Pestered, filmed and not left alone: How stranger danger went viral

Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. One Twitter user argued: “Super insane how someone can film you for 30 seconds and post it and end up turning you into some kind of internet figure against your will.” Another added: “The fact that he kept hovering near their group even after he saw one of the girls clearly wasn’t feeling it.” One person simply posited the idea that “we’re officially in a black mirror episode”. “People’s brains are so broken now that they’re arguing that existing in a public place means you are implicitly agreeing to be touched and filmed by strangers and to have your emotions and reactions posted online for a million people to laugh at and psychoanalyze,” one person tweeted. There are now countless popular creators like him, whose content revolves around approaching strangers: the tag “approaching random people” on TikTok has more than 6.2 million views alone. But I’ve had more of the most insidious kind recently,’ says George Lou Bon This has also been the case for Molly*, 55, who has had several severe incidents of public harassment since the pandemic, including being complimented about the shape of her body in a pair of gym leggings while walking to work.