Felix “Pewdiepie” Kjellberg has quit Twitter and announced he will take a hiatus from YouTube.
In a new video released today on YouTube, Pewdiepie explained why he hates Twitter before deactivating his account.
“I hate Twitter. I think about deleting mine all the time,” he began. “What I don’t like is the constant posturing that goes on there.”
Related: Ubisoft Producer Calls for Industry Blacklisting of PewDiePie
He would continue, “People just can’t seem to help themselves from pointing out what is good and what is bad, or how others are bad, and you are good to a point where it almost becomes fiction just to satisfy a need.”
He goes on to describe what he takes issue with is that people are rewarded for this behavior.
“But what annoys me most about it is that it gets rewarded. Through social media we get likes, we get engagement by boasting about certain things; it’s very popular.”
Kjellberg does a great job pointing out that most of the activity on Twitter is various people trying to gain virtue points, and the hypocrisy that comes with it.
He uses Harry Potter scribe J.K. Rowling as an example.
“A classic example could be J.K. Rowling changing the sexual identity retroactively on her characters as a way to posture for social virtue points. This to me is a good example because most understand that it’s complete bullshit.”
Related: History Teacher Warns Students that PewDiePie Promotes “Racism” and “Anti-Semitism”
He continues:
“But thanks to social media this is somewhat become backwards. You get rewarded for saying things that make you seem virtuous rather than acting on it. Obviously, this is not nearly to the same exten. But it explains why the site has become such a cesspool of opinion and how more often than not the people who boast about being virtuous often reveals to be hiding the fact through action they are not.”
Pewdiepie then proceeds to tie it all in with a fascinating lesson in Greek philosophy.
Related: Wil Wheaton Attacks PewDiePie: “Racist, Piece of S*** Bigot”
This video comes on the heels of announcing he’s taking a YouTube break.
At the end of his December 14th Pew News episode, Pewdiepie announced he would be taking a break from YouTube beginning early next year.
“I think now is a great time as any to announce that I have a special announcement to make. I am taking a break from YouTube next year. I wanted to say it in advance because I’ve made up my mind — I’m tired, I’m feeling very tired. I don’t know if you can tell. Just so you know, early next year, I’ll be away for a little while. I’ll explain that later, but I wanted to give a heads up.”
Over the course of his career in content creation, Pewdiepie has been routinely targeted by the mainstream media, celebrities, and other YouTubers.
He’s been called a bigot, a bad influence, and just about any slanderous term you can imagine.
With the recent rash of misfortune in his personal life, and the relentless personal attacks, it’s easy to see why the man would step away for a while.
Recently, Felix and his wife Marzia had their home in the UK hit by flood damage, and their home in Japan broken into, just a week apart.
Related: PewDiePie’s House Robbed, ’90 percent’ of valuables stolen
The robbery in Japan cost the couple many of their most treasured valuables.
Pewds is a valuable cultural icon in this day and age, but sometimes it is easy to forget he’s human.
We here at Bounding Into Comics wish the Kjellbergs well and look forward to Pewdiepie’s return.
What do you think about Pewdiepie taking a hiatus from YouTube and quitting Twitter?
Leave your thoughts below.