A TikToker documented her breakup in real time as thousands watched along. The ordeal went viral, but also led to unforeseen consequences.
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Cassidy Pleasure Watson went on a romantic getaway together with her ex-boyfriend 4 days after they broke up.
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Watson advised Insider she’d already signed a contract to movie it for TikTok, so that they “went for it.”
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However going viral for posting a couple of breakup led to a wave of followers weighing in on her private life.
4 days after ending a three-year relationship, 24-year-old Cassidy Pleasure Watson discovered herself at a romantic resort consuming a forkful of fluffy pancakes. She was sitting reverse “probably the most beautiful” views of Waikiki that she, a lifelong Hawaii resident, had ever seen, and diagonal from her now-ex, Jake White. It was the primary day of a three-day staycation.
Watson, a TikTok creator with about 380,000 followers on the time, advised Insider she had already signed a contract to create content material for the Twin Fin Resort resort the place they have been staying. (A consultant for the company representing the resort confirmed the partnership in an e mail assertion to Insider.) White — her long-time plus-one and, after a lot follow, her finest content material creation accomplice — had agreed together with her that it was finest they not rock the boat with last-minute adjustments.
Couple content material on TikTok is vastly common. As Watson put it to Insider, “individuals like to see individuals in love.” However making your relationship publicly accessible places “a variety of eyes” on it, and that focus comes with pitfalls. Once you finish stated public relationship, you might really feel — or be, by invested viewers — compelled to share the main points of your individual grotesque heartbreak publicly, too. For Watson, this led to a wave of virality she by no means anticipated.
Finally, Watson deactivated her TikTok account and retreated farther from the magnifying glass of public life. (Her Instagram account, whereas public, is markedly extra distanced than the once-casual candor of Watson’s TikTok). Nevertheless, whereas Watson has since opted out of TikTok, fully deactivating her account, stitches and display recordings of her breakup clarification and staycation movies stay on-line.
She declined to touch upon the explanations behind her sudden disappearance from the app, however did share with Insider the backstory behind her viral second, which took her unexpectedly — and led to some unexpected penalties.
Watson’s TikTok concerning the couple’s uncommon circumstances wasn’t supposed to go viral
Watson and White launched into a sardonic relationship-post-mortem staycation on the time — a plot hardly ever seen outdoors of the rom-com style — alongside different coupled influencers and honeymooners.
Their resort room had separate beds — by luck, fairly than by design, Watson advised Insider — and the pair ate at romantic, dimly lit dinners, loved “wonderful platonic sunsets,” and splashed round pristine blue waters. White filmed picturesque, aspirational content material: Watson reclining on a poolside cabana in a swimsuit and sipping from a branded mug in mattress.
“Once you and your boyfriend of three years break up however you already signed a contract to create content material at a resort collectively,” Watson’s on-screen textual content learn over a December 13 sizzle reel of tropical vistas and cute-couple content material set to a sped-up model of SZA’s “Kill Invoice.”
Initially, Watson stated, the video was meant primarily for her mates. Nevertheless it blew up, finally garnering greater than 5.8 million views.
As a viewer herself, Watson knew the worth of sharing a breakup story
After going viral, Watson adopted up with one other ironic TikTok montage on December 15.
“Not like my ex,” Watson stated in a voiceover, “the resort actually went out of their technique to make me really feel particular … one of the best a part of this journey was undoubtedly the breakfast at their coconut Membership Lounge. They’d scrumptious meals and, very like the flip my relationship took, a full 180-degree view of Waikiki.”
“I spent most of this trip simply taking in these breathtaking views,” Watson continued, “and exercising self-control to not throw my ex off the balcony.”
On the time, Watson advised Insider she felt pissed off by web {couples} who publicly publish their relationships however do not in the end share public explanations of why they broke up. “I am nosy,” she defined. In avoidance of her personal pet peeve, Watson had initially “needed to present a extra actual, uncooked clarification.”
And after many messages from viewers telling her she had a “good” relationship they needed to emulate, she stated she felt compelled to set the file straight.
“All the lovable stuff that you just see in movies, they’re actually simply snippets of our relationship, and, on the finish of the day, we’re each adults and we’re communicative with one another, and I do not thoughts sharing the messy components of my life on-line too,” Watson stated.
Watson stated her ex does not have a giant social media footprint of his personal, however he had turn out to be a constant function of her content material. A lot in order that she addressed their breakup in a TikTok on December 14, suggesting the connection ended after an try at nonmonogamy.
As an invested viewer of different extremely seen on-line {couples}, Watson may relate, on the time, to those that felt invested within the parasocial actuality of her personal life.
Watson’s relationship had first gone viral for a TikTok “spotlight reel” of clips of the couple’s relationship set to the Coldplay tune “Yellow.” She stated she obtained an inflow of messages from strangers like “you are dwelling my dream” and “that is what I would like in a relationship.” And, in the long run, it additionally felt necessary and related to replace these viewers {that a} relationship may look that method and nonetheless finish.
“These massive gestures and people issues that you just see on the web — it does not essentially imply {that a} relationship goes to work out without end,” she stated.
The pair realized a public breakup can result in a harsh or overly simplistic response
When her TikTok concerning the breakup gained traction (it was considered greater than 3.5 million occasions earlier than her account was deleted) she stated she advised White it was “getting loopy,” and browse among the feedback to him, noting that she “tried to filter out the actually gnarly ones.” Finally, she stated, White began fielding private calls from family and friends who’d realized, through TikTok, of the breakup.
En masse, Watson stated, commenters appeared to leap to take her facet — “I needed to delete so many feedback as a result of they have been completely attacking my ex.”
Within the weeks after the video went viral, Watson responded to feedback, placing rumors that it was a ploy for views to relaxation and explaining why feedback like “‘woman, it’s essential transfer out,” oversimplified her scenario.
“The housing market in Hawaii may be very troublesome,” she advised Insider on the time. “I am looking for a viable place to hire. It’d take a bit longer than I would like.” In the end, Watson did not wish to be bumping shoulders together with her ex within the kitchen — and the crush of viewers have been liable to strip such nuance out of her real-life expertise.
Quick-forward a few months, and Watson’s TikTok account not exists. The place there was as soon as a direct line between Watson and a whole lot of hundreds of followers — filled with sun-bleached Hawaii content material, day-in-the-life vlogs, and the reward of a mini-putt golf course her now-ex arrange in her front room — there’s now an “error” web page.
However, as Watson and many others have realized on social media, when you could possibly management the content material you publish, you possibly can’t management the response. Watson may go away the app, however her breakup stays immortalized on the web without end — a value that will not be price paying as a way to fulfill the curiosity of followers.
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