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Seagulls don't make great dinner dates.

At Upworthy, we’ve frequently covered stories of unlikely friendships that have developed between humans and members of the animal kingdom, such as the crow that befriended a family and the man with the emotional support alligator.

However, unfortunately, this attempted friendship between humans and a seagull is for the birds. It all started when a seagull known as Steven began visiting YouTuber BrasherN and his wife, who laid out food for him daily.

The couple decided to take things up a notch and make a classy dinner table for Steven, but his reaction was more like a rock star trashing a hotel room than a grateful guest at their table. “I thought it would be funny to set up a table for him. Steven turned out to be an unhinged maniac and destroys everything,” BrasherN wrote.



Steven’s inappropriate behavior is contrasted by the classy music that BrasherN plays during the video “Minuet” by Luigi Baccherini.

Steven Seagull comes to dinner

The video begins with Steven perched at a table adorned with a fine cloth. He begins to snap at his dish of peanuts, scattering them about in the most inconsiderate way. After picking the nuts up off the lawn, he goes into a rage, trashing the cardboard table and floral decor. He then makes his way for the camera as if to demand that the couple bring him more food.

"Steven just came, ate the food and wasn't content without wrecking the table," JesusDiazllam.1126 wrote in the comments.

Finally, Steven flew off without paying the check or leaving any gratuity.

via ThatWasEpic / YouTube

Juan Gonzalez, host of That Was Epic on YouTube, performed random acts of kindness for strangers by paying their rent. The looks on the recipients' faces are incredible when they learn they just received no-strings-attached cash from a stranger looking to pay it forward.

It's also interesting to note how the recipients' demeanor changes when they go from wondering why a stranger is at their door to accepting the money.

The first person to have their rent paid thinks Gonzalez is an angel.



www.youtube.com

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YouTube Creators for Change

When YouTuber Riyadh K shared his coming out story with the world, it came as a shock to viewers.

But it wasn't shocking because Riyadh is gay — it was that his father had a confession of his own: The night he found out about his son's sexuality, he had thought about taking his own life.

“It was stupid,” his father says through tears.


Camera rolling, Riyadh embraces him, and goes on to tell his audience of over 300,000 subscribers about the incredible journey his family had been on since that night years ago.  

Because despite the initial shock and despite their conservative backgrounds, his parents have gone on to lead pride parades, meet their son's boyfriends, and celebrate his community. They love their son unconditionally.

“I’ve never seen a turnaround in two parents as I’ve seen in these two,” Riyadh tells his audience. “If we can go from where we were, to where we are now ... you can too.”

While most people wouldn’t dream of posting a video like this, it was natural for Riyadh, who knew just how impactful these videos could be.

After all, he had relied on the community of LGBTQ+ YouTubers to find self-acceptance for himself. “YouTube was a safe haven for me at a time when I felt alone, lost and unsure of who I was,” he said in a press statement.

And today, his video has been viewed over 5 million times. Not only that, but there are over 13,000 comments on Riyadh’s video, many from parents and queer youth alike, deeply grateful for his family’s honesty.

All photos via YouTube.

For content creators like Riyadh, YouTube is more than just a platform — it’s an important opportunity to make an impact.

“It was on YouTube that I became an 'accidental activist,'” he said. “I found my people and I found a purpose on this incredible platform.”

He continued, “Using YouTube to engage a global audience on issues that matter to me and my community has become my primary focus and passion in life."

That’s why this year, Riyadh has joined forces with 47 other creators around the world as part of YouTube’s Creators for Change program.

It’s a global initiative for YouTubers looking to promote awareness and empathy for diverse communities as well as the social issues that impact them most.

Creators from countries as far away as Indonesia, Israel, and Turkey have joined him in the Creators for Change program. Among them are Omar Farooq from Bahrain, whose weekly series “Omar Tries” features Omar exploring different professions and experiences to better understand people and cultures around the world.

“Seeing life through the eyes of others is the way to tolerance and acceptance,” said Farooq. “This [can] defeat any form of hate.”

There’s also Victoria Volkova, a creator in Mexico City who documented her gender transition in an effort to promote acceptance and awareness for the transgender community, particularly women.

“The Creators for Change program means an opportunity for all those communities that feel like an outcast or that they don’t belong to have a voice,” she said. “I can try to give power to these communities and [let] them know that they matter.”

Another creator is Jouelzy, who created the #SmartBrownGirl movement to empower women of color and create a safe space for them to push back against the norms that harm them. "Cultural education is needed," she said, "both in that you learn about others, but also that you learn about your own ancestors and the stories that connect us all."

With the help of YouTube’s Creators for Change program — which includes boot camps, video production help, and mentorship — creators like Riyadh, Farooq, Jouelzy, and Volkova will be empowered to do even more for their communities.

With a combined 26 million subscribers between them, this year’s Creators for Change could have a huge, global impact.

That's also why they hope to inspire others to raise their voices and make a difference too.

“The more we talk with and understand one another, the better we can come to an understanding of how to make this world better for the next generation,” YouTuber and Creator for Change ambassador Jazza John said. That's why he uses his platform to educate audiences about gay rights, technology, racism, and more.

While starting a conversation might seem simple, creators like Riyadh know that it's at the core of changing hearts and minds.

“The moment we start sharing stories is when we begin to empathize with one another, and destroy the barrier between ‘us’ and ‘them’ that we never knew was there,” he said.

“The more we normalize the ‘other’” he added, “the faster we can learn to accept and love what we are not.”

It’s going to take a lot more than one YouTube video to end school shootings. But it appears that Logan Paul’s brother Jake was willing to take the first step.

While Logan Paul made headlines for uploading an insensitive video featuring a dead man hanging in Japan's notorious suicide forest, Jake Paul is generating media buzz for a whole different reason: guns.

On March 12, YouTuber Jake Paul uploaded a documentary on the aftermath of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Titled “It’s Time To End School Shootings,” Paul spoke with a number of students, a survivor of the Parkland shooting, and with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) about gun violence.

At the end of the video, Paul announced his pledge to donate $25,000 to March for Our Lives and introduced five ways to end school shootings. Most of his suggestions seem level-headed enough: Asking for more counselors at schools and pressuring social media companies to monitor and flag extremist behavior. He also called for bulletproof windows on doors.


His other suggestions were more controversial: He proposed the idea of students carrying their own bulletproof shields into the classroom and setting up checkpoints at school entrances.

It should be noted that over the entirety of the video, Paul doesn't once encourage or advocate for gun control reform legislation. (To be fair, despite not mentioning it in the video, his YouTube description does mention “gun control reform.”)

Photo via Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.

While Paul seems genuine in his attempt to tackle gun violence, several social media users criticized the YouTube star’s documentary.

Hasan Piker, a host at The Young Turks — a progressive online media network — made one of the most compelling cases against Paul’s video. On Twitter, Piker pointed out Paul basically propped up conservative talking points around gun control. He argued that Paul’s five solutions did not venture anywhere near actually restricting access to guns. Instead, they're solutions often touted by gun rights activists — like the NRA — on Fox News. The only difference is that these talking points and gun rights representatives, who are mostly popular to an older age group, are now being exposed to a younger demographic.

Piker believed this was a perfect opportunity for Paul to use his influential platform to make a change, as well as make up for some of his latest controversies. But the YouTuber missed the mark.

“In its essence, it’s basically a 21-min expanded version of a social media post your gun-loving uncle makes,” Piker tweeted. “Jake Paul obviously did zero [homework] and doesn’t understand the importance of his reach. He had an opportunity and blew it.”

Other people took to Twitter to critique Paul’s video. Some believe it outed him as a gun rights advocate.

It’s not that outlandish to assume Paul is a gun rights advocate.

Paul certainly hasn't made it a secret that he’s into gun culture. In April 2017, Paul uploaded a vlog (that over 19 million people watched) about getting a tattoo of an AR-15 on his thigh. He also pressured his friends to get the same tattoo.

Paul has also posted several photos posing with assault weapons and other guns.

This controversy shouldn’t come off as a surprise. Like his YouTube celebrity brother, Jake Paul is no stranger to scandal. While it’s not a suicide forest scandal or obnoxious behavior in Japan, Paul has made headlines for terrorizing neighborhoods and using the n-word for his videos.

But despite his controversial past — and the fact that his gun control documentary missed the mark — it should be noted that Paul is willing to use his platform to start conversations about sensitive topics.

That’s a good thing. And, perhaps more importantly, Paul seems to be willing to accept and learn from his critics. After receiving backlash for failing to advocate for substantial gun control solutions in his video, he tweeted new suggestions to combat gun violence.

Paul's new idea is another five-point plan that explicitly calls for restrictions on gun access. These include raising the age to purchase firearms from 18 to 21, requiring a six-month training course similar to ones taken for a driver’s license, a mandatory mental health evaluation, banning gun shows, and a 30-day waiting period for buying a firearm.

In a tweet, he explained that he refrained from mentioning gun control reform “to simplify some of the steps” he discussed with Parkland students around school shootings. He then explicitly expressed his support for gun control reform.

“Make no mistake, gun reform is an absolutely must ... but is part of the solution,” Paul wrote.

While Paul has quite a problematic history and a whole lot to learn, it's imperative that influencers use their platforms for good. Why? Because influencers can and do influence voters and lawmakers. It's certainly not easy. Celebrities often receive a lot of backlash for making comments about subject matter like this. But what shows real courage is being able to come forward and attempt to start a conversation.

Let’s hope Paul learned from this experience and will continue to dedicate his platform to making a positive impact on gun control.

You can watch his documentary below: