A gamer has described the impact that sharing her online name with Netflix show Squid Game has had on her life and business.
Speaking to the BBC, Lydia Ellery, 32, who has been known as Squid Game on game streaming service Twitch for more than a decade, said companies now associate her with the show, meaning that she loses business and that she has also been subjected to online abuse by the show’s fans.
“For me it was just a silly name I thought up on the spot,” she said. “My friends called me squid because it rhymes with lid, and my name is Lydia,” she said.
But following the success of the show, which follows a group of characters playing deadly games for the chance of winning a large sum of money, people now think she is associated with it and she is considering changing her online moniker as a result.
“I’ve received a lot of hate from the fans and I’ve been turned down for work because of it [the name],” she said.
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“I guess it’s the connotations of the show - it’s a very violent show, maybe it’s that?”
Looks like I might have to change my handle after all. I've lost 2 amazing presenting opportunities because people don't want to hire me with my "squid game" handle. This is really getting me down now.
— Lydia (@SquidGaming) November 2, 2021
She said that, because the show doesn’t have an official Instagram account, she was flooded with people tagging her or sending direct messages thinking she was the show.
“I started getting abusive messages from people. People were getting 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,” she said.
Lydia has been on Twitch and Instagram as Squid Game for 11 years, and as SquidGaming on Twitter. She has 42,300 followers on Twitch and is also part of Yogscast, a collective with more than seven million YouTube subscribers.
She added that she’s been kicked out of her accounts several times and been asked to reset her password because people have tried to hack them.
She also said Squid Game the show is making it hard for her to stand out when people search the term on the internet.
“If you search for me and my brand which I’ve had for over 10 years... all you get is the TV show.”
“I feel down about the whole situation and incredibly fed up,” she said.
