The world is absolutely going to hell in a handbasket. Exhibit A: The Ace Family

There is much not to like about social media, starting with it’s being such a sinkhole – a sinkhole filled largely with yawpers. But other than the fact that the bad guys are exploiting Facebook, Twitter, etc. to bring down democracy, the very worst thing about it is the emergence of “influencer” and “social media star” as professions.

Yes, I know, we have all been on tenterhooks as we figure out what jobs will be replacing those lost to Artificial Intelligence, but I can’t imagine that “influencer” will pick up much of the job slack when, say, long distance trucks are all self-driving.

After all, there are limits to influencer growth. If everyone’s an influencer, who all are they influencing? And “social media stars” getting rich off their following? I guess I’d be okay with it if these stars were famous for anything other than being famous – if they had any talent, were making any contribution to society: inventing something (useful or not), doing something for the betterment of mankind (as if!), showing cute doggo videos, or demonstrating how to fold a fitted sheet. But, no.

Fortunately, I live my life in such a way that I have been able to avoid seeing any influencers and social media stars in practice. After all, who wants to influence someone my age? Or have them as a follower…

Unfortunately, a reference to some of these folks does come across my Twitter feed on occasion – did I mention that social media is a sinkhole? – and the other I had the misfortune to stumble across The Ace Family.

They appeared in a tweet of a tweet from Chris Meloni. (Yes, the former Law and Order: SVU actor, who doesn’t tweet a ton, but is excellent when he does. In other words, he’s a very funny, snarky liberal.)

Anyway, his tweet of a tweet introduced me to The Aces by way of a brief video that showed an attractive young couple working in a fast food joint, when, of course, all their millions of followers know that they’re slumming it. Anyone trying to eke out a living in a minimum wage job doesn’t need a couple of rich folks oohing and aahing about how “cool” it is to pretend to be a shit-worker for a couple of hours.

The Aces, I came to learn, are Catherine Paiz (a model and “actress) and her partner, Austin McBroom whose prior claim to fame was playing college hoops in some not particularly distinguished hoops programs. The Aces have two adorbs daughters and the fam earns their keep vlogging on YouTube, where they narrate their lives and occasionally prank each other.

And I thought thumbing through self-reinforcing political commentary on Twitter was a sinkhole. At least I’m keeping up with any of the latest political derangements I may have otherwise missed. But following the lives of otherwise boring and unaccomplished no-ones? What???

The Aces have 16 million followers (I originally typed “thousand” in there: mea freaking culpa)on YouTube, while the smart and sharply amusing @Chris_Meloni has a mere 317K. (I have next to none, but I don’t tweet, just follow others.)

The Aces little foray into fast food work isn’t the only hoo-hah they’ve been involved in:

Controversy erupted early in 2019 after McBroom bought a penis-shaped lollipop for a little girl thought to be a member of the extended family. The video, which was shared on Snapchat, was later posted on Twitter by a user unrelated to The Ace Family who called McBroom "disgusting" in the caption. In the video, McBroom explained why he purchased the candy for the child. "She said she was going to steal it if I didn't buy it, so better me buy it," he said.

Critics accused McBroom of sexualizing the child, saying that it was inappropriate that she was brought to a store with sexual items in the first place, and the fact that she was given the adult-themed candy was even more problematic.(Source: The List)

Well, alrighty. “She was going to steal if I didn’t by it, so better me buy it…”?

What’s wrong with “put that down or you’re in deep trouble”? Or “that’s not really appropriate; we’ll look for a Tootsie Pop for you”? Or not taking a small child into a shop that sells sex paraphernalia to begin with?

Excellent judgement on the part of a man who’s fathered two children and wants to keep trying until he brings a “mini me” into the world. Hope the third time’s the charm…

All I can say is, if you hadn’t realized that the world was going to hell in a handbasket already, the fact that The Ace Family get rich by publicizing their cretinous behavior is all you need to know.