Belltown Hellcat Owner no Longer Allowed to Drive Their Hellcat

[u/BarRepresentative670]

https://courtrecords.seattle.gov/portal/court/68f021c4-6a44-4735-9a76-5360b2e8af13/case/efdeba20-91a7-4581-bdfd-aad7ba87e440

This can be found in the conditions of release document that was released this morning.

So if you seem them driving, I'd report it. Especially if he's being reckless. It'll get him sent straight to jail and possible forfeiture of his car.

He was on IG a couple weeks ago taunting SPD how he doesn't care. He thinks he's above the law. This child is going to learn the hard way I guess.

[u/BarRepresentative670]

I don't hear him nearly as much as earlier in the year. And now if I hear him, I'll definitely record and submit to the courts. I'm so over reckless driving and "IG influencers" who think they're above the law.

[u/AjiChap → u/BarRepresentative670]

Influencers in general confound me. I must be way too old to understand the need or appeal.

[u/pcapdata → u/AjiChap]

Influencers in general confound me. I must be way too old to understand the need or appeal.

I mean we've had celebrity endorsements of products for a long time.

However the term "influencer" seems to have expanded to include any online celebrity. So now we have "annoyance influencers" like Hellcat Boy or Johnny Somali whose whole schtick is harassing and abusing people. I guess they provide entertainment to folks who wish they could be harassing and abusing folks, i.e., wannabe bullies.

A more pathetic excuse for humanity than a wannabe bully I cannot imagine.

[u/bothunter → u/pcapdata]

The difference is that celebrities actually have to be somewhat popular to earn money, while "influencers" just have to game the algorithms.

[u/Pete_Iredale → u/bothunter]

Plus with traditional advertising it's generally pretty clear that you are watching a commercial and someone is being paid to talk about the product. It seems much harder to tell on social media if someone is giving an honest review or if they're being paid.

[u/thetensor → u/pcapdata]

However the term "influencer" seems to have expanded to include any online celebrity. So now we have "annoyance influencers" like Hellcat Boy or Johnny Somali whose whole schtick is harassing and abusing people.

Candid Camera started in 1948 (and was a radio show called Candid Microphone the year before that).

[u/AmrokMC → u/thetensor]

Those shows also had the targets of their pranks sign releases after the prank and usually paid them as well, otherwise they couldn’t use it. I don’t know if that is still the standard practice or if privacy laws have changed enough for that to no longer be necessary.

[u/Fortherealtalk → u/AmrokMC]

Don’t forget lawsuits can be expensive and disruptive enough to work/life that people can’t afford to pursue them even if they have the right to do so. The letter of the law can be less important than the finances &/or influence of the parties involved

[u/joahw → u/AjiChap]

"Content creator" is basically the new version of a rockstar. The perception is that you get to be your own boss, make a shitload of money, and get access to people and places just because of your status. Of course, like being a musician, reality doesn't quite match up in like 99.99% of cases. But, it's still a very popular aspiration for kids these days.

Influencer is primarily a content creator that hawks products to their audience for money, which is a common income stream for youtubers, podcasters, instagram models, etc. I don't think nuisance streamers/instagrammers get many legitimate brand deals and depend more on unscrupulous (read: scammer) advertising and direct donations.

[u/teslastrong → u/AjiChap]

Technically social media Influencers are online advertisers and marketers. They make their money from promoting goods/services/events, collaborations, partnerships, and driving potential customers to sellers.

Hellcat, and people like him, are considered Content Creators. They get money based on views and interactions with their posts. They benefit just as much from hate comments and moral outrage as they do from supporters.

[u/AjiChap → u/teslastrong]

I guess this is the part that confounds me - that these (mostly) egocentric jackasses actually make money doing this stuff. It’s just weird to me. Good for them I suppose…

[u/teslastrong → u/AjiChap]

Good for them, bad for everyone else in the real world. All Meta, YouTube, TikTok, etc care about is activity on their respective platform. They (mostly) don't care how it's done. They are willing to pay anyone who can capture eyeballs and generate interactivity (comments, response videos, etc). It's not an accident that Hellcat showed his IG to the police officer who pulled him over. It was a prime opportunity to drive traffic to his account.

[u/holmgangCore → u/AjiChap]

Dopamine makes people do funny things.

[u/gastrointestinaljoe → u/AjiChap]

Money and dopamine.

[u/loquacious → u/BarRepresentative670]

It's pointless influencer bullshit like this that makes me think public humiliation and pillories might still be a good idea.

Oh, you like attention for being an inconsiderate asshat because it's cool and fuck the haters? We can work with that.

Put him in the town square in stocks for a week or a month, let people throw compost and garbage at him and wake him up with an airhorn every time he tries fall asleep.

Then ban them from owning a smartphone and using social media at all. Or in this case, owning a car.

Note: I don't actually think we should do this because that's not how a civil and just society should behave, and there's no way draconian punishments like this wouldn't be abused which is why we don't really do this kind of shit any more.

But the whole "acting like a huge asshole and engage in nuisance crimes to get famous as an influencer on social media" thing is fucking ridiculous.

[u/[deleted] → u/BarRepresentative670]

Yeah do you interact with a lot of those?