As TikTok, Instagram, and other social media platforms grow, different types of short-form content emerge. This can be both a good and a bad thing, as some of the new types of media released these days can be entertaining, educational, or just plain fun.
However, this is a two-sided coin. Lately, a lot of content has surfaced that some users call “brain rotting.” Among the worst of all this “brain rotting” content are interviews conducted with random people on the street by over-enthusiastic influencers.
I’m sure many of you know what I’m talking about. TikTokers will approach strangers, ask them stupid questions, and get stupid answers.
Most of these are fake and made for comedic value (which didn’t work for me) or to serve an influencer’s agenda. Some channels create content where people approach strangers and ask questions like, “Transgender rights or low gas prices?” Or any other question that has conservative and liberal answers (so whichever answer you choose will likely cause conflict in the comments section). Invariably on these channels, the interviewee either chooses the option the influencer wants, or makes fun of the other option when asked to explain their choice.
A concrete example is the most popular Reels on your Instagram channel. Isaboko✰ (@isaboko_). A woman is asked questions about history, and she is approached because of her obvious green hair and typical “liberal” appearance. She answered most of the questions correctly, but the show cut out all the questions she answered correctly and put the wrong answers, so perhaps she and all of her surrogate liberals have no basic intelligence. It probably created the idea that it was missing.
This isn’t to say it can’t go both ways. Many on either side create videos like this. It’s just an easy way to spread misinformation and “influence” the public.
Unfortunately, there are many different types of influencers. Some people interrupt strangers and ask completely unhelpful questions, such as “How tall do you think you are?” I’d say about half of these are well-intentioned questions (like the one asked by our Oldsman), and the other half are either blatantly false and offensive, or just asking downright stupid questions. This is considered “brain rotting” content because it provides no value and is complete drivel with no substance behind it (or even humor, which seems to be the purpose of some content) .
My favorite creator to make fun of this type of content is Scumbagdad. He creates skits that paint this kind of content in a ridiculous light and portray influencers as purposeless content machines, which I think is mostly accurate.
I think street interviews are a good way to get the public’s opinion on a subject, but interviews that branch out into misinformation and “brain rot” are far too frequent to ignore.