Social media ‘influencers’ are risking federal prison and getting shot for clout
Zachary Faria
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Social media algorithms have been in the spotlight for years for their effects on users, particularly children, but the need for “influencers” to chase views is dangerous for their mental health and for their very lives and the lives of people around them. It can even land them behind bars.
Such is the story of Trevor Jacob, a YouTuber whose plane crashed as he was flying above Los Padres National Forest near Santa Maria, California. Jacob claimed that the plane’s engine failed, and parachuted to the ground safely as he allowed the plane to go down.
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It was all deliberate, though. Jacob admitted that he intentionally crashed the plane for views to help boost a sponsorship deal he had received. He and a friend had tried to remove wreckage from the crash site, which he told investigators he didn’t know the location of, in order to dispose of evidence. Ultimately, Jacob pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing a federal investigation and is now facing up to 20 years in federal prison.
If it’s any consolation, his “I Crashed My Airplane” video is up to 4.2 million views on YouTube. That would be roughly 210,000 views per possible year in prison he is facing.
He is not the only one facing jail time in pursuit of social media clout. A California Instagram “influencer” mom was recently convicted of making a false police report after she falsely accused two people of trying to abduct her children. Her video telling the false story to the world went viral. She now faces up to six months in jail.
And the social media obsession can always end up worse than that. Last month a YouTube prankster named Tanner Cook was shot at the Dulles Town Center Mall in Sterling, Virginia, while attempting to prank another person. His near-death experience apparently isn’t going to scare him away from his “passion” of contributing to the terrible YouTube genre of publicly “pranking” random people.
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Getting shot helped him gain a few thousand more subscribers, after all. Can’t let that opportunity go to waste.
The obsession with social media is not just an issue for its everyday users. The career path of “influencer,” one that is now increasingly viewed as a real career option for children, opens its own can of worms, as people are willing to put their lives and livelihoods at risk for a few views, the sympathy of random people, or to fill their desire to annoy people in public. Some people are willing to do anything for some social media clout, even if it lands them in the hospital or in federal prison.