I love when my enemies hate me': how Hasan Piker became one of the biggest voices on the US left

"Hasan Piker calls it the bus driver test: You get on a bus and you have 30 seconds to explain whatever online phenomena took place to the bus driver without them looking at you and going, Get off the fucking bus.' Most online discourse, no matter how heated, fails the test, he says not least an incident last weekend, when someone on a Dublin street asked to take a picture with Piker, then held up a picture of his dog and shouted Free Kaya!"

"Piker finds himself in this in-between space more and more these days. Until fairly recently, the 34-year-old was familiar only to the very online, especially Americans in their 20s and 30s, largely thanks to his presence on the streaming channel Twitch, where he has three million subscribers. But since Donald Trump's election, Piker has become an in-demand voice in the real world for his views on the beleaguered political left, and especially that inordinately fretted-over demographic, young men."

"But they also hate the fact that Piker tall, muscular, fashionable and handsome is far too alpha to fit lefty stereotypes. He has not been afraid to leverage his henchness in shirtless, sometimes even trouser-less, magazine photoshoots or selfies on his socials, generating articles such as 30 sexy pics of Hasan Piker that prove the only thing that is hotter than his takes is his bod."

Hasan Piker uses a "bus driver test" to illustrate how most online discourse cannot be explained quickly to an offline stranger. An encounter in Dublin — a fan holding up a dog picture and shouting "Free Kaya!" — exemplifies the gap between online meanings and offline recognition. Piker grew from a niche Twitch presence with three million subscribers to a visible real-world voice on the political left after Donald Trump's election. He draws ire from the political right for his outspoken views, Turkish Muslim background and ties to progressive politicians, and he also provokes attention for his muscular, fashion-forward image and provocative photos.

Read at www.theguardian.com