Don’t idolize strangers on the internet

For as long as I can remember, my life has been closely entwined with the internet. I would even dare to say that it’s raised me in a way. As daft as it may seem, a huge part of who I am as a person was curated by the wonders and evils of this endless concept of a world and I feel its effects every single day, just like almost any person nowadays. Even my identity as an amateur writer was germinated from a content creator, a streamer on Twitch, and his passion for songwriting, creating stories and characters. This man on the internet inspired me to indulge myself in the infinite possibilities which word-craft offers, influenced my admiration of musicals and showed me many video games which I consider to have some of the greatest plots ever written. His name is Wilbur Soot and as of right now, I feel ashamed of even mentioning his name and spreading his platform further. Despite this, I want to share my story of disappointment in regards to my idol turning out to be a truly despicable person with seemingly no remorse for his actions.

I was in my first year of high school when I discovered the magic of watching streams. Endless hours of entertainment to soothe my unstimulated mind while cooped up in the isolation that quarantine imposed. I watched a variety of different creators on Twitch, but no one peaked my interest quite like Wilbur. He looked to be an amazingly creative soul, writing plot-lines and characters for his fellow streamers in a role-played story he started in the game Minecraft. The writing was tantalizing and greatly moving to me. I was flushed with passion toward this roleplay project which in turn lead me to hone my writing skills as a past-time and not just for school purposes. Many of my creative pieces were born from the inspiration I acquired from the concepts introduced by him. His sense of humor was also something I admired and eventually subconsciously adapted into my personality. I was easily swayed by different influences, but nothing compares to the extent to which he left a mark on me. Writing is something I hold dear to my heart now while my sense of humor is something I like to take pride in. To realize that some of my greatest strengths and major character traits came from looking up to such a vile man made me feel foolish. I had no way of knowing of course, but the fact that I was so impressionable and held a random stranger on the internet to such a high standard adds to my shame.

When the news broke, I idiotically did not want to believe them at first. The victim of his abuse, his ex-girlfriend Shelby who’s streams I also used to watch from time to time, came out to speak about her experiences with him without mentioning his name at all. But that did not stop people from speculating. Connecting the dots proved to not be so difficult and the entire thing suddenly blew up. Other streamers, both Shelby’s and his friends, released statements showing their support for Shelby and even contributing to the growing amount of Wilbur’s instances of abuse. He eventually responded with a terrible apology in which he did not even apologize, denied almost everything and failed to address the person who was the most hurt by his actions; Shelby herself. I was beyond shocked and absolutely livid at myself and especially at him. I had been fooled by his on-screen persona and failed to see through his act that, in hindsight, slipped at some points and showed his true self. Many of his fans share the same sentiments as me, having gotten tattoos and merchandise in support of him which they now deeply regret. Another man that I and many others adored turned out to be a manipulative, physically and psychologically abusive, emotionally dependent on a teenager piece of shit. What a surprise, I guess.

Moral of the story: strangers on the internet are much like politicians, they cannot be trusted and we shouldn’t idolize them.