the coming year.
CallMeCarson’s popularity skyrocketed around the end of 2019. A photo of Carson crying began to circulate on the internet (taken from a Minecraft feed in June). When Joe Swanson from the TV show Family Guy was patched into the image, users proceeded to reupload the image with alternative titles.
Carson’s channel continued to grow after he and other streamers such as jschlatt and Ted Nivison launched the now-defunct Lunch Club in January 2020, capitalizing on their previous success. The group produced a podcast, live streams, and a few YouTube vlogs and challenges. Lunch Club, however, was eventually canceled in November 2020, citing COVID-19 as the reason.
On January 4, 2021, Hugbox and Traves of the Lunch Club reported that the group had broken up after Carson revealed to them that he had exchanged sexual images with underage admirers. Later that day, miniborb (whose account has since been deactivated) detailed her interactions with Carson and shared screenshots of their Discord chats.
Other contributors, including Slimecicle, CScoop, jschlatt, and Ted Nivison, later condemned Carson’s actions. Some argue that the two- to three-year age gap between Carson and the recipients of his messages absolves him of any wrongdoing.
Others have responded by claiming Carson exploited the children he messaged by abusing a power dynamic by leveraging his status as a YouTuber.
Carson stopped posting on social media after word of his behavior spread. Carson’s only communication during this time (January 2021 to August 2021) was a single Tweet on June 19.
Carson then posted a video to his YouTube account on August 25 in which he announced that he would donate all of his Twitch proceeds to various charities for the coming year.
In response to critics, CallMeCarson stated that the “Year of Charity” was not “an excuse to sweep problems under the rug.” “I’m doing this to transform a bad situation with a lot of eyes on it into something positive that will help a lot of people,” he added.
On September 1st, Carson began streaming again. The majority of the people in his chat room backed Carson, with only a few people mentioning this year’s events. The gap between content creators and their audiences has shrunk dramatically over the last decade.
This has far-reaching implications, and situations like these demand a level of complexity that is impossible to achieve on the internet. The interactions between content creators and their audiences must change if things are to change.
