u/Stargazer1919

I've been thinking about this for a while. I hope this is an appropriate subreddit to post this. I believe this is worth discussing as a community.

I'm really glad that as a society we are starting to have discussions about trauma, abuse, generational trauma, family dysfunction, mental health, all of those things. It's incredibly brave when someone decides to share their story of what they went through. It's often a huge part of the healing process.

Some people take to their own social media accounts to get their voice out there. But there are a lot of content creators who have popped up to help people share their stories with an audience. I'm not sure if there's a name yet for this sort of content, but for the time being I'll call them trauma channels or trauma content. (Someone please fill me in if there's a different phrase for it.)

There are a few creators who I hear have been accused of being exploitive of this type of content. We're All Insane and Soft White Underbelly are two that I can think of off the top of my head. It's worth noting that these two are not mental health professionals. There's a huge difference between the types of channels that are run by professionals and the ones who are not... but I'm still searching for the words to describe it.

In your opinion, what makes a content creator (or their social media account) exploitive if they are creating this type of content where they bring people on their podcast or videos who have trauma and let them share their story? Where does the line get drawn? I have a sense that this is happening but I find it hard to describe, so I figured this should be up for a larger discussion. Is it the fact that they're making money or getting fame or sponsorships? Is it something more than that?

More importantly, does it help the victims and survivors to tell their stories publicly to a large internet audience? Does it really educate the public by doing so? Does it help the viewers if they find this content relatable and cathartic, or do the viewers become a peanut gallery that makes a laughingstock of the speaker who has been through some shit?

These questions have been rolling around in my mind for a while. I'm very interested in hearing the thoughts of others. Also, do you watch this sort of content? Does it help you? Are there some creators that you prefer over others and why?

The topic of estrangement sort of blew up on social media a year or two ago. Major news outlets were posting articles about it. Every other content creator was talking about it.

10+ years ago, I didn't even know what estrangement was. All I knew was that my mom and I had a nonexistent relationship. I thought I was completely alone. I grew up locked in my own world in my mind, extremely sheltered and naive.

There was the MeToo movement not long before that. It started to show up on my radar that more people were talking online about their experiences with SA and/or childhood abuse. It's discussions like this that made me realize so many people go through the same unfortunate shit.

My YouTube algorithm has gone to shit because I watched and listened to so much of that type of content. Same with Facebook. I think I overdosed on it and I don't want to see it anymore. I don't go on TikTok but I hear it's so much worse over there.

It's the same thing every time. The same misinformation and talking points from shitty parents in denial. There's nothing new to the discussion anymore.

I think watching this shit isn't helping my healing process. It's terrible to see videos/comments from estranged parents saying that estranged offspring are ungrateful and hateful and whatever, and that the parents were always good parents and child abuse is astronomically rare. Like, that sort of rhetoric is in support of the sadist pedophiles that raised me.

And if you comment saying anything to refute that crap... lord help you. The dogpile of abusers and people who don't get it is intense.

There's no point in hanging out in these spaces. The toxic parents tell on themselves and show exactly why their offspring can't stand them.

I gave up on Facebook. I'm searching for other content on YouTube so hopefully my algorithm changes up. I'm unsubscribing to a lot of stuff that I just don't need to see anymore.

I'm not going to tell anyone what to do, but I highly recommend this if you've found yourself spending too much time in that toxic corner of the internet. Eventually, the negativity gets really old and I'd rather be doing something productive.

I wish everyone here a good day. 🖤