Nerd Pride Radio

Is it because he faked his glitter-bomb package thief videos?

Is it because he only has one on-camera mode: smirking, patronizing dude with no self-awareness?

Is it because I find a lot of his stuff entirely disingenuous and insincere?

Maybe. Maybe all three.

The last one is what really bugs me. I think he's a phony. I think he fakes half of his videos and he's a phony. And I know the internet loves him. And I know nerd culture loves him. But I don't think the future will look back kindly on Mark Rober's brand of entertainment. He's like the soul-less "ouch my balls" of nerd entertainment.

Am I wrong? Am I being too harsh?

I can't tell you if you're wrong, because I have no way of knowing. It took me a long time to get past Mark's smarmy on air personality, but I kept watching his videos because he's directly in my wheelhouse. I like him a lot now. The fake videos don't bother me, because I can accept his explanation at face value. If you already don't like him, I can see why you wouldn't.

And I think points 2 and 3 that you made are essentially the same thing. If you find him fake and smarmy, then everything he does seems insincere. I get it.

You might be right. And even though I like him, I still prefer Destin Sandlin on Smarter Every Day, or Hank Green on anything, or even just listening to Adam Savage answer questions about Mythbusters all day. But Mark gets out a new video only every few months, and I know I'll always watch it when it's available.

I agree completely with Sandlin, Green and Savage.

The reason I brought this up is I recently watched his "wiffle ball" video, which is clearly faked. And I'm watching it and I thought, "Is Mark Rober for kids? Is this a kid's video channel?" Because that's what it feels like when I'm watching his obviously-set-up bits that he tries to play off as authentic. It's like watching a kid's prank video.

Huh. I guess I have to correct my statement. I never did watch the wiffle ball video. Something about it never appealed to me. Maybe I watch now.

Are you the Kyle in the video? I can't get through it - just bits here and there. Jomboy videos are the only thing I can tolerate in this category because his lipreadings are truly hilarious.