Twitch streamer Lydia Ellery, known by her handle SquidGame announced on social media that she is considering changing her handle because of its likeness with the Netflix show. The gamer said that she has been facing a lot of trouble for sharing her name with the hit Netflix series. Many have accused her of stealing the show’s name for personal gains. Her account has also been blocked several times for being misunderstood. Now even other companies have refused to employ her because of her brand name, which she created well before Squid Game was a thing.
The Korean TV series became a viral sensation overnight after its release on September 17, 2021. It tells a story of a group of desperate people forced to play children’s games with deadly consequences for losing. Lydia on the other hand has been using Squid Game as her name on Instagram and Twitch since 2010.
Twitch Streamer Faces Online Abuse and Hack Attack for Her Brand Name
The twitch streamer reported that she has been facing hate and abuse from the fans of the show. Some even took her as a show itself and bombarded her Instagram with messages as Netflix’s Squid Game was not on the social platform. The streamer mentioned that she was stressed after hateful messages constantly accused her of taking the account from the show. Lydia had to turn off her Instagram notifications to ignore the attitude of Squid Game fans.
Her accounts became infamous and she was kicked out of them multiple times and asked to change her password. Many reported her account and also tried to hack in. The streamer reported that she received countless emails with notifications that other people were trying to access her account. The frustrated gamer saw no choice but to let go of brand name, which she had built up after a decade of hard work.
Why Companies Have a Problem with her Name?
Besides live-streaming, Lydia also does some advertising and presenting work which is now getting affected. The twitch streamer was not entirely sure why she was losing work but she got the hint after learning about the Netflix show’s dark undertone.
She speculated that the problem could be related to the promotion of another brand, especially the show. The companies she was supposed to work with probably did not want to promote her handle’s name because of unbridled violence in the Netflix show.
It can be due to the perception that the majority of viewers would immediately think about the TV series whenever they heard the name Squid Game.
Squid Game also Screwed Up her SEO
Abandoning an existing brand identity for a new one is quite a monumental task considering for how long she has been in the business. A TV show on the other enjoys short-term popularity that mostly dies down after some time. So, it is not clear if sacrificing her handle is an ideal decision but, the problems she is facing are quite serious.
Her channel’s search engine optimization is also messing up since Netflix launched Squid Game. Whenever someone searches Squid Game on a browser, all they get is content about the Netflix show and she is nowhere to be found. Netflix uses its social media accounts to promote Squid Game, which can also influence the search engine to prefer showing its content on the main pages.
Squid Game received over 140 million households of multiple viewers on Netflix within 1 month after launch. Lydia on the other hand has about 40,000 followers on the Twitch streaming platform and is also a part of the entertainment company Yogscast, which has more than 7 million followers on YouTube.
