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The world of viral online content is on another level. There is a somewhat new trend that is disturbing. Recently, I learnt that there are nuisance influencers.
These influencers, mostly youngsters (in their late teens and early twenties), go viral for all the wrong reasons. Live streaming their misdemeanours is their modus operandi.
In January, a London-based TikTok prankster known as Mizzy, whose real name is Bacari-Bronze O’Garro, was released from prison. He had just served an 18-week sentence.
“Put bluntly, your pranks are not funny,” said Judge Matthew Bone, who sentenced the 19-year-old.
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Mizzy is one of many youngsters who pull stupid stunts to gain notoriety. After his release, he admitted that his pranks were “wild and reckless’’.
These messed-up videos really garner a lot of views and have earned the term “clout chasers”.
Early last month Rangesh Mutama, an American YouTuber and live-streamer, who goes by the name N3on (pronounced neon), was arrested for driving a “stolen car”. It was later reported by a US celebrity news website that the 19-year-old’s viral arrest was a “clerical error”. When I read the piece on gossip website TMZ, I could not help but roll my eyes.
I found it hard to believe that someone such as N3on had not staged this. TMZ reported:
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These videos are for those peeps who enjoy watching clips of the popping of pimples, blackheads and whiteheads.
I asked a “popaholic” I know about the fascination with watching such social media posts and she said:
When checking online, many of these videos garner millions of views, with mostly positive comments on how satisfying the viewers find them.
TV’s famous “popaholic” Dr Pimple Popper, whose real name is Dr Sandra Lee, was on the mark with her pimple-popping show on TLC. Yugh!
