Will Smith just bungee jumped right over the gap between traditional TV and digital media
How the Hollywood star became the most famous dad on social media
Will Smith turned 50 yesterday, so to celebrate he did what anyone would do, really: he bungee jumped from a helicopter over the grand canyon and live streamed it to the world.
The event had all the veneer of a major broadcast, drawing out the actual jump with everything from a doctor's analysis of fear to a Smith family reunion, all hosted by none other than Carlton Banks himself, Alfonso Ribeiro.
The video was streamed live at 6:00 pm EST yesterday on Smith's YouTube page, and repeated regularly throughout the night. An eight-minute recap posted afterwards already has over six million views, and it was followed up by a number of more typical YouTube-style videos, including a reaction video of Will Smith rewatching his jump, Will Smith reacting to celebrities wishing Will Smith happy birthday, and Will Smith answering fan questions. Another video posted two weeks ago, "Why I'm Jumping the Grand Canyon," also has another six million views.
Will Smith is one of the most famous stars in Hollywood, and he's using that stature to become the most famous dad on social media. For the past year, Smith has been prolifically posting videos to his YouTube and Instagram pages, most of them using the traditional straight-to-camera approach popular with vlogs.
The videos ranges in everything from Will Smith eating Australian meat pie (1.8 million views) to Will Smith getting punched in the face by his son (6 million views) to Will Smith doing the "In My Feelings challenge" on top of the famous Chain Bridge in Budapest (3.9 million views). "This is social media love," he says to camera. "This is social media stupidity."
What it is, is social media gold. Smith is doing what any other famous vlogger is doing on YouTube, with the difference being that he's, well, Will Smith. He's not taking a Hollywood approach to making videos for YouTube and Instagram. Instead, he's simply engaging on the various platforms using their own DIY approach.
The top comment on his bridge stunt, titled "Drake Almost Got me Killed (keke, do you love me?)" puts it bluntly: "I still can't believe that Will Smith is deadass a YouTuber, like an actual YouTuber."
Some professional YouTubers can't believe it either, including the members of Yes Theory, a channel that claims to "seek discomfort to find our own way and fulfil our true calling." They are also the ones who initially challenged Smith to bungee jump from a helicopter.
"It's kind of bridging the gap between traditional TV and digital media," Yes Theory's Thomas Brag told The Verge. He says that when celebrities appear on social media, it often comes off as stuffy, or too promotional, but for Smith it seems completely natural. "For some creators, it might be intimidating to see someone like Will, but I think it just legitimizes the platform more. It makes it exciting, even, that he would collaborate 'with a YouTube channel.'"
Smith's partnership with Yes Theory fits perfectly into his approach to social media, which is to just say yes. "Fear is not real," as Smith puts it. As such, Smith's videos feature him regularly overcoming his fears and encouraging others to do the same, making him as much a motivational speaker as he is just a really famous person spending money while doing impressive things.
Other actors, of course, have learned to do social media really well, including the Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, who almost has as many subscribers on his YouTube page as Smith (3.5 million vs 3.1 million, respectively). Like Smith, the Rock also preaches his mantra, often in videos from his portable gym (aka the "iron paradise"), which are more akin to someone telling you to never give up. Mark Wahlberg has also taken to posting updates from his ridiculously early morning workouts to his more than 10 million followers on Instagram, in which he preaches about the virtues of working hard.
Where Smith differs, however, is that a large part of his social media presence, aside from the flashy stunts, is him simply providing a glimpse into his personal life, including his famous family. In fact, the top viewed video on his page, with 12 million views, is simply called "A Smith Family Vacation." In it, they hike a volcano and scuba dive off the coast of Italy. The most telling moment, however, is when Smith is just sitting with his kids, giving them a pep talk.
"If you're scared, you can't see beauty. Fear kills your ability to see beauty," he says. "You have to get beyond fear, back to a comfortable space, before you can even start looking around. Fear ruins life."
It's what parents would call the perfect teachable moment, but for Smith, it's intended for the whole world.
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