Over the last two-and-a-half years, I have written many articles as an editor for The Brock Press. Many were written during my ongoing time as Managing Editor, in which I have largely focused on the Opinion section, providing my insights on an array of topics including politics, internet culture, video games and Milk Duds.
While this role continues to excite me with each new week, acting as a collection of my current opinions, it has also provided an archive of many opinions from times past that present certain personal viewpoints I no longer hold.
This article will reflect on some of my past work that no longer suits my thinking, whether they’ve been updated with new information that has changed my point of view, didn’t age well or just simply no longer align with my opinions today.
“After years of mediocrity, Smosh is back in full force”
This article was particularly exciting to write, both because of my love of old-school Smosh videos and because it was one of my first opinion pieces as Managing Editor of The Brock Press.
In the article, I described my appreciation of Smosh’s then-recent commitment to bringing back their classic-style content with co-star Anthony Padilla rejoining his best friend Ian Hecox on the channel. It was an exciting moment for the channel, which had seen the friends part ways years earlier in 2017 and Hecox’s leadership take the channel in a different direction than what he had established with Padilla.
As I wrote in my original article, the duo’s first sketch upon Padilla’s return closely resembled the successful formula they had established in the channel’s prime, and everything seemed to be pointing toward this being the new direction for the channel, which Hecox admitted “hadn’t quite found its footing” in the years before Padilla’s return. As a huge fan of their older content, this shift was incredibly exciting to me.
Unfortunately, over a year later, it’s become clear that this bold new direction has fizzled out even faster than it did the first time. While Padilla is still technically a member of the Smosh team, he is often absent from videos across the primary Smosh channels, with Hecox once again taking up the helm as a lead star.
Making matters worse, the pair stopped producing old-school sketches roughly one year after their first new sketch aired, which was incredibly disappointing as someone who looked forward to new content every other week. The main channel has shifted toward a new SNL-style program called “Bit City” which doesn’t star Hecox or Padilla and once again feels like it lacks a clear creative vision. Sadly, it feels as though the channel has stepped right back into the mediocrity that defined it in the years before Padilla’s return.
As for why the pair would stop producing new sketches only a year after their triumphant return, it’s impossible to say for sure, but there are a couple reasons that would make sense.
The most obvious guess is that the duo’s 2023 and 2024 sketches pulled in significantly lower views than those from the early 2010s, a reminder that the YouTube landscape has significantly shifted from Smosh’s primetime. Considering that many of the new sketches struggled to hit one million views compared to the tens of millions of views the old sketches pulled in, it’s not terribly surprising that Smosh would abandon the formula.
Another possible reason is that some of the channel’s newer fans seemed dissatisfied with the sketches primarily featuring Hecox and Padilla when they had grown accustomed to the large cast that had taken starring roles in the previous few years, which is understandable for those who found the channel after Padilla’s departure in 2017.
All in all, it’s hard to blame Smosh for abandoning their old-school sketches a second time, but it’s still disappointing as a longtime viewer who saw their reunion as a chance to return to the channel’s glory days. At this point, what’s most important is that Padilla and Hecox remain close friends, even if their channel was never bound to return to its prime after all.
“It’s time to stop hating MrBeast”
Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, who has the highest subscriber count of any channel on YouTube, did not have a great 2024.
The year was clouded by controversy for the MrBeast channel, starting with grooming allegations towards Donaldson’s co-star and longtime best friend Ava Kris Tyson. While a law firm later hired by Donaldson to conduct an investigation found these claims to be “without basis,” the damage was already done and Tyson had been removed from the MrBeast team.
But Donaldson’s turmoil was far from over. The production of his highly anticipated Amazon Prime Video series Beast Games was plagued with controversy, with several contestants accusing the production team of “chronic mistreatment,” misrepresenting winning odds, failure to prevent sexual harassment and a variety of other problems. These allegations ultimately culminated in a lawsuit against Amazon and the MrBeast company.
While the MrBeast team has refuted some claims and cited the July 2024 CrowdStrike incident as a reason for certain shortcomings, it’s clear that there was serious mismanagement during the production of Beast Games. While this was Donaldson’s first attempt at a large-scale streaming show, proper preparation and due diligence could have prevented most of these issues from happening at all.
Things got even worse for Donaldson when disgruntled ex-MrBeast employee Dawson French, known online as dogpack404, levied several concerning allegations toward the creator, including performing illegal lotteries, rigged competitions, faked videos and employing sex offenders.
It’s important to note that many of these allegations have been debunked, so it’s not quite as easy as immediately dismissing Donaldson as a villain. At the end of the day, it’s worth considering both sides and drawing your own conclusions about who is in the wrong — I’m inclined to believe that neither side is without fault.
Regardless, enough has gone wrong with the MrBeast brand in 2024 that I no longer believe MrBeast to be unworthy of criticism. These controversies demonstrate that there’s more to the MrBeast company than a really nice guy who loves giving away money, and while I’m not certain about the legitimacy of every allegation, I now understand why some viewers have problems with Donaldson and his work.
“Here’s why you should expect a Nintendo Switch successor in 2024”
Here it is, my one opinion article that is objectively and indisputably wrong, no matter how you slice it.
As much as I would have loved to get my hands on the Nintendo Switch successor last year, that simply didn’t come to pass. In fact, my prediction was so wrong that the console wasn’t even officially revealed within the year of 2024; it wasn’t until Jan. 16, 2025 that Nintendo released the long-anticipated trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Perhaps my article was purely written from a place of unfounded hope, or maybe the rumours that the console was internally delayed out of 2024 were true. Either way, my bold prediction ended up false — much to my disappointment.
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I have written several stories that didn’t stand the test of time, but after over 150 published articles, that should be expected.
Indeed, having a few articles age poorly isn’t something that distresses me; the ability to change your perspective over time is beautiful. We’re never locked into an opinion simply because we felt it months or years ago. There’s always time to change and grow as an individual.
These three articles no longer represent how I feel today, and they almost certainly won’t be the last of my opinions to change or predictions to fail. Remaining flexible and adaptable is an important part of thinking critically, and if you refuse to shift your point of view, you close yourself off to new viewpoints that might be worth considering.
Allow new information to enter your mind and sway your thoughts. Trust me — it’s a whole lot more fun that way.