Streaming on Twitch is not easy. It requires a severe amount of dedication, effort, and a little bit of luck to make a living wage of some kind doing it. One streamer based in the United Kingdom named SquidGame, whose real name is Lydia Ellery, has been at it for years now. She’s been slowly building up a community and has reached the status of Twitch partner. She’s also been uploading gaming content on her YouTube channel for 10 years now under the names “SquidGaming” and “SquidGame.”
Unfortunately for Ellery, many people who have never heard of her have been attacking her online as of late because of her username in light of Netflix’s hit show Squid Game. Ellery recently talked to BBC News about how the explosion in popularity for Squid Game has been leading to her being harassed, having her Instagram account banned, and losing out on job opportunities.
“I’ve received a lot of hate from the fans and I’ve been turned down for work because of it [the name],” she told the BBC.
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“I started getting abusive messages from people. People were getting angry with me because they were mega fans… and thought I took the account from the show.
“I had to turn off notifications on my Instagram because it was just constant. My phone has been flooded.”
Ellery’s situation with her account name is getting so bad that she’s considering changing her username on all her social accounts, in part because it’s making her job more difficult. When someone uses a search engine to search “SquidGame,” they used to find her Twitch channel. Now, they’re directed to the TV show. It’s hard enough to build up a community on Twitch, but having to compete for attention from an extremely popular Netflix TV show is too much for anyone that isn’t in the class of extremely popular streamers like Ninja or TimTheTatman.
Looks like I might have to change my handle after all. I’ve lost 2 amazing presenting opportunities because people don’t want to hire me with my “squid game” handle. This is really getting me down now.
— Lydia (@SquidGaming) November 2, 2021