Pokimane Posts Alleged "Boyfriend" And Viewers Take It Personally

Pokimane recently posted a TikTok of her and her neighbor going to the gym together, but viewers believe there might be more to it.

Pokimane neighbor
Pokimane posts about going to the gym with her neighbor and people hate it | © Pokimane

A recently posted TikTok by streamer Pokimane showed her neighbor, and people took that personally.

The First TikTok That Went Viral

The video people are talking about is relatively simple: Pokimane, also known as Poki or Imane, goes to the gym with her neighbor. She quickly films him standing in a door frame and then adds a few clips of both of them working out.

@poki

his daily workout vs my pms workout lol

Take My Breath - The Weeknd

It is truly nothing groundbreaking, the type of content that influencers post daily, but her fans seem to think otherwise. Since the man shown in the video is conventionally attractive and looks to be about her age, many viewers don't believe that he is "just her neighbor" – they believe the young man and musician known as Sunkis must be her partner.

Female Streamers And The Rise Of So-Called Simps

Streamers put themselves out there every day, streaming whatever game they are playing live and chatting with their audience in real time. This often inspires the most delusional people in chat to believe they actually have a personal relationship with the streamer.

This parasocial behaviour is generally very problematic. But in the case of female streamers it can be especially off-putting as they frequently have people in their chat genuinely believing they might have a chance to potentially be with her romantically. Donations, subs, reactions to their messages and more can therefore become fuel for these people, who are often referred to as simps.

A video of someone they interpret as competition spending time with their favorite female streamer is therefore pretty much the worst thing that can happen to them.

Shocking Reactions To The TikToks

While the reactions to the TikToks Poki posted with her neighbor were not all negative, a lot of them, especially on Twitter, were blaming her for having simps in the first place. Instead of focusing the men who spend a lot of money trying to get noticed by their favorite female streamer, suddenly she is getting accused of only creating content that generates these kinds of viewers.

But there are also a lot of users expressing disgust towards the reactions some other people are displaying. They reference how many female streamers don't even bother talking about personal relationships anymore, since that will always just disrupt their own peace.

Just like any other woman in the world, female streamers too have the right to spend time with guys without people immediately assuming there is more to it.

What do you think about it? Let uns know in the comments.

Kristina Capin

Kristina studies Sociology and English and discovered her love for writing and societal topics as a child. When she got into first-person shooters and eSports as a teenager, two passions collided that she can now hardly separate....