Noah's Arc

“Broncoooo! Welcome in! Everybody in the chat, welcome in Bronco! This is his first time here. W chat. Great job! Where you from, Bronco?”

The chat screen filled up with welcome messages from unfamiliar screennames. In the background, chaos reigned. “Carlos, thank you for the Hand Heart! Where do you want your name? Ryan, someone is spamming, can you take care of that, please? Thanks, Ryan, you’re the best. Where did you say, Carlos? On the left side of my face? Okay, got it. Everyone, keep tapping the screen! Likes and shares!”

Our livestream host was shirtless, but he was covered in names. It didn’t take long to find out that his sister’s boyfriend was helping write the names on our host’s back, since his chest and stomach were filled up. I tapped the screen; the entertainment was undeniable. Equally impressive was the young man’s energy. Answering questions, responding to comments, calling out to people in the background, doing pushups and burpees, jumping in the pool, writing names on his face—backwards for him so they’d appear frontwards for us—and dancing when he reached certain goals; Noah’s dare hour on TT was hilarious pandemonium, and it was my introduction to a content creator who takes a different approach to social media interaction. Oh, and to call him a carrot top is an understatement. Noah is a proud ginger, and his fans are called Gingersnaps.

A quick online search of “gingersnaps” and a look at images brings row after row of “eggless,” “vegan,” “thin and crispy,” “gluten-free,” “iced,” “chewy,” “crunchy,” “classic,” “low carb,” “bacon fat,” “paleo,” “grandma’s,” “better than grandma’s,” “the best soft and chewy,” “soft and chewy,” and countless other descriptions and pictures of the cookies that typically come to mind. However, Noah’s Gingersnaps are a special group of people drawn by the energy, enthusiasm, entertainment, and empathy of our host. Although proud of his ginger-dentity, Noah is not arrogant. He is confident yet humble, and he works to build a community of caring chatters, using multiple platforms to generate a spirit of kindness and regard for one another.

To that end, he has another platform where further interactions take place. We have a movie night once a week. He conducts contests and giveaways. We share birthday and anniversary announcements, pictures, life goals and advice, and encourage one another frequently. The Gingersnaps are a growing group of TT fans from all over the world and all over the socio-political spectrum, and we are learning to set aside differences to care about each other. Noah contacts followers who haven’t been online in a while, just to make sure they’re okay. He demonstrates true humanity toward the people showing up in his livestreams, and we love it.

The first time I interacted with the Gingersnaps on TT, I blundered into making a gift that caused Noah to do ten burpees while calling out, “Daddy Bronco Burpee 1! Daddy Bronco Burpee 2!” and so on. I was mortified, thinking I’d actually upset my host. I was so embarrassed by it all that I left the livestream for several minutes. Finally, I returned and lurked outside. As an observer, I realized that this was all part of Noah’s shtick, so I rejoined. Instantly, he welcomed me back. “Welcome back, Bronco! Everyone, welcome Bronco! This is his first live with us! W Bronco!” Within moments, other chatters were posting “w Bronco” messages.

The entire evening was entertaining, and I began to feel part of something more than the usual content creator’s livestream. Indeed, Noah is constantly telling his viewers not to break their bank accounts to support him, and he reminds people that tapping the screen is sufficient. He never gets angry or down if he loses a battle in TT competition. As soon as a battle is done—and even as it progresses—he encourages teamwork, cooperation, and he builds everyone up. He urges his viewers and chatters to build one another up, too.

Since then, I’ve followed his lead as much as I can. I try to encourage my fellow Gingersnaps when they provide positive input to the chat, or when they join the livestream. Noah sets and respects boundaries for himself and others, but he demonstrates a level of vulnerability, too, so we know when his life isn’t going the greatest, and we check in on him, and vice versa. He maintains a working memory of what’s happening in his fans’ lives, and he asks about our circumstances when we pop in for the livestream. I’m truly impressed by this. So many content creators on TT, especially, are looking for the money they can make off viewers. Some even hound viewers for gifts, but Noah shows fun and kindness, and his fans want to give to him in return. He catches more flies with honey, you could say.

He is insanely entertaining. His energy is seemingly boundless. He’s athletic. He sings and plays guitar. He dances. He’s funny, but he can be serious. He’s gifted for what he does. Even when he’s down, he finds ways to bring his livestream up. Increasingly, the Gingersnaps are following his lead to treating others better, setting aside petty conduct and differences, and being better people.

You won’t find these Gingersnaps because of a Google search. They probably won’t even show up on a TT search. But if you stumble across a high-energy 20-year-old ginger named Noah whose username has an orange heart next to it, and many of whose viewers have the same orange heart, then you’ve probably located the Gingersnaps. Stop by, tap the screen, and tell ‘em Bronco sent you.

(BroncoMackAmes)