Game Streamer Loses Work and Becomes Target of Trolls Due to Nickname’s Connection to Squid Game

© YouTube/ NetflixSquid Game | Official Trailer | Netflix
Squid Game | Official Trailer | Netflix - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.11.2021
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Lydia Ellery is not the first person, who has had cause to curse the Netflix show's popularity. A South Korean woman was flooded with calls after her phone number was seen in the first episode of the series.
When coming up with a nickname on social media, it appears it is better to use something banal or you could end up in the sort of predicament which has dogged streamer and blogger Lydia Ellery who, more than a decade ago, registered as Squid Game on various platforms.

"For me it was just a silly name I thought up on the spot. My friends called me squid because it rhymes with lid, and my name is Lydia," she said.

Fast forward to 2021 and Lydia has become the target of trolls and hackers as her nickname matches the title of South Korean survival drama 'Squid Game', which has become a huge hit. The show about people in debt forced to play children’s games - but with a deadly slant - has been watched by more than 142 million households globally and has become the most popular show on Netflix.

Normally bloggers like attention. However, for Lydia Ellery the association with the show has brought nothing but problems.
The 32-year-old from Bristol in Britain's South-West, who has more than 42,000 followers on video game live-streaming service Twitch, claims she has lost work as companies are hesitant to employ her, because of her supposed connection to the show, which features violent scenes.

"The companies who were giving me this recent role specifically told me I didn't get the work because of my Squid Game handle," said Lydia who, besides livestreaming, does some presenting and advertising work.

The young woman also claims that she has become the target of hackers and trolls, who have sent hateful messages to her. Netflix uses its own account on social media to promote the show, so when netizens saw Lydia’s nickname they thought it was the 'Squid Game' series account.

"I was flooded with people tagging me or sending me messages thinking I was the show. I started getting abusive messages from people. People were angry with me because they were mega fans... and thought I took the account from the show. I had to turn off notifications on my Instagram because it was just constant. My phone has been flooded," she said.

Because of the social media users who keep reporting her account and the hackers who are constantly try to steal it, the young woman has started to think about changing the nickname - something she confesses she is unwilling to do, because of the years spent promoting it.

"My SEO [search engine optimisation] is completely messed up now. If you search for me and my brand which I've had for over 10 years... all you get is the TV show," Lydia said.

The 32-year-old is not the first person to have suffered from the popularity of the show. A woman in South Korea was inundated with calls and messages after her phone number appeared in the first episode of the series.

Production companies normally use fake numbers in their films but the filmmakers failed to do this in 'Squid Game'. The woman said she couldn’t change it, because she worked with important clients, prompting Netflix to edit scenes where the number is seen.

The show has also been blamed for injuries among children, who have attempted to take on challenges shown in the series. A 14-year-old was hospitalised with severe burns in Sydney, Australia, after attempting to perform the honeycomb challenge - trying to carve a symbol with a pin on a thin layer of honeycomb without breaking it. The boy sustained his injuries while trying to melt sugar to make the honeycomb.
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