Her dancing endorsement made her a brief social media star. Then one revelation saw her followers abandon her. Photo / Twitter
Her dancing endorsement made her a brief social media star. Then one revelation saw her followers abandon her. Photo / Twitter
A woman who became an internet darling after a video of her seemingly endorsing a presidential candidate has lost tens of thousands of her new followers after revealing more than her political opinion.
The woman, who goes by the name Neekolul online, went viral with a video of her dancing to a song featuring the "OK Boomer" meme while wearing a shirt endorsing independent US senator Bernie Sanders – currently fighting Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination ahead of the 2020 US presidential election.
The video has since been viewed more than 16 million times.
As the video began going viral, many posters online quickly became enamoured with the partnered Twitch streamer's beauty, detailing their struggle to not engage in "simp" behaviour in response to her posts.
A "simp" is a person – usually a man but not always – who tries to attract women by acting subservient and submissive, or "simple".
The relatively new term is rising in popularity as a sort of update to classics like "nice guys" who are usually anything but and "reply guys" who consistently respond to a woman's tweets with overly familiar or suggestive comments.
As the label is still in its infancy, people are yet to decide whether "simp" is a fitting insult for guys who think they're entitled to attention from women as a result of basic decency or politeness, or a misogynistic term to shame men who treat women with respect, or "just not like trash", as described by online men's magazine Mel.
Thousands of her new followers abandoned Neekolul after learning she had a boyfriend. Photo / Twitter
In the case of Neekolul, it appears to be the former, after she revealed one detail of her life that saw many of her new "simp" followers abandon her.
After surging in popularity on Twitter after posting the video of herself dancing in her Bernie shirt last week, Neekolul lost close to 65,000 followers in the space of 48 hours after revealing the 78-year-old senator isn't the only man in her life.
Neekolul responded to the "simp" behaviour in a Twitch stream saying the criticism wasn't warranted and she couldn't understand it.
"When someone is talking about guys 'simping' for a girl, I just don't understand what's wrong with like, worshipping a girl," she said.
"There's nothing wrong with that okay … girls deserve to be worshipped. Not saying specifically me, but girls should be worshipped. It doesn't mean you're a 'simp', simping isn't bad, simping is king sh*t. You're a king if you're not afraid to simp," she said, to the relief of some.
In the emerging politics of "simp behaviour" the case of Neekolul could soon prove a catalyst, but it's unlikely her stance will do much to convince the thousands of "simps" who have already unfollowed her.
Whether or not her revelation that she has a boyfriend will damage Bernie Sanders' chances of clinching the Democratic nomination remains to be seen.
Their sickening levels of "simping" could potentially be alleviated by Sanders' proposed plan for universal healthcare, but it's likely many of the "simps" who followed and then abandoned Neekolul are not in the US, or old enough to vote anyway.
