One of Twitch’s most popular streamers, Kai Cenat, has been charged with inciting a riot after a legion of his young fans occupied Union Square in New York City. Cenat was there to give gifts, but as thousands of youth swarmed the area, the impromptu get-together ended “in chaos,” according to the New York Times. The grand gathering “showed the power of niche stars on the internet” while also demonstrating “what can happen when the energy of an online fandom invades the non-virtual world.”
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Cenat has 6.5 million followers on Twitch and broke the record for most paid subscribers on the platform earlier this year. He invited his followers to meet him in his hometown to give away PlayStation 5s and streaming gear. Some of the mostly youthful crowd rampaged and police arrested dozens of people.
The internet and social media have redefined what it means to be famous. Influencer culture thrives on how much power these internet celebs have over their fanbase — it’s literally part of their job description. The real-world consequences of that power aren’t always positive, especially when the fandom is made up of easily influenced teenagers. How much responsibility should Internet celebrities have when that power is weaponized or translated into real-world chaos? And why are they so powerful anyway?
Influencers inspire powerful parasocial relationships
Influencers often emerge from the darkness and build a following by inviting them into their world. Unlike traditional celebrities, these are often people who never intended to attract the attention of the general public. By flaunting their lives, they inspire some followers to form connections with them that “feel so powerful and so personal that they start to develop what’s called a parasocial relationship,” says Megan Moreno, a doctor and researcher in adolescent medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health told NPR.
Because these stars seem so approachable, fans will interact with the creators believing “they actually reciprocate the relationship, even if it’s not really on the personal level that they’re thinking.” Content creators have a responsibility to recognize “that they are not choosing to portray themselves as a distant celebrity,” Moreno explained. You should keep in mind that “they interact with people and build relationships and expectations.”
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The interactive nature of Twitch encourages fans to think of streamers as friends, Mark Johnson, a lecturer in digital culture at the University of Sydney, told Wired. Fans can interact live with their favorite streamers and “feel like you’re talking to them, like you’re being invited, like you’re being asked to hang out with this famous influencer,” Johnson added. “With someone who is a straight celebrity and the distance that that brings, I think this event plays out differently in most cases.”
Influencers aren’t necessarily trained to handle fame
Moreno also pointed out to NPR that many influencers and internet celebrities “are not that far out of the teenage and young adult age bracket” and face challenges in “managing their own expectations of these relationships and what they mean.” For years people have lamented what fame is doing to young people in Hollywood, and now we’re seeing it with young influencers today. They become overnight sensations and “struggling to figure out how to become famous, how to nurture those relationships, and how to grow up too.”
“A lot of creatives in this business are growing very quickly,” Keith Dorsey, chief executive of Atlanta-based social media management company Young Guns Entertainment, told the Times. “And they don’t really know what impact they have until something like that happens.” He added that Cenat’s management team should coordinate with the relevant authorities going forward.
On the other hand, in response to another YouTuber’s apology video, YouTuber WillyMacShow argued that YouTubers are only responsible for their audience if they “directly tell them to do something”. If the creator has thousands of followers, “statistically, one of them will fall apart.” Ninja, another popular Twitch streamer, countered that while creators aren’t responsible for their fans, they “have a responsibility to create a being a good role model and a good leader, especially when it comes to sensitive issues.”
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