In a live TikTok stream, a young woman with platinum blonde hair stares at the camera and holds a straightening iron in her hand. A kernel of corn lies between the heating plates, ready to pop. News from the public scrolls quickly across the screen.
The woman licks the air. Ice cream, so good, she calls out robotically. She repeats the gesture and sentence several times, identically. Gang, gang, she continues, before mimicking the sound of a balloon bursting. gang, gang. Yes Yes Yes! ice cream, so good!
If you didn’t understand anything in the previous paragraph, you are not alone. These videos featuring Pinkydoll, the online pseudonym of a TikToker and adult content creator from Quebec, have confused and unsettled millions of internet users around the world in the past few days.
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I’m getting a lot of attention right now. You could say it’s not always the best attention, but regardless, it’s good for my wallet, laughs Pinkydoll in an interview with the Decryptors.
The content creator claims to have made $7,000 a day from TikTok and OnlyFans for the past week. Celebrities like rapper and actor Ludacris approached her about a collaboration. It’s crazy what’s happening right now, which surprises those who have already acted as dancers in music videos.
Because yes, these videos are very profitable. This type of live streaming, dubbed “NPC streaming” (New Window) by the web culture encyclopedia KnowYourMeme, has grown in popularity over the past year. In short, the person in front of the camera responds with a specific gesture every time they receive a specific gift from their viewers.
The concept is to imitate a non-playable video game character (NPC or non-playable character in English). These extras usually act robotically and constantly repeat some animations and lines.
NPC streamers’ gestures vary depending on the donation: On TikTok, you can’t give money directly to a creator. Instead, they are virtual gifts (New window) such as flowers or ice cream, the prices of which are variable.
In Pinkydoll’s case, if someone offers her an ice cream cone that has a monetary value of about 1.5 cents, the reserve price for one, she’ll lick the air and say ice cream, so good. Giveaway on TikTok. The most expensive gift is worth almost $700 (New window).
Video game community psychologist Rachel Kowert told The Daily Beast (New Window) that NPC streams fulfill two basic human desires: connection, because female creators interact with viewers, and control, because they obey their commands.
It reinforces that notion of over-sexualized women marginally engaging in play cultures, says Kowert. These are non-playable characters, not main characters, and we want to play with them.
Pinkydoll doesn’t seem overly concerned or affected by the reviews: she’s mostly content with the opportunities her newfound fame offers her and recalls having the support of a legion of fans.
She is currently thinking about doing rap. Of course it would explode if I did, she said.