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Now or Never

Internet Famous: Meet the viral creators who are sharing their joys, fears and passions online

From Indigenous TikTok to sharing life with Alzheimer's, here are the accounts you should be following.

From Indigenous TikTok to sharing life with Alzheimer's, here are the accounts you should be following

CBC Radio ·
A triptych of photos, featuring a drag queen in a pink dress, three young men in a basement with host Ify Chiwetelu, and a woman on a farm, wearing a blue sweater and holding a microphone.
From your new favourite Indigenous 'auntie', to a trio of dancing best friends and an aspiring organic farmer - meet the content creators you should be following right now. (CBC/Don Somers/Amanda Putz/Ify Chiwetelu)
Now or Never49:01Internet Famous: Meet the viral creators who are sharing their joys, fears and passions online

Not everyone who creates content online dreams of a certain number of followers. 

For those who have gone viral, it can be a welcome surprise or a nightmare.

And yet, people all over the country are setting up their ring lights, charging their cameras, and sharing their lives with the world.

On this Now or Never, you'll meet content creators making a big splash and facing their own now or never moments — from an aspiring 12-year-old YouTuber to a trio of dancing friends who have garnered over five million followers on TikTok. 

Ask almost any teenager what their career dreams are, and chances are good that "influencer," "streamer" and "YouTuber" are close to the top of their list. Ify chats with grade seven student EggBoyScooter about his dreams of reaching one million subscribers on YouTube — from his current count of 63.

A 12-year-old in a red sweater, with headphones, sits in front of two computer screens. On the screen is Now or Never host Ify Chiwetelu.
EggBoyScooter sits in front of his gaming rig, which he uses to record his many Minecraft sessions. (CBC/Amanda Putz)

When Kathy Collins was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's at the age of 56, her sister Jean dropped everything to care for her. Now they're sharing their story in a series of hilarious and heartbreaking TikTok videos, which has created an unexpected community of support for both Jean and Kathy.

After only a few days on the app, 15-year-old Yemaya Azania-Merchant went viral on TikTok for bearing a striking resemblance to Adonis Graham, the four year old son of Canadian rap superstar, Drake. Since their viral moment, they've been forced to deal with negative attention and hateful comments about their gender identity.

Kadeem Hemmings, Nick McDonald and Nathaniel James are three friends from Mississauga who have been dancing together for fun in Nick's basement for years. Then they uploaded a video of their antics to TikTok and it went viral overnight. Now Ify goes behind the scenes to discover the secret to the Basement Gang's success.

Feeling isolated at the beginning of the pandemic, Saskatoon drag queen Chelazon Leroux found comfort in watching Indigenous TikTok-ers. Now, they've found online fame and community themselves — posting videos as your new favourite Auntie.

Over seven thousand subscribers watch Shini Ko's dispatches from Bao Bao Farm. From how to use a wire weeder to the difference between western eggplants and Chinese eggplants, Shini is on a mission to share organic farming tips ... and clap back at farmers market customers who call her veggies "weird." 

This episode originally aired in September 2022. 

 

 

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