Despite what some people might think, it’s a very tough and very competitive world for influencers out there. In addition to constantly needing to come up with new content, they also have to push the envelope in order to keep their audiences engaged and growing.

Sadly, this extreme behaviour for ‘likes’ recently ended in tragedy for one young internet celebrity.

Last Friday (Jan 22), a Chinese netizen broke the shocking news that a popular vlogger named Sun Yixuan had died after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage. He was only 19 years old.

Yixuan, who had almost 500,000 followers on video-sharing app Kuaishou, was best known for filming himself binge-eating large amounts of food aka mukbang, a Korean term that roughly means “eating broadcast”. Fans also enjoyed his over-the-top behaviour and sense of humour.

According to reports, Yixuan often over-ate and consumed a lot of high-calorie and fatty foods, presumably to increase his popularity by drawing in more curious viewers. Unfortunately, it is speculated that these unhealthy eating habits of his may have contributed to his death.

While there doesn’t seem to be any official confirmation of his passing, netizens have noticed that Yixuan’s page, which used to have new videos every day, hasn’t been updated in over a week. His friends and fellow influencers have also posted heartbreaking tributes on their socials.

Fans are shaken up by the unexpected news, leaving comments such as: “What a pity, I really like him”, “I don’t dare to believe this, I watch his videos very often, how could he pass away so suddenly?”, “The world has lost a bit of sadness”, “I really hope someone will come forward to refute the rumours”, and “Besides wishing for wealth in 2021, we should also wish for good health”.

Photos: Ada_蓝雨/Weibo, Weibo