Alex Paige Moore, a 29-year-old Australian creator, knows her biggest-spending followers well. In the industry, they are called “whales”, and some can spend enormous sums on her content and attention.
Moore says that, in some cases, the spending ends up becoming an obsession. One of her followers spent around US$100,000 in just five months and was convinced that the two of them would eventually get married. When she made it clear that would never happen, the man even threatened to report her for having “stolen” his money.
Others have sent her messages such as “I’m bankrupt” or “I can’t buy my son birthday presents because I spent everything on you”. Moore says that some continue sending money even after she asks them to stop, simply to get a response.
But what worries the creator most is when the virtual relationship begins to cross boundaries. Some followers become possessive, try to control her actions, or believe they have the right to know where she is and what she is doing.
In one of the episodes that unsettled her most, a fan managed to find out which flight she would be taking and waited for her at Gold Coast Airport. Moore managed to avoid him by telling him that she would actually be traveling to Brisbane.
She also had to change her recording habits after viewers identified where she lived by observing small details in the background of her videos.
Moore acknowledges that these platforms can offer companionship to lonely people, but warns that there is a line that should not be crossed: “We are not therapists”.