Sentient Adderall prescription Logan Paul is back, folks! Even if you’re not subscribed to his channel or interested in his varsity ice hockey meets self-help cult schtick, you might know that already thanks to YouTube. Earlier this week, the site decided to push a notification about Paul’s new video to scores of users who had never opted into receiving them.
Screenshot: YouTube/Logan Paul
Thanks YouTube for ‘accidentally’ sending me a notification for a Logan Paul video, when you struggle to send me notifications for the people I actually subscribe to and watch every day!#YouTube
— GT Down Under (@matpatspuns) February 7, 2018
When we last saw Paul on YouTube, he had taken his act on the road to Japan, where he was seen being a public menace and yelling at complete strangers. One such video, which he filmed in Aokigahara – the “suicide forest” near Mount Fuji – featured the dead body of a man who appeared to have hung himself, and which Paul and his friends made light of during the vlog. Given Paul’s audience of 16 million subscribers, it quickly set off a firestorm of controversy.
Paul deleted the video shortly after it was uploaded and took a month-long hiatus. YouTube later took credit.
We expect more of the creators who build their community on @YouTube, as we’re sure you do too. The channel violated our community guidelines, we acted accordingly, and we are looking at further consequences.
— YouTube (@YouTube) January 9, 2018
Besides Paul’s propensity for idiotic antics, the erroneous notification is all the stranger because YouTube’s notification system is known for being barely functional. Various minor controversies have stemmed from creators allegedly not having their uploads appear in subscribers’ feeds, leading to videos begging viewers to “bell” them (that is, turn on channel-specific alerts). That issue appears to be ongoing, but in the meantime, here’s some Logan Paul!
But let’s hear him out. Maybe this new vlog is important enough to convert us, the Logang haters, to realise Paul has turned over a new leaf.
Nope. It’s a Castaway-inspired trailer for the return of Logan Paul (which you’re already watching) and then nine minutes of vlogging in the usual style: Quieter rambling parts interspersed with louder, yelling parts – like a Pixies song, but if the Pixies exclusively sang about how great they were as a band. “We got 2.1 million likes on my last Instagram photo,” Paul brags at one point, “Almost a million comments. I will say half of them are telling me to go get run over by a car – but that’s engagement bro, I’ll take it.”
YouTube’s comment on the matter: “Our bad.”
Our bad! We fixed it so that only Logan subscribers will get it going forward. Apologies for the spam!
— Team YouTube (@TeamYouTube) February 6, 2018