Naomi SexyCyborg Wu's Patreon Shut Down by VICE

[edy]

I have only heard of Naomi from a previous EEVBlog thread and watched a video or two... but I even mentioned previously that I felt awkward and uncomfortable (as a heterosexual married male) to look at it for any "electronic" learning content. It was NSFW for sure. While I'm not one to judge and think she can do anything she wants, if we are to be realistic here (not idealistic), you must admit that her fashion choices probably did contribute to her popularity more so than the electronic education aspects of her videos.

Who is to say that someone at VICE had a "bone to pick" with her and either (a) didn't believe she knew much about electronics, and (b) she was just a puppet or "camera candy" with someone else behind the scenes helping her, and (c) knowing that sex sells articles... baited her into this mess and she unfortunately showed she was naive and took it. She should NOT have given any personal details or home tours (forget NDA and all that stuff) to a stranger, period... and shrugged it off. And it would probably be better not to have tried to fight with VICE online. I'm sure she has other rumours and criticisms online as I'm sure she has been getting already. Why react now? And does she really need a Patreon account? How many other places are there where she can ask for money (like PayPal Donate and so on)?

Naomi will find a way to get over this, I doubt she has such a thin skin, and the VICE article if anything may have given her a larger audience. I doubt her existing fan-base cares and she can use other platforms to get money so in the end I wonder if it actually did impact her much except she learned not to deal with interviews the same anymore (many of which have their own agendas and bias before even starting).

[G7PSK]

Couldn't you get that in a written contract/NDA before agreeing to the interview?
Sure, if your dealing with a respectful journalist it might not be necessary, but VICE is known to expose what they can.

Why the heck would you need a contract for an interview?

Because, "any thing you say may be taken down twisted around and used against you"

[Mr. Scram]

Because, "any thing you say may be taken down twisted around and used against you"

Then don't give an interview. If people want to frame you, they'll find a way to do so anyway.

[edy]

Because, "any thing you say may be taken down twisted around and used against you"

Then don't give an interview. If people want to frame you, they'll find a way to do so anyway.

True... These journalists are going to have an "angle" and VICE wants an informative but also entertaining piece on science and technology innovation in China. They obviously picked Naomi because she is different due in part to her "features" and large fan-base with millions of YouTube hits. Naomi knows it, she has made a living from it and her reaction to this seems a bit hypocritical.

I'm assuming this is the article in question?:

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/3kjqdb/naomi-wu-sexy-cyborg-profile-shenzhen-maker-scene

She is quoted as saying in the article:

Wu’s appearance is attention-grabbing. And it’s something she has parlayed into advocacy for better representation of women in technology. “A lot of people do clickbait,” Wu tells me. “I do too. I don’t put it in the title. I put it in the pictures.”

I read the article and I don't see what the fuss is about. I think Naomi should defend herself about this Reddit conspiracy theory about her not being a real maker, or having her husband do everything for her, or that she is all fake, etc... Which people will always accuse someone of when they see someone successful who doesn't fit the image they believe. But rather than take the high-brow approach she got embroiled with VICE in a downward spiral. At the bottom of the article linked above it seems to be just that.

I don't know what got under her skin so badly but it seems she didn't think that it would have any repercussions, otherwise I am confident she wouldn't have "doxxed" as you call it and got kicked off Patreon. Like I said, this is 1 day news and then tomorrow she's back to doing whatever it is she does and getting PayPal Donate or some other medium to fund her activities. And upon reading the VICE article it doesn't sound as bad as initially led to believe by her reaction either.

[rsjsouza]

Because, "any thing you say may be taken down twisted around and used against you"

Then don't give an interview. If people want to frame you, they'll find a way to do so anyway.

TBH, people will try to frame you either if you concede an interview or not but, if you do, be prepared to deal with anything that is put out with strong arguments in your favour. 

I heard that some popular Youtube commentators here in the US do not participate in interviews without signed contracts anymore - one of them disallows any form of editing to prevent things to be taken out of context.

[metrologist]

I'm in a position to actually do those things and try and replicate that if I so desire, but I choose not to.

How about giving your Brymen meter the same field test you gave the Fluke? 

[BravoV]

Wu’s appearance is attention-grabbing. And it’s something she has parlayed into advocacy for better representation of women in technology. “A lot of people do clickbait,” Wu tells me. “I do too. I don’t put it in the title. I put it in the pictures.”

With this drawbacks, I guess bikini mode is coming ?

With this trend and market for "this kind of" video segment, I'm guessing its just the matter time, that sort of nude soldering/desoldering paid video blogs are about to surface.

[NiHaoMike]

I have only heard of Naomi from a previous EEVBlog thread and watched a video or two... but I even mentioned previously that I felt awkward and uncomfortable (as a heterosexual married male) to look at it for any "electronic" learning content. It was NSFW for sure. While I'm not one to judge and think she can do anything she wants, if we are to be realistic here (not idealistic), you must admit that her fashion choices probably did contribute to her popularity more so than the electronic education aspects of her videos.

Of course it is not realistic to expect expert level electronics knowledge from an artist who merely dabbles in electronics. In fact, artists often do get criticism from engineers - and then the engineers expect the artists to be nice!

Some of the outfits are a bit showing off, but I doubt she wants to be another Joanne Chiang. Showing off is not unusual in art - check out some music videos by rook&nomie (a band Micah Elizabeth Scott did some technical work for). Also interesting to note is at least twice, what would normally be a NSFW outfit was allowed for a company tour because the company apparently realized they would get great advertising out of it.

And does she really need a Patreon account? How many other places are there where she can ask for money (like PayPal Donate and so on)?

Paypal is the last link between her and (part of) my mining cluster. Basically, I get to experience the fun of mining, show my other friends that I use technology for good, and contribute something to the community other than increased mining difficulty. Oh, and I finally ended the "green competition" between my friend Allie Moore and I because I used solar to power my mining setup.

[Ampera]

I'd use a drill and some explosives to mine, but that's just me.

[ez24]

I had a similar experience as Naomi.  When I was 13 I won a national prize (an encyclopedia) and the local paper wanted to interview me.  I had no sense to say no.  The article made front page news on New Years day with my picture.  I was scared and embarrassed shitless because I was homeless.    Nothing happened.

[EEVblog]

I heard that some popular Youtube commentators here in the US do not participate in interviews without signed contracts anymore - one of them disallows any form of editing to prevent things to be taken out of context.

Popular youtube commentators get more views that mainstream media channels, they don't need the interviews.
Reminds me of the whole PewDiePie nazi thing that started the whole adpocolypse. The Wall Street Journal who instigated the whole thing offered to let him write an article for them explaining his side of the story. He just laughed at them, he doesn't need their platform to defend himself, his platform is 10 times bigger. Which of course is why they hate him, they are dying and he's growing bigger than they ever were.

[NiHaoMike]

because I used solar to power my mining setup.

I use free energy to mine, unfortunately it only works during the winter.

I did mine earnhoney with my Sandy Bridge E on unusually cold days even though it was not particularly profitable because the "waste" heat wasn't wasteful at those times. Now it won't even make unity (and the cold weather is pretty much all gone from my area until much later in the year), but if heat is desired, it will still easily outdo a heat pump after accounting for mining revenue. There's something nice about heating your room with something that makes your best friend happy, and if I give away all of the mined coins (as I just did, after conversion of course), it still costs exactly the same as using a resistive heater.

[Ampera]

That brings into light an interesting conversation about traditional media as a whole.

Regardless of what major traditional media outlet you visit, I will bet you every step of the way they are getting paid to tell you stuff that their benefactors want you to hear. Getting a story's details wrong isn't illegal (and never should be), but bending the truth is a great tool to get people to believe something you want them to.

Dave is completely correct as to PewDiePie's size being why they hate them, but I do not believe that says everything. I believe they hate him because they can't control him. They hate him because they do not have the power to publish bullshit that everybody will believe. The death of one abused power, however, will likely lead to another one. Regardless of how, people with money want to get a lot of people on their side to make even more money.

I think it's alright to trust most media sites to give you SOME facts, but to never trust them to give you an opinion. No man alive is innocent of that. Even still, god knows how many times mainstream televised media was caught pushing bullshit about things like video games, online personalities, and I believe the reason why everybody is so piss scared of the alt-right. After all, if the media is afraid of it, then why shouldn't you?

[amyk]

From VICE article:

She took issue with other standard editorial protocols, such as when a fact-checker reached out to other sources for this piece.

That raises a red flag... and I'm not talking about China's! Is she scared they'll find out something she doesn't want others to know? If anything, it's only going to give that "conspiracy theory" more credibility.

[Mr. Scram]

That brings into light an interesting conversation about traditional media as a whole.

Regardless of what major traditional media outlet you visit, I will bet you every step of the way they are getting paid to tell you stuff that their benefactors want you to hear. Getting a story's details wrong isn't illegal (and never should be), but bending the truth is a great tool to get people to believe something you want them to.

Dave is completely correct as to PewDiePie's size being why they hate them, but I do not believe that says everything. I believe they hate him because they can't control him. They hate him because they do not have the power to publish bullshit that everybody will believe. The death of one abused power, however, will likely lead to another one. Regardless of how, people with money want to get a lot of people on their side to make even more money.

I think it's alright to trust most media sites to give you SOME facts, but to never trust them to give you an opinion. No man alive is innocent of that. Even still, god knows how many times mainstream televised media was caught pushing bullshit about things like video games, online personalities, and I believe the reason why everybody is so piss scared of the alt-right. After all, if the media is afraid of it, then why shouldn't you?

It's probably much simpler than that. Whatever information gets interpreted, is coloured by who interprets. I don't think news outlets always sing the song of whoever pays them for the sake of it. The selection is probably already made in the hiring process and subsequently through company dynamics and culture. Don't underestimate what group dynamics will do to people, especially if they're already so inclined. Add to that the willingness of people to lie to themselves when that is in their own interest and you have much of what we see.

[Ampera]

I am inclined to agree with you. We are in a soup of human philosophy that few if anybody can swim through.

As a person with an opinion, who occasionally enjoys debating other people with it, I tend to not only engage in outrage, but enjoy it. It forms my strongest opinions, but also binds me to some of my strongest friends.

I tend to have a lot of time on my hands for various reasons, and much of that I use to just think about the world as it works, and form opinions on it. I tend to use other people as a validity check on my own thoughts to attempt to improve my view on the world.

Either way, at the end of the day, VICE is still a sack of shit, both parties seem guilty of something here, and life moves on.

[IanB]

Dave is completely correct as to PewDiePie's size being why they hate them

I've heard of PewDiePie, but that is the limit of my interest. Beyond knowing the name, PewDiePie is irrelevant to me.

And that is maybe the point with Naomi Wu. She might have somehow been personally upset, but the reality is that nobody else particularly cares one way or another about who she is or what she gets up to. People need to get over themselves. Nobody is really that important.

Storm in a teacup comes to mind. Just ignore things, let it pass, and get on with your life. It probably takes a certain amount of life experience to reach that understanding, and that is the burden the young have to bear. They act unwisely and can't shrug off the consequences. As a result they bring suffering upon themselves.

[EEVblog]

I have only heard of Naomi from a previous EEVBlog thread and watched a video or two... but I even mentioned previously that I felt awkward and uncomfortable (as a heterosexual married male) to look at it for any "electronic" learning content. It was NSFW for sure. While I'm not one to judge and think she can do anything she wants, if we are to be realistic here (not idealistic), you must admit that her fashion choices probably did contribute to her popularity more so than the electronic education aspects of her videos.

Yes, no point pretending her success and popularity is not almost entirely due to her looks, and she knows it. And she goes out of her way to showcase that and readily admits it.
Nothing wrong with that of course, go for it, more power to her, it's worked well for her and allowed her to capitalise on that exposure and move in other direction if she so desires. And the media love it of course, it's clickbait from tech heaven.

[EEVblog]

Dave is completely correct as to PewDiePie's size being why they hate them, but I do not believe that says everything. I believe they hate him because they can't control him.

Yep, precisely.

It's not dissimilar to doing equipment reviews in our engineering space. Manufacturers don't like that they cannot control video bloggers opinions. They don't like that they can't review content before it gets published etc.
But they have had to resign themselves to the fact that they can't control individuals like they could (partly) influence the magazines of days gone by that they advertised in, it's a different game now and they have had to adapt if they want the benefits of the platform and exposure.

Youtube is just too big and the individual has the power now.
Heck, I'm a nobody in the Youtube world and even some of my niche videos get more views than some mainstream general interest TV shows that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more to produce.
PewDiePie and others can switch on a webcam and reach 10's of millions of people instantly, figures the mainstream media can't even imagine.
It's a new world.

[John B]

So let's get a few things straight.....

She makes a brand image almost entirely based on sexuality, but that's off limits to talk about.

She is quite to happy to play the special pixie faerie woman in tech struggling against all the big bad males, while simultaneously her financial success is the result of raking in money from legions of thirsty male patreon users.

She is also quite happy to play up the victim angle, then engages in dirty tactics like doxxing and using her fanbase to harass others.

OK

[NiHaoMike]

So let's get a few things straight.....

She makes a brand image almost entirely based on sexuality, but that's off limits to talk about.

A college friend of mine (who shall remain anonymous) also "showed herself off" (to an even greater extent than Naomi ever did) to get Bitcoin back in the day. Would it be OK to ask her just how she showed herself on camera?

She is quite to happy to play the special pixie faerie woman in tech struggling against all the big bad males, while simultaneously her financial success is the result of raking in money from legions of thirsty male patreon users.

I don't think she has a problem with guys in general, just misogynists. She cast me in a very positive light the first time I used my miners to help her.

She is also quite happy to play up the victim angle, then engages in dirty tactics like doxxing and using her fanbase to harass others.

OK

The followers doing counter attacks are not entirely controllable from her side. If a real life friend of yours was under attack, you would try to do something to stop the attackers, right?

[BravoV]

She cast me in a very positive light the first time I used my miners to help her.

Isn't that obvious that she will do that and be nice to anyone who did pay donate too ?

[NiHaoMike]

She cast me in a very positive light the first time I used my miners to help her.

Isn't that obvious that she will do that and be nice to anyone who did pay donate too ?

Above and beyond what she normally does, as in dedicate a post about me including pictures that I told her she can use.
https://twitter.com/RealSexyCyborg/status/932136250454163458
You could say I "bought" a badge of honor to display on my Facebook, which I used to get positive responses from my other friends. It really does make mining feel like a game and every part of the setup now has a special story attached. Several of my friends who work at or used to work at Qualcomm were very happy to see how I was putting Snapdragon processors to good use. (Side note: dragons have special meaning in Chinese culture.)

[EEVblog]

If a real life friend of yours was under attack, you would try to do something to stop the attackers, right?

But what if the friend did something wrong or questionable to put them in that position?
In that case if it was my friend, I'd advise them on the best way to exit the predicament and prevent it from happening again, rather than focus on stopping the attacks by counter-attcking.
Sometimes a tactical withdrawal is the best solution.

As much as I like and support Naomi, I'm afraid she isn't an innocent victim here. So I for one am trying to help her by explaining better ways she could have handled this and hence help prevent this sort of stuff happening in the future. I hope she learns from it.

[John B]

So let's get a few things straight.....

She makes a brand image almost entirely based on sexuality, but that's off limits to talk about.

A college friend of mine (who shall remain anonymous) also "showed herself off" (to an even greater extent than Naomi ever did) to get Bitcoin back in the day. Would it be OK to ask her just how she showed herself on camera?

So, interviewing a webcam model and asking them to talk about the specifics of their trade? Sounds completely normal.

The only problem in this instance is that something is someone is mixing two genres, ie softcore/modelling with technology, relying on the former as the primary means of success AND the primary means of defining their identity and persona, then they insist that only the latter is permissible as a topic of discussion. Not just in articles either.

Congratulations on getting a shout-out from her. Must feel good. But it's important to be honest with oneself whether that would feel as good if she wasn't so pretty and popular, or whether she'd be validating you if didn't provide utility to her. If you check out her comments sections on videos, there are hundred of guys hoping for a response from her. Not intending anything as a personal attack either, its just very obvious what is happening when you take a step back from the situation.