Hurricane Milton, one of the biggest storms in recorded history, is set to make landfall in Florida on October 9. It will likely cause tens of billions of dollars of damage and could kill or injure many people who are unable to evacuate Tampa Bay and the surrounding region in time.
And yet, some influencers, TikTok content creators, and streamers are claiming that they will stick around and livestream through the historic storm. It’s a horrible idea and yet another example of how some creators are willing to do anything just to get more views, clicks, and subscribers.
On Tuesday, Forbes reported on numerous influencers who suggested in videos posted online that they would be sticking around even as Hurricane Milton makes its way closer and closer to Florida.
Influencer and writer Caroline Calloway posted on Twitter that even though her house is located in the evacuation zone and is on the beach, she won’t be leaving. Instead, she tweeted about how she’s not leaving and included an ad for her upcoming advice book. “I have champagne and four generations of Floridians in my veins. It’ll be fine,” tweeted Calloway.
Another TikTok creator, kricketfelt, has been posting videos about how her home is made out of concrete and she and her husband are going to stay and not evacuate. She’s continued to upload videos, making light of the situation, as the storm gets closer.
Meanwhile, a clip of controversial Kick Streamer Adin Ross supposedly offering people $30,000 to stick around and livestream through the hurricane went viral after being shared on Twitter and TikTok. However, during the full seven-hour livestream, it’s clear Ross isn’t offering this money to anyone and in fact, was just joking around with a friend. During that same stream, he also told viewers to evacuate Tampa Bay and suggested the hurricane was being used to “distract” people from the upcoming election. So a mixed bag.
Kotaku has reached out to Adin Ross for comment about his stream and statements.
Even though the offer wasn’t real, that didn’t stop some streamers from claiming that they were streaming live from Florida in the path of the hurricane. One Kick streamer, MikeSmallsJr, claimed to be streaming from Florida with nothing but an air mattress and some snacks. During one moment of his stream, he admitted that Ross’ offer wasn’t real and was taken out of context, but suggested the streamer still should pay him something for what he was doing.
“At the end of the day, I was the first Kick streamer to do this shit during Hurricane Helene. I’m out here busting my ass to entertain the people,” said MikeSmallsJr. Later he reportedly heard he wasn’t getting anything and wasn’t happy.
Another streamer, JamesWorley, claimed to be streaming during the storm and, when asked what he would do when or if he lost cell service, said: “I guess the stream will end.” A few moments later, his stream cut off. It returned a minute later.
Kotaku wasn’t able to verify their locations, but some did at least seem to be in Florida and were streaming during large amounts of rain. The storm isn’t set to make landfall until 8 p.m. EST, though thunderstorms and tornadoes are already covering much of the Sunshine State.
The reality is that even though Adin Ross didn’t actually offer large sums of money to encourage people to stream through the storm, the comments sadly might have inspired some people to stick around even as a deadly, incredibly powerful hurricane is about to hit where they live.
For some content creators, a massive hurricane is just an opportunity to risk their lives, troll their viewers, or create “edgy” content while possibly earning more views and subscribers. All of this in an effort to conquer the algorithm and rise above the thousands and thousands of other creators out there, all trying to desperately make money on social media and streaming platforms that, more and more, feel like sinking ships and not the future of entertainment.
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