Hurricane Miltonone of the largest storms in history, is expected to make landfall in Florida on October 9th. It is likely to cause tens of billions of dollars in damage and could kill or injure many people who are unable to evacuate Tampa Bay and the surrounding region in a timely manner.
And yet, some influencers, TikTok content creators and streamers claim they will stick around and livestream through the historic storm. This is a terrible idea and another example of how some YouTubers are willing to do anything just to get more views, clicks and subscribers.
On Tuesday, Forbes reported to numerous influencers who suggested in videos posted online that they would stay put even as Hurricane Milton moves ever closer to Florida.
Influencer and author Caroline Calloway posted on Twitter that she will not be leaving her house, even though it is in the evacuation zone and on the beach. Instead, she tweeted about how she won’t be leaving and added an ad for her upcoming guide. “I have champagne and four generations of Floridians in my veins. Everything will be fine”, Calloway tweeted.
Another TikTok creator, CricketfeltShe posted videos about how her house is made of concrete and that she and her husband will stay and not evacuate. She continued to upload videos highlighting the situation as the storm approaches.
Meanwhile, there’s a clip of controversial Kick streamer Adin Ross allegedly offering people $30,000 to stay and live stream during the hurricane went viral after being shared on Twitter and TikTok. However, during the complete seven-hour live streamit’s clear that Ross isn’t offering this money to anyone and was actually just joking with a friend. During the same stream, he also urged viewers to evacuate Tampa Bay, suggesting that the hurricane had gotten used to it “distract” people from the upcoming election. So it’s a mixed bag.
My city asked Adin Ross for comment on his stream and his statements.
Even though the offer wasn’t real, that didn’t stop some streamers from claiming they were streaming live from Florida in the hurricane’s path. One Kick streamer, MikeSmallsJr, claimed he was streaming from Florida with nothing but an air mattress and some snacks. During a moment of his streamHe admitted that Ross’ offer wasn’t genuine and was taken out of context, but suggested that the streamer should still pay him something for what he did.
“I ended up being the first kick streamer to do this crap during Hurricane Helene. I’m out here busting my ass to entertain people,” MikeSmallsJr said. He later reportedly heard that he got nothing and was not happy.
Another streamer, JamesWorleysaid he was streaming during the storm and, when asked what he would do if or when he lost cell service, said, “I guess the stream will end.” A few moments later, his stream was interrupted. A minute later it came back.
My city couldn’t verify their locations, but some appeared to be at least in Florida with large amounts of rain. The storm is not expected to make landfall until 8:00 p.m. ESTalthough thunderstorms and tornadoes are already affecting large parts of the Sunshine State.
The reality is that while Adin Ross didn’t actually offer large sums of money to encourage people to flock through the storm, unfortunately the comments may have inspired some people to stick around, even through a deadly, incredibly powerful hurricane Is about to strike they live.
For some content creators, a massive hurricane is just an opportunity to risk their lives, troll their viewers, or create “edgy” content and potentially gain more views and subscribers in the process. All of this in an effort to beat the algorithm and rise above the thousands upon thousands of other YouTubers out there, all desperately trying to make money on social media and streaming platforms that increasingly feel like sinking ships and not like the future of entertainment.
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