Public Figure (2019) - full transcript

[Interviewer] In this age of social media,
what would you say to young people about...?

Turn it off.

That's what I would say.
It's hard for young people now 'cause they're hooked,

they're addicted.

If you don't think you're addicted and I'm talking about anyone

from the highest to the lowest,
if you don't think you're addicted

then see if you can
turn it off for a week.

[Keyboard strokes]

Basically everyone is a Yelp
review and I'm not okay with it.

What? What, where am I?

Wait, wait! Hold on.



Wait, hold on.

Wait! Am I on my
bed or a couch?

But

like

can't see everyone contact him.

I don't know what my life is.

I have no idea why
pants are on me.

I sleep naked no matter what.

I have no idea what boy put
pants on me, but they're Gucci.

I don't care.

That's my roommate's room, isn't
even my room. Oh my god!

♪♪♪

Hello Pretoria! We are here!

Yay! It looks so awesome.



Hi, how are you?
How are you?

[Crowd screaming]

[Bonang] I think a public figure is a person
whose job requires the public's interest.

A public figure is somebody who is celebrated in the public,

who becomes to a certain
degree, a public asset.

I think the first time I realized I could be someone influential

was around the age of
nineteen, twenty years old.

I started a music show
called 'Live' on a CBC One.

It was the biggest music
show in the country, still is.

And I think you know when my fame and
my brand kind of grew around that time

that's when I realized
maybe I could be somebody

that you know,
people actually listen to.

My name is Emmett Sparling and I'm a travel
adventure photographer and videographer.

It was in 2013 I--

when I picked up my first camera and
realized that I wanted to be a photographer.

So, I think I was 13 or 14 and I just became
obsessed with it and I'm still obsessed with it.

And I just do it
every single day.

My name is Thomas
Sebastian Tribbie Matheson.

I'm a proud Midwest
faggot and I am a memer.

Everyone on the streets unfortunately knows me as you've got no mail.

I just really want to make people laugh but I cause a lot of drama.

I've had boyfriend's break up with me because I'm too famous.

Oh my god,
I've gotten blocked by almost every celebrity known to man

all because they don't
like to hear the truth.

Who the fuck knew what
a meme was five years ago?

Like and now like
I'm like trying to figure out

like, "Oh shit!" Like,
"Where do I start?"

People suck!
They need to be called out is really simple.

So, I have three interns.

One does my day-to-day,
one does my research

because I work with
like a lot of companies

that I have no fucking idea
what they-- what they are.

Like, my perfect example is zing zang's
the biggest Bloody Mary mix in the world

and I was like-- I thought I was like going
to a meeting for like fucking like Type O.

I don't even-- like I had no idea.
And then one just takes care of me at night

because I'm a bit of a mess.

Wow, I love heavy bullet bills.

Where's my phone?

Cameron, oh man,
can I have weed?

What the heck is this? Gross!

You good?

Thing's it's kind of difficult and the crazy thing with Instagram thing is

you get it overnight so,

you just like it--
like thrown into it.

You've literally no idea what's about to happen.
Like being a public figure

is such a new term that you really don't know what to do.

[Greg] The biggest impact
of my father's passing was

it gave me a lot
of pressure, you know.

As I grew up I just saw this amazing man that accomplish anything,

that achieved so much success
and with him gone I was like,

shit, no one's there
to show me the ropes.

My mentor that was going to help me,
teach me how to you know become successful

is no longer there. It you know,
forced me to really like come out of my shell

and really achieve
what I wanted to achieve.

I had this idea. I was like, "You know what?
I don't just want to do personal training.

That's not big enough.
How can I impact the world?

How can I help tons of people get in shape?
How can I build something big here?"

And that's when I had the idea.
Like, you know what? I need to be online.

I need to start a website
teaching my approach to fitness.

I came up with the Bake Session.

Just fucking around and shit!
Mother fucker I did some shit live one day and they had

a hundred thousand views
when I woke up in the morning.

I just kept doing it and that's how I came up with the Bake Session.

I gotta bake another one on, baby!
Boy what the fuck is them on your feet there?

You must be ready to attend
this barbecue, my brethren.

Yeah barbecue,
first off the Mike's beefy as hell with extra cheese and cilantro.

Yo asking trip to Statue of Liberty,
long fee there's Long John Silver fee,

there's Texas
Lone Ranger fee,

there's Longhorn stakeout fee,
there's the longest job fee, there's four for long fee,

there's long live the king fee,
there's can we all just get along fee,

there's boy if you power walk one time,
the world going to end Judgment Day fee, boy.

It felt so good, man.
It felt like--

it felt like my life was changing because where I come from

it's fucked up as you can see.
You know, Chicago it's a beaut--

it's this it's beautiful but sad at the same time.
You know what I'm saying?

So shit felt good man,
but now when I go outside everybody want to take pictures and shit.

I can't eat it. I gotta be low
key, can't even roll in peace.

Everybody knows me!
Freak O that.

[Emma] I started on Instagram
about five years ago.

I went on a little reality TV
program called "The Bachelor."

And I literally came out eight days later
with about 40,000 Instagram followers.

I've started from there.

That kind of just happened
but it wasn't like I decided

I'm going to be a social
media influencer.

It literally just happened like it just evolved.
I started just taking photos of what I liked.

And then I started getting paid for it.
And I started working with amazing brands

that I loved.
And then all of a sudden--well, we're here!

Keep walking!

It's completely changed my life,
not just being an influencer but my social media agency

and buy my clothes wouldn't actually exist
without social media or ideally Instagram.

[Rebecca] Devour Power started
approximately 6 years ago now,

when we first started dating believe it or not in New York City.

We were going out to eat a lot.

I mean what else is there to do in New York City besides eat and drink

as a new couple kind of
thing? We wanted a fun outlet.

So we are at the Sugar Factory,

here in Meatpacking for the Oh La La chocolate party.
We're very excited.

It is Tuesday which means...

Tacos?

Taco Tuesday! It's my
favorite day of the week!

Full and happy!

I left a job in the medical
field with you know--

nice benefits and everything to go into
the Instagram and social media world

which to be honest,
I didn't-- I wasn't sure and-- but it just felt right.

It felt right to me and it felt
right to Rebecca so we did it.

Fast forward about five or six years,
we're over half a million followers.

I would say social media
completely changed our business.

Not only did it completely change our business,
it pretty much started our business.

We went-- when we started
Devour Power on Instagram,

we had no idea how fast it would grow and how to really market food.

Through experience we figured out how
to take really good pictures of food,

really good videos of food
and really how to market food

specifically for
restaurants and brands.

And we realized that our expertise could
really help out a lot of local restaurants.

[Rianette] Looking at celebrities and big people with influence,

I think they've got a very,
very big responsibility because so many people follow them.

And I think they're also in a fantastic space where they can impact lives,

they can change social behavior,
and they can actually make the world a better place.

I think if someone can make a career off Instagram,
or a career off Twitter,

or a career off something, I think go,
the world is hard you know. Do what you got to do.

I think it's really cool that people are taking power to their own hands.

I need a microphone. Microphone!

Who's here for the first time?
Is Pretoria going to show us a good time today?

Welcome to the Grand White
Dinner, ladies and gents.

Okay, we're celebrating our fifth birthday anniversary this year.

It is a very, very special one.

We asked all of you to come in white and
a touch of blue because as we all know

we're trying to raise awareness for the water crisis down in Cape Town.

Make sure your phones are out.
Make sure you are live on Instagram, on Twitter,

and Facebook because the party
is about to start, Pretoria!

- Are you guys ready?
- [All cheering]

Welcome to Grand White Dinner!

Because of my social media,
I've been able to meet a lot more people.

I've been able to
travel a lot more.

I can't imagine what still
awaits. I can't wait to see

how much of Africa
the world can take in.

Now, I think
it's the perfect time.

The spotlight is on this beautiful continent,
the people, the fashion, the food,

the music, the culture,
the history and it's also a great time for women.

Women around the world, women empowerment,
powerful movements that have been started

all across the globe and I think you know,
when we use social media

the right way, we
can change the world.

My definition of a public figure
is someone who takes

what the world needs at large,

seriously.

Social needs,
economic needs,

political needs.

We are free,

we are strong,

we are one massive collective voice.
That is what Rose Army is about.

It is about all of us being
roses in our own life.

Not me, the actual flower,
because we have thorns.

[Whistles]

And our thorns carry justice.

Social media has been huge
in spreading my message

which really is just a message that's pro humanity and pro thought,
you know,

trying to make people
smarter, really.

I'm not saying I'm the smartest.
I'm just saying, I know smart enough

to know that we need to have a lot of conversations we're not having.

And so I thought, well,
let me figure out how we can have these conversations

and it was
through social media.

- Okay Lucas, you got-- we're going to do some filming...
- Yeah, we're all set.

Do some boxing for the old,
Instagram, YouTube video.

Kinobody really took off when I
really hammered down on YouTube.

So the time you know, we
built this website, this blog,

we had you know a hundred thousand visits a month which was good,

but I you know-- I was a decent--I got,
I got very good at writing articles

and people loved it.
But I was meant to be on camera, you know.

It may take me all day to write one article,
but in like a few hours I could film

a bunch of videos.
And once I started doing YouTube videos,

people really,
really liked that.

Check this out!
This is in three months,

first place in our
transformation contest.

Chad lost 36 pounds of fat.
Went from here to here!

In second place,
in just three months,

Colton Morgan shred off
a ton of fat got shredded!

Look at what these guys
are doing in just three months.

Internet fasting lifting,
three times per week, it's just crazy.

Look at this you know,
you have we have all these crazy transformations.

We have over two hundred thousand people doing a program right now

and we have a very
active Facebook group.

And every day we hear about these new
transformations and the YouTube channel,

the people that even-- didn't even buy a
program they-- there's over 60 million views,

all very educational content.
So I would say we've helped millions now.

When I first started getting these transformations years ago,
oh my god, I'd have like--

I don't know, like tears.
I couldn't believe it because it's not when these people tell you,

you know, I've lost 30 pounds.

It's not just that I lost 30 pounds it's like I lost 30 pounds and you know

I achieved my best physique ever
and now this and this happened.

That's it! That's the 30 pounds,

the 30 pounds of muscle,
30 pounds of fat, that's not it.

It's the-- and then all of a sudden I'm doing what I love or I'm living--

I'm confident with my friends.
And it's, it's that part of story

that really like touches me.

My claim to fame besides my amazing personality
is I did the first-ever fashion campaign

with memes for Gucci.

Like try, literally waking up
and just seeing a DM from

check mark
Gucci and was like,

"Hey, we would love to talk
to you about memes."

Like what the actual fuck!

It surprised me,
how this has become an actual enterprise, if I may put it.

People are going into full-time youtubing,
for example,

full time social media connecting,
social media influencer.

Now we've got this--
such a recognition.

I think it's awesome in terms of social media being a platform,

compatible with
the person's personality.

If, if,
if the social media influences personality is such that they need

such a platform
to express themselves.

Meanwhile, now I'm like the
king of nightlife in New York.

Move!

And people like beg
me to get into parties.

And I'm just like,
"Who are you?"

And they're like, "I follow you."
I was like, "Congratulations!

There's 71-- there's 75 thousand people that do that, too,
like I don't know.

Hey Cheers! Yo, cheers

to being fabulous,

fun-employed and making
everyone fuckin hate you!

I hope not.

Night life!

Actually, fuck
Little Miss Sunshine.

My accountant the other day said my biggest expenses--get ready--

were Chipotle and Uber because I love Chipotle more than anything.

Cheers!

You okay?

So before I was in social media,
I worked in comedy. Shocker!

I literally--

I was like the arbiter of taste-- like I would get to choose like,

who got to go on stage because people have really bad taste in America.

And they want to make
money, so it's very simple.

And then I had a horrible,
beyond horrible, scary ex-boyfriend

that stalked me and I said if I ever went--
if I ever had a thousand followers,

I would go public.

And so

I had a thousand followers and I went
public and then I just like catapulted.

Like everyone was like, "Holy shit who's this person?"
I was like, "Oh shit it's-- it's me."

Like-- [laughing]

But I it's just very simple,
I really just want to make people laugh.

And like I'm really nice to my fans,
sometimes even when I'm not in the best mood

I'll still be nice to them.
And I mean, I know--

like I know that I'm a public figure and there's no getting around that.

Like Instagram made me this and I'm
not going to-- I'm not going to deny it.

[Disco music, screaming]

[man] Oh my god!

[Donterio] I ain't gonna lie,
Instagram though and Facebook social media, period.

It changed my life, man!
Changed my life, man! Shit changed my life.

It's actually good for you,
so if you have a goal or a dream

whatever you trying
to pursue in life,

go through social media,
you know I'm saying?

I know everything works through social
media so that's not nothing big to tell you,

but stay focused at that shit man because that shit can change your life.

I made-- like I don't work a job,
this is my career, you know what I'm saying?

Like social media actually changed my life.
Now I have real career things going on

from movies, to TV shows,
to music with legends, all that shit man!

Shit changed my
motherfucking life.

♪♪♪

[Emmet] Social media means to me,
a way for creative people to become

something that was impossible to
become like even ten years ago.

It kind of gives you a way to connect
with people that is like completely new.

So like I have people that I feel like
I'm friends with but I've never actually

met them before.
But we know each other through Instagram.

As a landscape photographer,
ten years ago being stopped in the street and people asking you

if they can take a selfie with you or just telling me that they liked

my photos or something-- like that was unheard of ten years ago.

I've had people come up to me
and they're shaking because

they feel like they're
meeting a celebrity

but in reality I just have
like 200k on Instagram.

It isn't spectacular. Sometimes
I wake up and I'm just like--

I start questioning like, what
is life? Like this is insane.

This is amazing.
The amount of people that would dream to be here.

My fans are crazy. They tattoo
my name on their arms.

A couple of months ago,
I was in Cape Town at the airport and usually

when people meet me they get really engulfed
and kind of overwhelmed with emotion.

Girls particularly,
love to-- love to cry and I mean they weep.

Like really weep and this
girl was yelling and screaming

and weeping in the middle of the
airport at the top of her lungs.

Everybody thought she was having like it's I
don't-- like it the heart attack or something.

And we had to just remove
her out of the public space,

took her to like a private room,
had to give her sugar water.

It was quite something,
quite something.

What's really crazy is when you go out with a girl that has no idea who--

like she has no idea who you are and you know this casual date and

then five people
come up to you.

And she's like,
wait a second you never told me what you do.

I'm like, well, I just said I was internet marketer.
I just do internet stuff.

He went on a date,
he went to three different spots, two different spots

people were asking for pictures and autographs on that date.

- Probably the best date of your life.
- [Laughing]

Now one thing you can't leave
the crib without is money.

You got to make sure you got money in your pocket.
This is light.

This is my pocket change for the day or
your phone or you-- or your phone charger.

Need your iPhone charger if this mother fucker phone,
go dead in this rap.

When I go outside a lot of people want to take pictures with me,
especially in Chicago.

So I got to make
sure I'm good, man.

Mother fuckers everywhere I go they want to take pictures and shit.

Got to have a twisty, the twisty way,
you can't go wrong without that.

You know what I'm saying?

It's a motherfucking throw,
right. You dig? Oh baby.

And we're dope!

♪♪♪

[Bonang] My reality show "Being Ponang" and
I think the message around it is really truly

about you know hard work.

It follows my-- my daily life which is moving from one project to the next,

moving from one shoot to the next,
moving from one country to the next

and the message that I definitely wanted to portray with that show was

just to show how much work actually goes into entertainment.

You know,
a lot of people think glitz and glam when they see or hear us.

And they don't really respect the profession that is TV presenting

and what goes in to becoming
a successful media personality.

People think it's so easy. It's
a lot of work. It really is.

We need to work long hours and we must
work at least 60 to 75 hours a week,

depending on the week.
But it's so cool to experience things that you know

normally we wouldn't be able to experience,
especially in a nine-to-five

or in the operating room
being on call all the time.

It was difficult to even plan a vacation for three days to go to like Miami,
never mind the fact

that you know this summer where we're headed?
We're going to London, Amsterdam,

Copenhagen, Prague and back.

- All within like two weeks just-- just because.
- Right.

A lot of people pay me to Rose people,
like a lot of people pay me to bake people,

you know I'm saying? And when I bake celebrities,
I just bake what's trending.

I get like-- if you fuck up on-- if you fuck
up on social media and you're a celebrity

I'm gonna tell you something.
I get a lot of DM's about you motherfuckers.

Like get his ass, get his ass
and when I get a lot of DM's--

if I get a lot of DM's
about you,

fifty, sixty to a hundred DM's
about the same motherfucker,

I'm going to roast your ass.
I'm going to bake you. It's done.

You're barbecued.
Oh baby you're barbecued.

One of the greatest Indian players of all time but you must be ready

to attend this
barbecue my brethren.

Yeah, barbecue-- I'm too sexy for game one,
looking ass boy, your ass

showed up to the game with some shorts on and came up short.

Sorry for your loss,
ugly ass but the matter of fact you're ass

dressed like you for the yellow.

You know I play a mean harmonica right?
Dumb ass tutee-fruity saxophone player, looking as

gay man in black character,
looking as petty CIA agent,

looking at a scandalous and looking at
your ass dressed like a Scottish bartender,

as a matter of fact your ass dressed like
you'd be stripping at Men's Wearhouse,

dumbass why the fuck you got that purse full though?

You broke this head boy?
Your ass smuggling in the locker room for Jr. Smith

that's why he did that dumbass plan at the end of the game.

Stupid ass but what the fuck is them on your feet there?

Big booties, yodel-le-he-hoo!
Booties London Bridge is falling down,

Harry Potter booties,
yo ass got on some blood Billiken parade mosquito steppers.

Them bitches long as hell on my mama boy!
Yo ass can kick them off a dream

with them big-ass shoes, boy.
Yo ass dressed like Mr. Billy on steroids.

Hi.

Can I have this and then do
you have the gold jewel

you know I have the gold one.
Why don't you guys have the gold one? Forget it.

Can I just get a pack
of Parliaments then?

What is it?

No, yeah, I don't--

This is the worst Gatorade in the world.
I kicked a boy out of my bed

because I told him to get
blue and he got Galatia freeze.

Later, see you
tomorrow or usual.

So I don't know how I'm
up, but it's like 11:30 I think.

And I'm just meeting like six of my best friends
for lunch at my favorite restaurant Lucian.

It's like iconic Monday. I met
ASAP Rocky there the other night

but everyone from like Baz
Luhrmann to ASAP Rocky

to the biggest art
dealers in the world,

you just never know
who you're gonna see.

Rita Ora's publicist came
over to me and was like,

"Hey Rita would
like to meet you."

And I was like,
"Why the fuck would she want to meet me when she's blocked me?"

And she goes, "Darling..."
with her fucking fake posh accent. She goes, "Darling,

but how I don't even know
how to block someone."

Who the fuck doesn't know how to block someone?
It's one button.

I literally get paid to get
fucked up and party.

It's a very bizarre career

and it pays money.

I first realized I could monetize off my
Instagram and my social media platforms

after you know I was consistently getting sent things from brands,

you know, to share,
to photograph and share on my social media.

And to the point where it was so consistent I was thinking okay,
this is obviously beneficial

for them. They're making money off this.
How can I make money off this?

I started a fashion label like a year after I got off The Bachelor

and so that that was really successful.
So that was basically all promoting

you know on my social media and then
yeah it just kind of spiraled from there.

[Greg] We realized that we could really start
to help restaurants grow their Instagram

and their social media and really just help out their business

by creating really
engaging content,

stuff that we learned through our expertise of just being in the field,

going to restaurants, taking
pictures and everything.

And we started about two and a half years
ago with a restaurant in the Lower East Side,

taking pictures for them, taking videos,
creating really awesome content for them

and we were just like,
"Hey let's try this out.

See if it works. See if
it helps their business?"

And I mean in about, what?
Two months we gained them ten thousand followers

- on Instagram--
- It's insane.

And they were a
relatively new restaurant.

They just started blowing up
when it comes to their--

their brunch crowd
was out the door.

So it really, really helped
and that's when we realized

we can turn this into legitimate mark-- media and marketing company.

I made ten thousand dollars in one year,
you know working all day.

My second year I did 30,000.
My third year we did-- I did 80,000.

And then when I sort of built my team the next year,
we did you know 200,000.

The year after that.
So basically my fifth-year and that was my goal.

I was like, I dropped
out of university.

I was like I want to be doing six figures by
the time my friends are finished University

because I was getting
so much flack for being done.

I was like you know what?
I'm going to hit six figures before and so

by the time my friends were done at school,
I was-- I did 200,000.

That was the fourth
year at the fifth year

my company, we did
a million dollars.

And then the sixth year we were in you know--
the you know the mid seven-figure range

but with a lot more cost
involved, a lot more ads.

So now you know our goal is to get
things to the million-dollar-a-month thing

and you know that's--
that's been a lot trickier

than getting to the first
mill-- million a year.

I want the money you know I'm saying?
I ain't saying like I'll do anything for the money.

I'm just saying I got a
family to feed. I got kids.

So I'd appreciate everybody that fuck with me and follow me and shit

but you know what?
I need dinerotoo.

How "On Baby" came about was see "On
baby" was like something that we said

in my hood but not like "On baby" was something--
a saying that we said in my neighborhood.

On baby you do your thing. On
baby, how you feeling boy?

And I just said it
on my videos like--

like perfect-- like accidentally but it was
just like a habit to me I always saying it.

And people picked up on it.
So what I did was I took "On Baby"

and turned it into a real brand.

Now I own "On Baby."
I trademarked it. I own that.

And that's dope, you know what I'm saying?
I took something that was--

I took something that was from my community,
from my neighborhood

and turned it into a fucking brand, a fucking enterprise,
man 'cause that is what is gonna be.

That's what
it's gonna turn into--

On baby.

[Bonang] The opportunities are incredible,
that's what I love particularly about social media

is that we are now creating an era of social media entrepreneurs.

And there are so, so, so many
things that are possible.

And every day it's wonderful to
watch how the world is changing

and it's fascinating to kind of be right there,
you know, the pulse of it all is exciting.

I love the ability that people
will have created a business

and some people have created
incredible businesses

from not really having some
type of tertiary education

or any skill set but just being interesting in some way.
And social media is--

is all about that you know.
It's interesting to be interested in other people.

- Yeah.
- So when others see someone liking or commenting

on somebody else's
page or advertisement,

you know, they're then
driven to that-- it's,

it's just a phenomenal medium of advertising
and then monetizing their own businesses.

You get likeaholics,
people who are absolutely addicted to get more likes,

to get more followers
and more friends.

And a big portion of that is
because they think their value

is determined by what
is being said online

and by the amount
of followers you have.

When we first started and
also presently as we post,

I'm constantly hitting that refresh button to see how many likes it'll go

after five seconds,
after ten seconds.

I refresh it all the time.
As soon as I put up a picture, you know.

I can always tell after about
three and a half minutes,

how good it's going to be
for the rest of the day.

When someone receives a lot of likes,
it's literally like a quick hit you know.

It is akin to taking a drug,
getting high

and then you know there's a withdrawal effect,
so you might get a rush for eight seconds

and then you sort
of drop below baseline.

The reality is with social media we get that rush and that feeling of,
you know being high

and it wears off and then
we want to go back.

If we're not careful and if we don't manage it carefully,
it could become an addiction

where we just want to get that feeling and it takes longer to get there.

In long-term social media use we've
found people displaying brain changes

especially in their
dopamine circuit,

very similar to especially
cocaine users.

As we know,
cocaine and crystal meth

they-- they directly influence how the brain functions in terms of

their dopamine release and in terms of how
dopamine receptors undergo down regulation.

Dopamine, of course, is very
involved in addiction.

We know for years that dopamine has a lot to do with feeling good.

It has a lot of other
functions in the brain,

it's a normal transport chemical,
but dopamine certainly has been shown

in various studies to increase when you're involved in social media.

I think Instagram is a massive addiction.
It's been shown that every time you post a photo,

you get some likes it's like
you got this dopamine spike.

It feels good, you keep
checking and keep tracking it.

Procrastination is probably its highest ever because 50 years ago

what are you going to procrastinate on?
Just go watch TV,

but now you have so many
things, so many notifications

and so if you check it
constantly, you feel shitty.

You really feel shitty.
Like I'm trying to develop a strategy where I--

my phone is on airplane mode,
I only like go on Instagram for like maybe 10 minutes

15 minutes in the hour
and text message.

I haven't done it yet but like I know for
a fact that like if I'm not meditating,

if I'm not like relaxing, getting still,
getting present, I'm just by myself all day

working and then checking
every time, I do not feel good.

If the thought process that went into building these applications,

Facebook being the first of
them to really understand it

that thought process was all about how
do we consume as much of your time

and conscious
attention as possible?

And that means that we need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit

every once in a while

because someone liked or commented on a photo or a post or whatever.

And that's going to get you
to contribute more content.

And that's going to get you, you
know, more likes and comments

and it's a-- it's a valid-- it's a social validation feedback loop

that that it's like,
I mean it's exactly the kind of thing that a that a hacker like myself

would come up with because you're exploiting a vulnerability

in human psychology.

We all want to be liked

but now we want to be
liked by sixteen million

and will now some of us
do anything to be liked.

We-- we used to do anything to be liked
but it was the by the person in front of you.

Now it's to be liked by sixteen million people that you don't know.

So now 16 million
people might like you,

but 16 million people might
also have an opinion of you.

And they want to
be liked as well.

So I don't, I'm not blaming
anything or any thing

but we have to ask ourselves what is the
long-term if not to the short-term effect

of too much information.

Getting these likes and seeing how people
react on your social media platforms

are like little highs.

The problem with that is at the beginning it was okay to get 3 likes,
4 likes twice a day

but then you want to keep those
endorphins flowing and you need

a bigger and more
impactful high.

And that's where people
really start posting more

and they go through so many filters to find that perfect shot.

And, unfortunately,
it could derail their daily lives in such an extreme way

that they forget the
person next to them,

that they forget about the
person across the dinner table,

but they're more infatuated by the food on
the table and sharing that on Instagram.

I can't tell you how many times I cooked dinner with my girlfriends

and no one can put
their phone down.

Like everyone's on their phone taking photos
and it's kind of like no one's actually like

enjoying the dinner or the company because everyone just wants

to get that photo for the Gram.

So you guys ever go to lunch-- people
you are with always on their phones?

Yeah.

I mean I am guilty
of that, you know.

It's almost like if you don't show the people who aren't with you

how much fun you have then
you're actually not having fun.

I mean what's the point of having fun if you can't share it with people?

I just did a piece for a major network on something called phubbing

where people take out their cell phones
when they're in the company of others,

ignore the people they're alive with
and at the same time are on Facebook

or Instagram or taking pictures of their food, etc.
So we have a need not to be bored.

I guess Andy Warhol said it best,
"Everybody wants their 15 minutes of fame."

And somehow this is a--
a kind of gratuitous way

of getting your
15 minutes of fame.

It is inhibiting people's ability to create
a strong and powerful positive memory.

You know, creating a good memory
requires a certain flow.

It requires perspective.
It requires being present in the moment

and when you're looking at your
phone to check social media

to figure out what you're
going to post to take 27 selfies

to try to get the right one,

to be snapping 30 different
angles of your salmon

is certainly ruining your
experience of the moment.

One of its biggest negative effects is that it's, essentially,
ruining our ability

to create memories
that we hold on to.

The inventors-- creators, you know and it's,
it's me, it's Mark,

it's the you know Kevin Systrom and Instagram,
it's all of these people,

understood this consciously
and we did it anyway.

And I'm and-- and it's just as a small company you think "Aw this,
will never really..."

You know, you're just you're
just trying to increase your--

you know, you're just trying
to increase your traffic.

You're just trying to increase retention,
you know like you're, you're-- you-- you're.

You can't imagine what it would mean to have a billion users

who are spending four hours
a day on your platform.

Like what is that
doing to people's brains?

I mean I-- I'm I actually don't
even use social media anymore

because it's,
it's like-- it's too much of-- it it's too much of a time sink.

The latest research is telling us that
people are spending hours to an average

of 19 and a half
hours in front of screens.

It's astounding.

We can expect people
being conditioned

to experience such as the new normal.
What that means is

when I'm not

around my phone,
when I forget my phone at home, go into work

that would create some psychological and perhaps physical withdrawal

in me.

I become a creature needing
that phone to survive.

If you took your phone away
how long could you survive?

Honestly? Yeah, maybe
four and a half minutes.

Yeah, I can't do it.

If we're really trying
my luck, like testing me,

maybe like 14 minutes.

I'm worried about social media
in the future. I think it's,

I think it's bringing us actually away from each other.
Isn't that ironic?

You see two kids and each one is on
their cell phone not talking to each other

but, yet,
I believe that I may not be here to see it but I believe

that social media will actually eventually make us strangers.

There's the downside of losing personal contact with people around you,

not taking phone
calls as much.

- Texting instead of--
- Right.

Or messaging and things
like that, you know.

It's interesting,
the younger generations I feel like you call them and they're like,

"I'm not picking that up.
What do you mean like you're calling me?"

I don't answer phone calls.

I know.
I barely answer phone calls now because it's all email.

It's all direct messaging
and it's also quick contact.

The big danger are these 11-year-olds
that are getting their smartphones,

their Instagram because they're
at such a vulnerable age.

I couldn't imagine dealing with all that stuff at eleven, twelve.

And they are going to be
the most affected

because they're not having those real genuine,
you know connections

whether they're with their
friends, their phones are-

because they don't have at eleven, twelve,
they don't-- they don't know

not to put their phones away,
just hang out with their friends and be present.

So they're going to be on their phones all
the time and it's going to-- it's going to--

they're going to socialize
probably a lot differently.

Addiction is that thing that
is grabbing your attention

and that you are actually
abusing to an extent.

So people think social media can't be or your digital platforms can't be.

But the question is
if you wake up,

who do you greet first,
your phone or the person next to you?

What do you want to see first?

Who do you check in first?
Is it on Instagram or social platforms or do you say,

"Hello honey, good morning."

Your first 10 minutes
when you wake up?

Where do I go? What do I do?

Your phone is still...

Yeah I go to Twitter first
and then I go to Instagram.

And then I go to use 24.

And then I go to then I go to TMZ and then I go to the Shade Room.

And then I go to Fashion Bomb Baby.
Yeah, then I go back to Twitter.

Any addiction becomes a problem
when it impacts your daily life,

your priorities, and especially
your relationships.

I think it's very important that we learn to
navigate our digital and our physical relationships

and look at the bridge in between,
the bridge of trust, the bridge of authenticity,

the bridge of really being
present in the moment.

Yes, you can do those things online but when last did you call a friend?

When last did you actually call your friend on a birthday,
instead of just saying

happy birthday on Facebook or sending a WhatsApp or a voice note?

No one's teaching you how to use this responsibly.
It's like drinking, for example.

You know, you can go into
the bar and have a few drinks

but if you're binge drinking
every day that's a problem.

And so right now most kids,
most teenagers and even 20-something-year-olds,

they're binging on Instagram all day and it's going to affect them.

I find when I am on my iPhone that my
finger automatically goes to Instagram.

So I have officially logged myself out so I'm not constantly on it 24/7

but I'm constantly opening up Instagram all day,
it's really pathetic.

I'm on my phone too much and Instagram
is one of the most common things I'm on.

I think that I am addicted
to social media, yes.

I would agree. I think I am
pretty addicted to social media.

I think in a couple of years,
you know young people are going to start going to

you know,
I think focus groups where they're either depressed

or they've been, you know,
bullied or social media

has had an impact on them
or they are addicted so much so

that it's becoming you know,
leading to depression or whatever.

But it's scary and it's definitely,
definitely leading there, if it's not there yet.

I think we're going to find proliferation of addiction treatment,
addiction centers,

programs, initiatives aimed at helping
our society deal with such a big problem.

And it's something that will have to be addressed and-- and take priority

and probably just as much or if not more than alcohol abuse,
drug abuse.

I mean it's really taking over people's
lives and I think we're just beginning

to understand the effects of social media on our psyche.

One way to tell whether
someone's addicted

to their social media platform,
I look at three issues.

The first is control whether I have control over my social media use

or if my social media account seems to have control over me rather,
that's the first.

The second, another
C word, is compulsion.

For example, if in my
conversation with you right now,

if in the back of my head I'm thinking
about that photo I uploaded to Facebook

two hours ago and wondering if it's
accumulating likes the way I'd like it to,

I'm not really here in the
conversation with you,

then that's compulsion and
I've got a problem to look at.

The third C is consequences.
If the way I engage on my-- with people

with the outside world
through my social media accounts

have already brought on negative
consequences in my life

but despite those negative consequences I continue to maintain

that similar pattern
then I've got a problem.

Your happiness has to do a lot with your
expectations and what social media

is doing is it's creating a huge
and growing discrepancy

between what you think your life should be like and what it's actually like.

And this is a problem because when you're
checking your phone 47 times in a day

and seeing all
these perfect images,

when you're seeing people
do what you wish you can do,

having the wealth you want,
having the body you want,

having the relationship
you want,

it's, essentially, you know,
gonna make you miserable

if you believe you should
have these things.

And the big joke is that these
things aren't even real.

They're just somebody else's fantasy of what
they want other people to think their life is.

So you're, essentially,
feeling miserable

because you viewed somebody else's fantasy,
somebody else's lie.

It creates a false sense of
realism, virtual reality, yes.

But it's,
it's gotten so real and it's not just what's real in--

what's real for the sight of the eyes,
it's what's real for the person's experience.

And when that becomes something so
real that outmatches what's in reality,

we may-- we may condition
ourselves into the default mode

of choosing virtual reality over reality on a consistent basis

and we know that's a recipe of destruction for real-life relationships.

There is something
about the world of social media

that I think can lead to a sense that one is performing their self.

So whether that performance is the
true self or the authentic self or a self

that is put into the public
sphere for consumption,

you know that's something I think that's
been going on for a very long time.

So word got out that I was in L.A. and I kinda have a popular Instagram.

And a lot of people
like me surprisingly

because I'm a terror,
like literally terror, terror.

And you know the Tasmanian Devil,
when I'm fucked up on Boov poppers,

casaamigos, those are the only three things
that are ever in my body besides cum.

So life is very short,
so why not just get fucking naked--

Welcome to yougotnomale.

Social media makes people

retreat to their devices when
they're in need of withdrawal.

When they can't handle reality
they switch their attention over

to this you know little
rewarding world of social media

and I believe that might be kind of the same model for the drug user.

So my favorite drug in the world
is which is not even a drug,

it's legit legal called poppers.

What they're for is the chemical and then makes your asshole stretch

so it makes anal sex feel better for you
but I know I've-- I know how to breathe

because I love yoga so I don't have to take
these but if you want to do them recreationally

it literally, watch here, I'll
have someone ask me a question.

Give me one second.

[Snorts]

Like if you ask me
who the president--

what wait, wait--what
was that word.

So,

I always forget how strong they are um but like literally it just like

it your brain just goes away
for like 20 seconds.

So that you-- it's just
fucking fun. It's simple.

On baby, man this is one of my favorite liquor stores out west man,
you know what I'm saying?

Oh brother, how you feeling my brother?
Let me get aaaaa... Damn!

Let me get a fifth of Hennessy.

[Friend talking]

Cool.

Back to the ghetto.

Zimboobofu!

You got some cups?
You got some cups?

Thanks, my brother.

Wish you the best, man,
you know what I'm saying?

Look, I'll just put the motherfucking
thing in the motherfucking thing, right?

You gave me a whole damn flee,
god damn, it's a party.

I'll see you man all at the wedding and shit.
You know who I am?

No, I don't know
who the fuck you are.

- You don't?
- No.

Well you better find out. Emilio
Estevez looking at Big boot ass,

at three-story
building boot ass,

your ass need a lot of the giving them bitches by my momma.

Matter of fact your ass stepped on aggressive
alley cats in the fat ass boots of my mama boy.

Your ass got on some "Harry I'm coming home alone" seven ass boo ass.

Well, my mama boy.
Your ass walking the party and the motherfucking news you skip

with those fat ass boots. Heavy D booties,
space jam boot ass, on my mama, boy.

Them bitches high-level security booties, boy!
Steve Hightower boot ass.

Well my mama is a bitch
as fat as hell on my momma boy!

So I know it's a lot of bullies
and haters on social media

and the way I deal with them is I just ignore them,
you know what I'm saying? Like...

And if I was like bullying

they'd probably look at me as a bully because I talk about people

but my mom always told me sticks and stones may break my bones

but words will never
hurt me, man.

Y'all need to stop letting the words
get to you and stop being so sensitive.

I get a lot of hate from like how like
aggressive I am on Instagram or whatever,

but like literally the-- it's so simple I just want to make people laugh.

Like if I can get you through your day and make you have a laugh

and you're having a shitty day because I mean
the world is so fucked right now, it's crazy.

Like that's-- that's
all I care about.

I did get a lot of hate about the way I look or
you know if I had my lips done or whatever.

Whereas now I think people are just so
used to people just doing what they want

I very rarely get hate.

Sometimes you'll get people that just think
anyone that's putting themselves out there

is a scammer, "Oh you're selling
a product, you're a scammer."

No, bitch, I fucking transformed millions of lives.
I'm helping people every day.

I get all these fucking transformations.
50 pounds, 100 pounds,

I walk down the street,
I see these crazy results but there's always one idiot that's like,

"Oh you're scamming people."

Like "Your bullshit. Oh fake
transfer-- everything's fake!"

I'm like this doesn't make any sense.
I meet these people every day.

I have tons of transformations you can go on their Instagram page

and talk to them and
see what they did.

So that's what pisses me off when people
trying to just completely discredit it

and just like, "No, you're fake news."
Whatever. No this is real news.

We don't deal with
haters on Instagram.

We just block them.
I love the block button. Block and mute.

This guy says he knew you.
He grew up with you, played hockey with you...

- Who?
- And you sucked at hockey.

- What an asshole!
- He said you were bench warmer.

Fuck him. No he-- I never
was a bench warmer.

I don't even know him.
Dude, I was like the top goal scorer.

- What his age...?
- He's not.

- What's his name? Noah?
- Yeah.

- He did not say I suck a hockey.
- I swear to God.

Fucking delete him.

I definitely reply to the haters sometimes
and sometimes it's just a "Fuck you."

♪♪♪

The word public figure to me,
I think if you could call yourself a public figure,

you need to just settle down like it's
not-- you're not really a public figure-

like I'd say a public figure
would be an A-list celebrity.

Someone who gets stopped in
the street, there's paparazzi.

Like if you have 100k on Instagram,
you're not a public figure

but I don't know,
that's just my opinion.

I don't have any weight with the word public
figure there's so many people that are supposed

public figures with 5,000 followers to just take pictures.

What I am passionate about isn't having eyeballs,
it's changing people.

It's helping them have more confidence and
anyone could be a public figure you know,

if they have those that first whatever I
don't 10 thousand followers Instagram.

But that doesn't mean that they're actually inspiring people.

Sometimes you know a lot of Instagramers
you know they show the lifestyle,

but it doesn't actually help people really achieve what they want.

I host like the biggest parties
in the world-- in New York.

Like my party I host
at Paul's Baby Grand

is like people like-- it's like
the closest thing to Studio 54.

Like I walked away from Taylor Swift there
one night because she talked to me about cats

and I really don't like cats.

And she's also Taylor Swift.
Also I'm so sorry for this fake ass British accent

but I've partied for five straight days
and for some reason I think of British

or my voice just gave up and it
moved to another continent.

Where is my backpack?

Where is she?

Her name's Marlo Hampton and because
she's my favorite housewife ever.

I'm obsessed with
"The Real Housewives."

Oh my God, there she is.
So this is Marlo Hampton cause if she got wet--

god forbid her we would die.
And she's Dolce & Gabbana

like literally D&G and it is
literally, I paid $1,300

for a stuffed animal with a Dolce & Gabbana tag,
but she carries my jewels,

my poppers, my passport

and probably something I'm
not allowed to say on camera.

As much as there can be this kind of dark side to influencers,

I've seen a lot of really positive things
come out of this trend of influencers.

I think some of these people are
really having an impact on youth

and on women and on mental health and I think that's laudable.

Not only is it going to change my world,
I think it's going to make people's lives

a little easier,
especially if you are trying to get into entertainment.

It's happening every day, you know,
you don't wait for anything anymore.

If you have a song, put it on YouTube.
If you're a fashionista put it on Instagram,

if you're a blogger, blog away,
you know. Somebody might find you.

Your influence might be bigger
than what you think.

Your footprint and cup might
be bigger than what you think.

Social media platforms are definitely a benefit for any business.

I think it's important that we build brands
and that we use these digital highways

to help us to get to people
we would usually never get to.

It is changing that I see how brands are
figuring it out and how much it's killing

old technology
and old methodologies

and all the ways of doing business which I fucking love.

I'm not Mark Zuckerberg.
I don't know what's next, but

I feel like Instagram
is probably paving the way

and whatever it
needs to do next though

integrate it into their platform because it's very,
very difficult

to convince millions of people to jump on a new foreign platform.

I think to myself like how much longer can I actually do this for?

Like is this something that I can do for another five to ten years?
I don't know.

I don't know like will
there be something else

like will there be another platform?
I think about it all the time.

And I think I'm just going to keep doing me
and I think like I just try and stay present

like obviously my-- as I get older my
following and my demographic is changing.

So you know like in a couple years if I have kids like maybe I'll move

into you know being a mommy influencer which is massive nowadays.

It's massive.

But it's just where it's just where I go in life like as long as I'm still doing,

you know, I'm still
on track with my brand

like hopefully it just lasts
for as long as it can.

Being a public
figure like I literally,

one, I avoid Washington Square Park because I can't walk through it

because I get, I get
stopped legit non-stop.

♪♪♪

♪ Oh, it's mystery to me

♪ We have agreed
With which we have agreed ♪

♪ And you think you have
To want more than you need ♪

♪ Until you have it all
You won't be free ♪

♪ Society, you're
A crazy breed ♪

♪ I hope you're not
Lonely without me ♪

♪ When you want more than
You have you think you need ♪

♪ And when you think
More than you want ♪

♪ Your thoughts begin to bleed

♪ I think I need to find
A bigger place ♪

♪ 'Cause when you have
More than you think ♪

♪ You need more space

♪ Society, you're
A crazy breed ♪

♪ I hope you're not
Lonely without me ♪

♪ Society, crazy indeed

♪ I hope you're not
Lonely without me ♪

In the world's view a public figure is
probably the one with the most likes,

with the most followers,

the person who you see on the front page of every magazine.

The person that everyone knows for and for
and through the photos that we see of them

and so often, we forgot,
forget that they have lives behind the scenes.

And I think as communities and,
specifically, online communities

we put so much pressure
on them to be there for us

and we own them in a sense if we think about the online space.

Whereas those people
are really living a real life

offline and I want to encourage everybody to just respect that.

♪ There's those thinking
More or less, less is more ♪

♪ But if less is more
How you keeping score ♪

♪ Means for every point
Make your level drops ♪

♪ Kind of like you starting
From the top ♪

♪ You can't do that

♪ Society, you're
A crazy breed ♪

♪ I hope you're not
Lonely without me ♪

♪ Society, crazy indeed

♪ I hope you're not
Lonely without me ♪

♪ Society, have mercy on me

♪ I hope you're not angry
If I disagree ♪

♪ Society...

And there he is now.
Sebastian, come on in.

- This isn't on camera.
- It can be on camera, come on.

Come on camera, babe, sit here.

Sit here, you've got no male.

It's enigmatic this relationship.
It's strange but beautiful.

I see so much brilliance in Sebastian and how smart he is,
you know.

And--

I'm like you I-- I just want to-- my father died right in front of me.

I literally just want to make people laugh.
I've gone through depression.

It's not like what you've been through
but it's a step to make people forget

about one moment in their
life if I can make them laugh.

And that's what I love.

[Music ends]

♪♪♪

Alright, got another one. Baby
boy? Fuck is going on with you?

You must be ready to attend
this barbecue, my brother.

Yeah barbecue my milkshake
brings all the boys to the yard

and their life is better than
yours looking at blame

either like you posing in the gate skills
commercial man is lucky charm looking ass

confused fruitloop,
looking at yo ass through a Pink Panther perm to your head

and called it a day.
Rainbow coalition fit.

You laying there like you just threw up and
shouted at the same time then passed out.

Matter of fact your ass is like the joker in the very first Batman movie

that was ever made your little
ugly ass on baby boy.

You like you suck all the sauce off the flame
hot before you chew that motherfucker.

Your ass laying there like you
listening to sexual seduction.

Ugly ass but the password to
your computer's doohickey Rickey

and the only thing you watch on that is Lizz porn you little ugly ass

but as a matter of fact we heard you went to Victoria's Secret yesterday

and set it up because they want to start a
clothing line what you call Victor Secrets,

you little ugly ass.

♪ When the doves cry Unhealthy Prince looking ass on boy,
you ugly as hell.

♪ I lose my name

♪ Everybody loves my game

♪ But am I strong enough
To love the world ♪

♪ And have the word love me

♪ I'm a public figure

♪ I'm a rising star

♪ And I can't believe
Someone like me ♪

♪ Could ever get this far

♪ Like a public figure

♪ I'm a superstar

♪ So don't wait
Until tomorrow ♪

♪ To find out who you are

♪ It's an addiction

♪ All I can see

♪ Is millions of people

♪ Following me

♪ Everybody knows me now

♪ I can't even leave my house

♪ 'Cause I'm living
For the moment ♪

♪ Being all that I can be

♪ I'm a public figure

♪ I'm a rising star

♪ And I can't believe
Someone like me ♪

♪ Could ever get this far

♪ Like a public figure

♪ I'm a superstar

♪ So don't wait until tomorrow

♪ To find out who you are

♪ A word to all the haters

♪ Who haven't got a clue

♪ Your dreams
Are not so far away ♪

♪ Just believe in you

♪ I'm a public figure

♪ I'm a rising star

♪ And I can't believe
Someone like me ♪

♪ Could ever get this far

♪ Like a public figure

♪ I'm a superstar

♪ So don't wait until tomorrow

♪ To find out who you are

♪ Public figure

♪ I'm a rising star

♪ Public figure

♪ Rising star

♪ Public figure

♪ Rising star

♪ Public figure

♪ Rising star

♪ Like a public figure