Streamer Squid Gaming May Change Name Due to Squid Game Fan Abuse, Losing Job Chances

Squid Game Gaming Instagram Lydia Ellery

Yogscast streamer Squid Gaming may change her username, due to abuse from fans of Squid Game and lost job opportunities.

As previously reported Lydia Ellery, also known as Squid Gaming, had her Instagram account banned for a short time. Due to many fans of South Korean Netflix drama Squid Game begging for her to give them the account name, she suspected this was due to mass reporting, or others trying to access her account.


The show has amassed 111 million fans; Netflix’ biggest launch to date. Fans had also called a real life phone number from the show, leading to a dessert shop owner in Seongju county receiving thousands of prank calls a day; hindering her business and leaving her medically diagnosed with acute stress disorder. The episode was later edited, but the owner rejected a representative’s offer to pay for a new phone.

 

While Ellery was unbanned on Instagram, it seems the show’s obsessives may cause her to change her username on Twitch and more. On Twitter Ellery revealed she had lost two presenting jobs specifically because “people don’t want to hire me with my ‘squid game’ handle.” Whether this would have happened without the negative influence of fans (such as fear of copyright issues) is unknown.

“First I get sent abuse, then I get banned, now I’m losing out on work,” Ellery laments. “Lots of lovely people suggesting complaining etc, but who do I even talk to about this? Who would I email? I have literally no idea whatsoever.”

While media reporting had drawn attention to Ellery’s issue (no doubt fueled by SEO-focused topics), it is unknown what Netflix and the show’s creator’s could do. An open appeal to leave Ellery alone may only draw more attention to her from psychotic fans and trolls, while offering to help change her username still means surrendering part of her brand she had built up.

 

This is Niche Culture. In this column, we regularly cover anime, geek culture, and things related to video games. Please leave feedback and let us know if there’s something you want us to cover!

,

About

Ryan was a former Niche Gamer contributor.


Where'd our comments go? Subscribe to become a member to get commenting access and true free speech!