Hurricane Miltonone of the largest storms in history will make landfall in Florida on October 9. It will likely cause tens of billions of dollars in damage and could kill or injure many people who are unable to evacuate Tampa Bay and surrounding areas in a timely manner.
And yet some influencers, TikTok content creators and streamers say they will stick around and livestream the historic storm. This is a terrible idea and another example of how some creators are willing to do anything to get more views, clicks and subscribers.
on Tuesday, Forbes reported on numerous influential people who suggested in videos posted online that they would remain there even as Hurricane Milton moved closer to Florida.
Influencer and author Caroline Calloway wrote on Twitter that even though her home is in an evacuation zone and located on the beach, she has no intention of leaving. Instead, she tweeted that she wasn’t leaving and posted an ad for her upcoming self-help book. “I have champagne and four generations of Floridians in my veins. It’ll be all right.” Calloway wrote on Twitter.
Another TikTok creator, kricketfeltshe posts videos about how her house is made of concrete and she and her husband intend to stay in it and will not evacuate. As the storm approached, she continued to upload videos, making light of the situation.
Meanwhile, a clip of controversial Kick Streamer Adin Ross allegedly offering people $30,000 to stick around and stream live during a hurricane went viral after being shared on Twitter and TikTok. However, in the process full seven-hour live broadcastit’s clear that Ross isn’t offering this money to anyone and was really just joking with a friend. During the same broadcast, he ordered viewers to evacuate Tampa Bay and suggested that the hurricane was being used to “distract” people before the upcoming elections. So a mixed bag.
My city reached out to Adin Ross for comment on his broadcast and statements.
While the offer wasn’t real, that didn’t stop some streamers from claiming they were broadcasting live from Florida in the hurricane’s path. One Kick streamer MikeSmallsJr claimed to be streaming from Florida with only an air mattress and a few snacks. At one point in his broadcastadmitted that Ross’s offer wasn’t real and was taken out of context, but suggested that the streamer should still pay him something for what he does.
“I ended up being the first Kick streamer to do this shit during Hurricane Helene. I bust my ass to entertain people,” MikeSmallsJr said. Later, he reportedly heard that he was getting nothing and was not cheerful.
Another streamer, JamesWorleyhe claimed to be transmitting during the storm, and when asked what he would do if or when he lost his cell connection, he replied, “I think the transmission will end.” A few moments later, his stream was interrupted. It came back a minute later.
My city was unable to verify their locations, but at least some appeared to be in Florida and broadcasting during ponderous rainfall. The storm is not expected to make landfall until 8 p.m. ESTalthough storms and tornadoes already cover much of the Sunshine State.
The reality is that while Adin Ross didn’t actually offer large sums of money to encourage people to sail through the storm, unfortunately the comments may have inspired some people to stick around even when a deadly, incredibly powerful hurricane is about to hit where they live .
For some content creators, a major hurricane is simply an opportunity to risk their lives, troll viewers, or create “edgy” content while gaining more views and subscribers. All this to beat the algorithm and rise above the thousands of other creators who are desperately trying to make money from social media and streaming platforms that are increasingly looking like sinking ships and not the future of entertainment.
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