This Is Phil Fish

Why HN readers recommended it

Commenters repeatedly name it the best explanation of how internet fame, mobs and outrage work, and cite it in threads about harassment and public figures.

This is a summary from the source dataset, not an endorsement by Hacker News or the video creator.

Video & recommendation details

Creator / channel

Innuendo Studios

Topic

internet celebrity

Format

commentary

Level

general

HN recommenders in dataset

5

HN mentions in dataset

15

Recommendation years in dataset

2014–2025

These counts and years describe the included Hacker News records; they are not YouTube views or the video’s publication date.

From the original HN conversations

Excerpts from the recorded comments. Follow each source for the full comment and surrounding discussion.

• TL;DR - just watch [4] The internet has a serious problem with fame . Before the internet, fame was usually something that required an investment in media access . Everybody knows about the big Hollywood movie because they paid for a lot of advertising/etc. A …

• > if a person has any level of social media presence and they're either outspoken or unlucky then they risk an internet mob being turned against them. One of the most important properties of the internet is that the internet is media access. The concept …

• The internet has changed the nature of "fame". In the past, you needed to generally buy into fame. To be famous, you needed managers, publicists, etc. Media access was a limited resource that was handed out only to those that met approval. This created in …