High-profile creators are being targeted by Twitter bots promoting a “fan-made” YouTube channel posting David Dobrik’s live streams — and somehow it’s working.
In August David Dobrik did his first-ever live stream on Twitch playing Warzone, and gave away $1,000 every time he won a game. Understandably, people were ecstatic that this huge internet personality had entered the streaming world, especially playing with people such as Florida Mutineers’ Cesar ‘Skyz’ Bueno.
YouTube channels posting highlights from his streams were a natural progression and include the channel in question called “David Dobrik Live Streams.” It already has 93,600 followers, with the first video being posted on August 30.
But it seems as though the reason behind a large number of subscribers in such a short space of time is down to the sheer number of bots terrorizing Twitter users asking them to watch, with several high-profile creators getting the brunt of it.
Bots on Twitter have become a consistent problem. In April 2020, the platform removed 20,000 fake accounts, while back in 2018 it reportedly removed 70 million fake accounts. While Twitter is working on a system to identify the bots, fake accounts can still be created and used to spread misinformation.
CDL player Clayster tweeted, “Who is the one person who keeps making five thousand accounts to tweet me his David Dobrik playing Warzone videos? I must know, you need help. I’ve had to block at least 50+ accounts.”
WHO IS THE ONE PERSON WHO KEEPS MAKING FIVE THOUSAND ACCOUNTS TO TWEET ME HIS DAVID DOBRIK PLAYING WARZONE VIDEOS? I MUST KNOW, YOU NEED HELP. I'VE HAD TO BLOCK AT LEAST 50+ ACCOUNTS
— Clayster (@Clayster) December 15, 2020
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Other famous faces agreed and said they had also been targeted. Crimsix wrote, “Wait, wtf same,” while YouTuber Casey Neistat wrote called it “a particularly aggressive bot.”
Same. It’s a particularly aggressive bot
— Casey Neistat (@Casey) December 16, 2020
Other targeted influencers who claimed to victims of the relentless account included FaZe Simp, Drift0r, and musician Jordan Wright.
The about section of the channel confirms that it’s not linked to the YouTuber himself, with the note: “I try to upload daily videos from David Dobrik’s live stream if he is currently streaming. This is a fan channel and not David’s.”
Dexerto has reached out to David Dobrik’s team for comment.