In mapping, public exposure is when mapping as a medium or as a community is exposed to the general public, typically by a famous individual. It is not exclusive to shoutouts, and public exposure may occur during a discussion or report on an event within the community. However, large youtubers uploading mapping videos do not qualify as public exposure, despite the attention mapping would receive.
Public Exposure usually creates an influx of new mappers. It is generally celebrated throughout mapping. However, some individuals can be unpopular to some, and by exposing mapping, it could be argued that less quality mappers would be joining, tainting the reputation of mapping.
History of Public Exposure[]
ScareTheater[]
The icon of ScareTheater's channel.
On March 14, 2019, ScareTheater uploaded Episode 7 of his Strange YouTube Videos series. In it, he talks about the Goldenrebel25 Scandal. The idea was suggested to him by Holy Sealandic Mapping. The video also gave birth to the "because of course there is" meme, as it was a top comment. The transcript of the video's section on the Scandal goes:
"Of the many communities of YouTube, there exists a mapping community. They make videos about creating maps and playing out scenarios of fantasy maps. One memorable member of this community was a young kid who went by the name of Goldenrebel25. He worked on his videos for one year and seven months, and during this time he brought up that he was fighting leukemia. On May 9th, 2015, Goldenrebel couldn't fight off the cancer any longer, and passed away. After the community mourned their loss, about three years later, this livestream played on Goldenrebel's channel.
The livestream begins with someone walking around outside at night. The majority of the video is this person walking around and mumbling things to themselves. Around 11 minutes into the video, they abruptly break into a sprint. At one point, it sounds like he's saying "it's coming". After 12 minutes and 45 seconds, the livestream comes to an end.
The mapping community was baffled by this. Some kid who makes mapping videos on YouTube dies from cancer, and then three years later, this gets uploaded to his inactive channel without any context. No one knew what to make of it. A few people from the mapping community banded together to create a task force dedicated to solving the mystery behind this. I won't bore you with every detail of the investigation, but it concluded when they were able to link several details of the mystery to another mapper named TheOneLeggedFascist. He eventually confessed to creating the Goldenrebel25 account as an alternate account and then faking the death of that account. Goldenrebel 25 never actually existed."