“Influencers.” Over the years, Filipinos have seen more and more on the wide wild world of the internet. Some write on blogs, Facebook, or Twitter. Others make lengthy vlogs on Youtube, and more make all sorts of content for Tiktok. And while some of them make useful, informative content, others simply entertain by making simple videos where they just sing or dance or do random challenges. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that. But this one Tiktoker belongs to the latter group, and his latest viral video is getting engagement for all the wrong reasons.

The video in question

On November 14 and 15, Tiktoker and vlogger Simon Joseph Javier (a.k.a. Simon Says Vlog) posted videos of himself dancing in front of a mall escalator’s landing platform as mall-goers try to make their way around him.

Another version of the video was posted on Tiktok, where he was dancing nearer to the exitway of the escalator. This Tiktok version has since been taken down, but after it was shared on Twitter, criticism poured in from concerned netizens.

‘Safety hazard’

Colourette CEO and content creator Nina Cabrera shared Javier’s Tiktok video, pointing out that he could be “a potential cause of accident pa on an escalator.” Her tweet went viral, gaining over 20,000 likes and 3,000 retweets, while the video garnered over 800,000 views.

Not these “influencer” being a potential cause of accident pa on an escalator. 🤦‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/xDlbBfjuwt

— Nina Cabrera 💖 (@theninaellaine) November 26, 2022

Other netizens expressed concern and anger over the video. “This is why I get irritated when I see people who do their TikToks in public especially at malls, sagabal na nga, hazard pa,” one tweeted.

“Magaling naman [si Simon] sumayaw kaso nga lang bigyan mo naman ng respeto yung mga taong nasa paligid mo katulad ni kuya kaninang may kasamang baby paano kung nadali mo yun at nauna pa sa escalator sila, naipit,” a TikTok user stitched with his video.

‘Public nuisance’

Aside from being a safety hazard, he was deemed a public nuisance by netizens for inconveniencing other mall-goers.

When minimum public health standards and proper common space decorum are impeded figuratively by “influencers” and literally. https://t.co/im74EVfANn

— Joshua C. Agar (@JoshuaCAgar) November 28, 2022

“You’re not being creative with your content actually, nagiging nuisance ka sa mga pagkakataon na to. Go home dude,” one netizen said.

“He is creating content without any consideration of the people around him,” another replied.

One netizen also criticized the video for being “pointless”, while another pointed out how the content creator has been “copying content from foreign creators” and is simply doing this “just for the money.”

Sila yung tipong “influencer” na walang originality. Lahat halos ng content ay kopya sa foreign creators. They’re in the business just for the money, kahit own branding nila wala sila pake basta kumita

— LunarThoughts (@LunarThoughtx) November 26, 2022

Netizens: Guaaaaard!

A Twitter user also added that they probably would’ve called a guard if they saw him dancing near an escalator in person.

Many netizens have echoed a similar sentiment: that they would’ve pushed him aside if they saw him. However, another pointed out that doing so would’ve only given the Tiktoker “juicier content” and “more engagement.”

The thing is even if someone did something about it, like pushed him, panalo pa rin sya… He’ll have a jucier content, more engagement pa

— Komon3stang Delawan (@Komon3sta) November 26, 2022

As of writing, Javier has not addressed the criticism being directed at him and his dancing in public video.

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