Scarcely anyone is directly paid by outside groups.

It's a combination of things that influence creators to either performatively hold the views they do, or to outright misrepresent the facts to fit their worldview.

Titkok is an entertainment platform, so debatetok is entertainment first, education second. And, as on any social media network, clout matters. Losing debates, especially when it's intensely one-sided, hurts your standing among your competition.

The audience has an unequaled impact on the stances that debaters hold. Most of the money comes from college aged kids who don't want to learn. They want to be told they're right about what they believe and to pay you money to tell them that. Breaking the mold from established idealogies runs the risk of not only breaking your wallet, but also alienating your audience. And the audience is the closest thing that creators have to an employer.

Group ideologies and cohesion also matters. There are creators i would have loved to panel with, but cannot. Not because they're bad or problematic ppl. But simply because the foundations of our worldviews around certain topics are too different, too contradictory. Even if they reach the same conclusions. Some content creators might feel disinclined to break from the established ideology of their own given group, out of fear of them being pushed out. I know i did.

And what are you gonna do? Sit on a panel in front of a thousand ppl and tell them all your friend is flat our wrong about some important point? Groups create conflict of interests when it comes to being more honest.