YouTube Star AboFlah Made Streaming His Life. He Wants His Kids to Live Offline
YouTube Star AboFlah Made Streaming His Life. He Wants His Kids to Live Offline
YouTube 明星 AboFlah 将直播变成了生活，但他希望自己的孩子远离网络
AboFlah keeps looking directly into the camera. He can’t help it—the YouTuber has collected 50 million subscribers and has spent most of his life streaming. For most people, a camera lens is intimidating and cold. For AboFlah, known as Hassan Suleiman in the few hours he spends offline, it is more comforting to look into it than to ignore it.
AboFlah 不停地直视镜头。他无法控制自己——这位 YouTuber 已经拥有了 5000 万订阅者，并将大半生都花在了直播上。对大多数人来说，镜头是令人生畏且冰冷的。但对于在离线时被称为 Hassan Suleiman 的 AboFlah 来说，注视镜头比忽视它更让他感到自在。
We have our conversation in the studio of 8Flamez, the company he cofounded alongside Eyad Siyam and Saad Sarwar to manage creators and build infrastructure for the creator economy. It’s a massive, white-walled space scattered with props, furniture, and recording equipment, ready to film at any moment. He arrives on time but slightly annoyed at having missed an appointment earlier in the day. He’s not one to miss an appointment; or even an email, as I later find out. His inbox has a measly 17 unread emails.
我们在 8Flamez 的工作室进行了这次对话。这是他与 Eyad Siyam 和 Saad Sarwar 共同创立的公司，旨在管理创作者并为创作者经济构建基础设施。这是一个巨大的、白墙空间，散落着道具、家具和录音设备，随时准备拍摄。他准时到达，但因为当天早些时候错过了一个预约而感到有些恼火。他不是那种会错过预约的人，甚至连邮件都不会错过，我后来发现他的收件箱里只有 17 封未读邮件。
Online, he is frequently compared to IShowSpeed and KSI, both of whom he has collaborated with. But his defining moment goes beyond any clickbait; his charity livestream, where he spent 12 days locked in a glass box in Dubai, raised $11 million for refugees and broke two world records for the longest livestream video and the most viewers for a livestream charity donation event.
在网络上，他经常被拿来与 IShowSpeed 和 KSI 相提并论，他也曾与这两位合作过。但他职业生涯的决定性时刻远不止于任何点击诱饵；他曾进行过一场慈善直播，在迪拜的一个玻璃箱里待了 12 天，为难民筹集了 1100 万美元，并打破了两项世界纪录：最长直播视频和观看人数最多的直播慈善捐赠活动。
Seated on a beanbag on the floor of his studio, he talks the way he streams: fast and unfiltered, in long unbroken runs that he occasionally interrupts to apologize for. He does this before, during, and after our conversation.
他坐在工作室地板上的懒人沙发上，说话方式和他直播时一样：快速且毫无保留，长篇大论，偶尔会停下来道歉。在我们的对话开始前、进行中和结束后，他都这样做。
At 50 million subscribers and with a company, a cartoon character on the way, and a target of 100 million subscribers ahead of him, he is thinking about what comes next.
拥有 5000 万订阅者，经营着一家公司，即将推出卡通形象，并且目标是 1 亿订阅者，他正在思考下一步该做什么。
He speaks in Arabic, his speech threaded with the expressions of faith—Alhamdulillah, Inshallah, Bi’ithnillah—that punctuate many of his answers, and which I’ve kept intact.
他用阿拉伯语交谈，话语中穿插着信仰的表达——Alhamdulillah（感谢真主）、Inshallah（如果真主意欲）、Bi’ithnillah（在真主的许可下）——这些词点缀着他的许多回答，我将它们完整地保留了下来。
CARLA SERTIN: Tell me about the cartoon you’re planning with Spacetoon, Slayman. Why go with this concept?
CARLA SERTIN：跟我聊聊你计划与 Spacetoon 合作的卡通片《Slayman》吧。为什么选择这个概念？
HASSAN SULEIMAN: I love cartoons a lot. Spacetoon … I was born and raised watching Spacetoon. So as soon as they proposed the idea of me being featured as a character, I loved the idea. I mean, it’s a really beautiful idea, so I took part. So now Slayman is coming out, Inshallah. I expect it will release on Spacetoon at the beginning of next year or at the end of this year. And I’m very excited. I hope people like it, Inshallah.
HASSAN SULEIMAN： 我非常喜欢卡通片。Spacetoon……我是看着 Spacetoon 长大的。所以当他们提出让我作为角色出现在片中时，我非常喜欢这个想法。我的意思是，这是一个非常美好的构思，所以我参与了。现在《Slayman》即将推出，Inshallah（如果真主意欲）。我预计它会在明年年初或今年年底在 Spacetoon 上发布。我非常兴奋。我希望人们会喜欢它，Inshallah。
TV is very traditional media, and you’re a streamer–
电视是非常传统的媒体，而你是一名主播——
Yeah, it will be a new experience. But I expect, Inshallah, it will be a really great experience. Why? Because my audience is mostly young and loves entertainment. And Spacetoon—and the character Slayman—will be a beautiful story that conveys a beautiful and nice message in an entertaining way for the young audience. So, Inshallah, they’ll love the idea.
是的，这将是一次全新的体验。但我期待，Inshallah，这将是一次非常棒的体验。为什么？因为我的观众大多是年轻人，他们热爱娱乐。而 Spacetoon 以及 Slayman 这个角色，将讲述一个美丽的故事，以一种娱乐的方式为年轻观众传达美好而友善的信息。所以，Inshallah，他们会喜欢这个想法的。
Look, TV is not like social media; it’s different. That’s why I refused to go into acting, because I don’t really like acting that much. I refused things like, for example, being a TV presenter or doing a specific program and following the TV system. Because on social media, it’s much more relaxed. More spontaneous. You’re more yourself. You can do any idea. If I wake up today with a weird idea, I can do it on social media. In TV, you need a lot of approvals, a lot of things; it’s complicated.
听着，电视不像社交媒体；它们是不同的。这就是为什么我拒绝进入演艺圈，因为我其实并不那么喜欢表演。我拒绝了诸如担任电视节目主持人或参与特定节目并遵循电视系统之类的事情。因为在社交媒体上，一切要轻松得多。更自发。你可以更做自己。你可以实现任何想法。如果我今天醒来有一个奇怪的想法，我可以在社交媒体上实现它。而在电视上，你需要很多审批，很多环节；这很复杂。
I got carried away talking. I’m going to talk a lot. Forgive me, I will talk too much. Stop me if you want to change this up.
我聊得太投入了。我会说很多话。请原谅我，我会说得太多。如果你想换个话题，随时打断我。
It’s better for you to talk too much than too little. Looking more in the social media sphere—not everyone understands that it’s a real job. You’ve said in the past that at the start, your dad didn’t understand it.
你说得太多总比说得太少好。再看看社交媒体领域——并不是每个人都理解这是一份真正的工作。你过去曾说过，起初你父亲并不理解这一点。
Oh, yeah.
哦，是的。
What does he think about your work now?
他现在怎么看你的工作？
My dad is satisfied now, he’s at ease. If at the end of the month there is money that comes in—that’s it, there’s money at the end of the month. He says, “OK. Oh, my kid is doing good. OK. You’re doing good financially. You’re sending me money. That’s enough.” But he‘s satisfied. And he really loves it. I mean, honestly, he really loves what’s happening—the charity work—he’s really proud of it. He’s proud of these things—so Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah.
我父亲现在很满意，他很放心。如果月底有钱进账——就是这样，月底有钱。他说：“好的。哦，我的孩子做得很好。好的。你在经济上做得不错。你给我寄钱。这就够了。”但他很满足。而且他真的很喜欢这一切。说实话，他真的很喜欢现在发生的事情——那些慈善工作——他为此感到非常自豪。他为这些事情感到骄傲——所以 Alhamdulillah（感谢真主），Alhamdulillah。
In the beginning he didn’t support me. But it’s the point you mentioned, awareness. Many people don’t know that social media or YouTube is a job—that it can be better. It’s hard, high-risk, because there’s a big chance you might not succeed. But I believe that if a person loves the thing they’re doing, Bi’ithnillah, they’ll endure, and tawfiq [success granted by God] will come, and they’ll succeed. I mean, that’s the thing that made me succeed and endure. The first payment that I took from YouTube was after four years.
起初他不支持我。但正如你提到的，这是认知问题。许多人不知道社交媒体或 YouTube 是一份工作——而且它可以做得更好。这很难，风险很高，因为很有可能不会成功。但我相信，如果一个人热爱他所做的事情，Bi’ithnillah（在真主的许可下），他就会坚持下去，Tawfiq（真主赐予的成功）就会到来，他就会成功。我的意思是，这就是让我成功并坚持下来的原因。我从 YouTube 拿到的第一笔报酬是在四年之后。
What’s kept me going those four years? What made me endure without money, with expenses and making content? Because I really loved it, and the situation helped me. So it was tawfiq from Allah. And at the same time, I loved it and was confident that, Bi’ithnillah, I would succeed. Yeah.
是什么让我坚持了那四年？是什么让我即使没有钱，还要支付开销并制作内容也能坚持下去？因为我真的很热爱它，而且环境也帮了我。所以这是来自真主的 Tawfiq。同时，我热爱它，并且确信，Bi’ithnillah，我会成功。是的。
Do you feel like it’s harder now to succeed in YouTube?
你觉得现在在 YouTube 上取得成功更难了吗？
No, no, no, no, no, no. Much easier. Much easier. The more time moves forward, the easier it gets. Right now the situation is much easier.
不，不，不，不，不，不。容易多了。容易多了。时间越往后推，就越容易。现在的情况容易多了。
With short content, reach is much bigger than long content. So you have a chance to spread widely—there’s an opportunity. But a person has to focus and take the step and say, “I can do it.” And leave the rest to Allah. That’s the thing that, Bi’ithnillah, a person needs. But yes, the situation now is much easier, even the business parts. I’ve seen a lot of business people saying that if you want to be a millionaire in this—if you want to be a person who has a million or more—in this era, it’s much easier than before. They all say that, and it’s the same on social media.
有了短内容，传播范围比长内容大得多。所以你有机会广泛传播——这是一个机会。但一个人必须专注并迈出那一步，说：“我能做到。”然后把剩下的交给真主。这就是 Bi’ithnillah，一个人所需要的。但确实，现在的情况容易多了，即使是商业部分也是如此。我看到很多商界人士说，如果你想在这个领域成为百万富翁——如果你想成为拥有百万或更多资产的人——在这个时代，这比以前容易多了。他们都这么说，在社交媒体上也是一样。
Now that you’re building a production company, 8Flamez, and other projects, what’s the next era? Is it AboFlah the CEO?
既然你正在建立一家制作公司 8Flamez 以及其他项目，下一个时代是什么？是 AboFlah 首席执行官时代吗？
AboFlah the CEO. [He laughs] As a content creator, becoming a CEO or becoming a business owner is not easy at all. It’s a big difference. Even the thinking, the mental side, is different.
AboFlah 首席执行官。（他笑了）作为一名内容创作者，成为首席执行官或企业主一点也不容易。这有很大的不同。甚至思维方式、心理层面，都是不同的。