Risks for Clicks: Why Online Influencers Push Shock Content

In 2021, Trevor Jacob, a former U.S.Olympic snowboarder, flew a 1940 Taylorcraft plane far above the hills of Los Padres National Forest in Southern California and made a decision he would spend years wishing he could undo.Cameras he had mounted to record his flight for an online audience captured him announcing that the plane had engine trouble before he bailed out.A camera attached to a selfie stick he held recorded him parachuting safely to the ground, while cameras fixed to the plane captured it slamming into a hillside.He posted a 13-minute video on YouTube titled “I Crashed My Plane,” which amassed some five million views.

As it turned out, it was a confession.Federal investigators later determined that the plane had never malfunctioned: Mr.Jacob had staged the crash, hoping for online fame.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

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