Behind the Blog: Perverse Virality

This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we talk about going viral, what we're watching lately, and a trip to Best Buy.

SAM: Everyone saw that viral TikTok of the woman whose boyfriend made her move from California to Texas and then immediately dumped her with a note, right? If you haven’t please go watch it then return to this tab.

Rebecca Jennings wrote a really perceptive story about that video this week for Vox, and also about the ways in which commodifying our trauma for clicks and likes and fame has evolved online. And of course she spoke to her, which is how I learned she’s a “content creator” in the career sense, and has been trying to get this kind of internet fame for a long time by making music. But it took posting about an extremely traumatic life event to get the exposure she has now. 

(I’ll admit, I think a lot of people just lie or make up crazy stories to try to go viral these days, and I definitely thought that might be the case with her as soon as she said she had to leave her improv troupe.) 

Rebecca wrote: “That’s the thing with putting your personal trauma on the internet: You’ve got to relive it as long as your audience does.”

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