YouTuber and Twitch streamer TommyInnit has opened up about his rise to internet stardom and some the downsides that came with it, such as doxxing.
Thomas Michael Simons, better known as ‘TommyInnit’ online, first started his YouTube career back in 2013 and has since grown to amass nearly 15 million subscribers in the ten-plus years since.
However, his journey has not always been an easy one, as the 20-year-old creator revealed in a May 30 video ‘unpacking’ his YouTube career titled, “The Untold Story of TommyInnit.”
Discussing every step along the way, Tommy opened up about hardships he faced including feeling “lost”, dealing with doxxing, and finding drive.
In the 26-minute video, Tommy revealed he had first discovered his love for YouTube at the age of 12. Despite confidently posting to the video-sharing platform, he suffered setbacks after being bullied by peers and struggling to grow his viewership.
After copying all Minecraft trends popular at the time, aiming to get subscribers by “any means possible”, and even getting banned from YouTube, Tommy finally started to see growth on his channel when he began to post content that was true to himself instead.
When lockdowns took over the world, he took the opportunity to focus solely on content creation and became “obsessive.” Eventually, Tommy hit one million subscribers; “The internet is my entire life now… this is everything.”
Despite having achieved above and beyond his original goals, Tommy’s internet success ultimately ‘backfired’. Stardom online meant he was frequently recognized in public and would find himself approached or stared at “every time” he went outside.
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“I may have grinded YouTube subs, but I did not grind social skills! I’m not equipped to handle this,” Tommy shared, admitting he found the amount of people asking for photos with him “creepy.”
At one point, “someone was waiting” at Tommy’s local park to see him, an experience the YouTuber described as “awful”. Nonetheless, his subscriber count continued to grow in the millions despite real-life experiences leaving Tommy “overwhelmed”.
“Started getting doxxed — people send food to my house every time I’m about to go live now,” he said. And things didn’t stop there, as local police were contacted “with a false report” claiming Tommy was being “abused” by his parents.
“This is too much now. Things are getting worse for the people around me too and it feels like it’s my fault. I don’t like going outside anymore, I don’t like that people know me anymore!”
But he continued to post anyway and eventually, Tommy hit 10 million subscribers. Having done what he set out to do, he soon ‘lost’ his “purpose”.
Dealing with anxiety and struggling to find his drive to continue, Tommy finally found joy again in live shows and stand-up comedy, discovering that “there’s more to life than YouTube.”
“I am different now… I don’t think I’ll ever be as into YouTube as I was but someone else will be,” he concluded. “I still love it though, still love making videos, I love this. I don’t love you guys, f*** off. But! I’m very, very, very f****** grateful for everything you’ve given me.”
