VIRALITY FOR A PURPOSE
Jamie Zhu points out the highs and lows of content creation
“Shy” is one word that isn’t in Jamie Zhu’s dictionary. Camera in hand, he has gone viral on the Internet, thanks to awkward situations—whether it’s him making a fool of himself, or through pranks he pulls on random people he meets on the street. Such videos have garnered him millions of views on Facebook, even though some people don’t take them lightly.
“If you compare me to other people who do pranks on the Internet, a lot of people do them to get extreme reactions, make them angry or what not,” Jamie tells Manila Bulletin Lifestyle in an exclusive interview. “I don’t do that at all.”
Jamie shares that he’s gotten to a point he’s just so aware of how people will react. “I choose the people I know will find it funny, and slightly awkward. I don’t go for people who are going to get angry, because that isn’t the intention of my content. It’s supposed to make you happy,” he says.
FUN WITH DAD
Among all of his fun videos across both Facebook and YouTube, most of his views and surely a crowd favorite are those that involve his dad. To date Jamie has made eight videos where he pranks his father whenever they are together (Jamie lives in Australia near his mom, while his father has lived in China since he was four years old.)
Jamie looks back at the first time he ever pranked his dad for a video, noting how nervous he was about going through with it. “I think it was about two years ago. I was [visiting him] in China, and this was when I just started my growth on Facebook. I wanted to try out different styles of content,” recounts the content creator. “I remember so clearly, it was the second to the last day I was there. I was thinking in my head ‘Should I? Should I?’ I was really nervous, I really didn’t want do it but I thought ‘You know what, let’s just see how it goes.’”
And so Jamie pulled a few pranks on his father, whose reactions, he realized, were so funny. His father didn’t even care. “He just wanted to help me. Like he said, ‘Well if it helps you create, then whatever,’” Jamie quotes his father.
ON CONTENT CREATION
As a content creator on different mediums—not just on Facebook and YouTube but also on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat—Jamie finds it hard to come up with new ideas for videos. “You kind of find inspiration from relatable things in life. Sometimes I think, ‘I have to make a video, I have to film it now, I have to post it tonight’,” says Jamie. “I work quite well under pressure. A lot of the time it’s hard, but that’s when you need to expand.” Jamie doesn’t want to get sick of doing the same things over and over again.
As of writing, Jamie’s most recent video on his YouTube channel was of him opening up on how thinking of new content took a toll on his mental health. For him, social media has come to a point when people go on it first thing in the morning—he even admits being a culprit—and it’s human nature to compare oneself to what one sees on one’s feeds and timelines.
“So when you see all these people you follow living amazing lives, everything seems perfect, you become more self-conscious. With me, that’s just an unhealthy way to live,” says Jamie. “What happened with me was all the pressure from followers, who knew me for only one thing, but not the other side of me, took a toll because I felt like I had to be only that part of myself constantly.”
He shares how hard it has been. He gets a lot of attention wherever he goes and he feels the pressure to be the person he is on camera. Alhough Jamie points out that he really is as fun and extroverted, he still has a completely different side that he doesn’t show.
“The reason it took such a toll on my mental health was because I didn’t enjoy just doing the same thing, and I wanted to show people that I could do this for a greater purpose. What I want is when they see my work people can think they have hope in their own lives and do whatever they want as well,” says the 26-year-old.
Jamie adds that the ordeal has inspired him to transition into different kinds of content—he’s doing more vlogs and starting a music career now. The message he wants to leave for everyone is to “follow your dreams, and that I’ll use my online presence for good as well.”
INFLUENCER VS. INFLUENTIAL
To date Jamie has over six million followers across all the social media platforms he handles, a number worthy enough to count him as an “influencer”—but even he admits he has a problem with the term. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot," notes Jamie. "I don’t even like the term ‘influencer’ but that’s what they do,” he says.
The content creator differentiates influencers from celebrities as for him the latter cut themselves off from the real world a lot more. Meanwhile, the former shares so much about their lives that fans regard them as a friend.
“I think that’s where the term came from, which is why I guess I’m happy it’s the title I have—I’m allowed to not be perfect all the time," says Jamie. "I’d like to believe that influencers have a lot more influence than they think they do."
Because of the degree of power influencers have, Jamie hopes that people like him do what they do for the right reasons. “I think a lot people I’ve seen get really carried away with the validation of it,” says the Chinese-Australian. “I think it’s very easy because the Internet is such a powerful thing.”
He looks back at his own rise to virality. After posting a video that garnered a few hundred thousand views on Facebook, suddenly people were coming up to him for a photo. “It’s a crazy career. You’ve got to be resilient and flexible. That’s why I think people get carried away. Once they see they’re getting attention they’ll think they’re so cool and everyone’s below them,” he laments.
Simply put, Jamie says that everyone is equal, and the importance of that statement is reflected in what influencers do. “A lot of people want to use their platforms to just show off: ‘I’ve got this Gucci, I’ve got this Ferrari,’ it’s all BS," he says. "Use your platform to help others, have a greater purpose apart from yourself, and I think that’s what I’m trying to do."
‘Use your platform to help others. Have a greater purpose apart from yourself.’