Has the life of an unexpectedly popular ordinary person changed?
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “Web surfing notes” (ID: djyjs0219), author of the surf pigeon.
The small fist he clenched has nothing to do with refueling and success.
A little guy clenched his fists, licked his lips, and looked at the front with a strong look.
In August 2007, when 11-month-old Sammy Griner (hereafter referred to as Sam) was playing at the beach, her mother, Laney, just captured a photo.
This photo was later uploaded to the photo sharing platform Flickr by Laney. In just four months, Sam’s image was circulated to various websites and forums, and many people rushed to imitate his style in the photo. Netizens interpret Sam’s cute look in several versions, among which the “Success Kid” representing positive energy stands out.
In the blink of an eye, 12 years have passed, and Sam has just finished his 13th birthday.
For more than a decade, “Successful Kid” is still a favorite expression package for netizens. But what’s interesting is that behind the photo of “Successful Kid”, there is actually no relationship with success, and the truth is in the details of the photo.
“I put a Sam on the beach, he will grab the sand and put it in his mouth. The beauty of this scene is that I caught the moment he was putting the sand into his mouth, if you Look closely at this photo and see the sand around his lips and hands.” Sam’s mother, Laney, explained this in a recent interview with foreign media.
But this does not prevent the popularity of Sam’s photos.
When CNN described this photo, it called Sam “probably the most famous baby on the Internet.” In 2013, the White House Twitter also used the “successful kid” to make a picture to express the importance of immigration reform. This tweet has caused people’s heated discussion.
“Providing $897,000,000 for taxpayers through immigration reform
As Sam’s photo spreads more and more, Laney gradually realizes that his son’s image is not only its fun side, but also has evolved some versions of defamatory and sabotage, and it is widely spread.
“I hate sandcastles”
Laney said in some interviews that she began to worry about this. Although Sam’s image is basically dominated by “successful kid”, the creation of netizens beyond their expectations still makes her faint. So Laney began to take ownership of the photo and hired someone to handle the photo license to protect her and her children.
After that, Sam’s photos began to appear in advertisements for companies such as Vitamin Water and Virgin Mobile. This behavior is considered by many netizens as Laney is using and consuming his own son.
At 2012 at the Network Culture Conference ROFLCon, Laney was invited to a seminar on how to raise a star child. In the discussion, Laney explained that she started to authorizeThe reason for the son’s image. In the face of netizens’ allegations, Laney said that this is not unexpected. She believes that there will be more people who like the image of “successful kid”. She believes that more people will be happy from her decision.
“(The son is popular) I don’t regret it at all, I never imagined it all, but it was a great experience.”
“Successful Kid” has become a network star, and in reality, Sam is still an ordinary child. When he grew up, he was busy with school, loved games, liked superhero comics, opposed President Trump, and did not feel any strange about the identity of his online star. “Most of the time I don’t recognize me, I don’t seem to have any similarities with my childhood.”
Sam doesn’t remember the scene when he took this photo, but netizens still remember him, and so the crowd raised his father’s life.
Sam’s father was diagnosed with kidney disease in his early years and has been doing dialysis for many years. In 2015, Sam’s father faced kidney transplants, and his family’s economic problems could not afford his surgery and medical expenses. Laney had no choice but to launch crowdfunding for her husband on the Internet. On the GoFundMe page of the crowdfunding website, Laney uploaded her family photos. It was not long before the netizens recognized the “successful kid” in the photo.
After being recognized by netizens, Laney sent the crowdfunding page link to Twitter, and in just 6 days they raised $75,000.
After the medical expenses were raised, Sam’s father successfully performed a kidney transplant, and now he does not need to have kidney dialysis. The Sam family is so healthy and healthy.
Laney and Sam are very emotional about what happened. They didn’t expect the moment that they left with the camera, they would be loved by thousands of netizens, and they wouldn’t expect the netizens’ love for “successful kid”. Help them through the storm.
“I am very happy that my photos can help my father, although I don’t understand why this is the case.” Sam recalled that this experience is still very aggressive.
At mother LOn aney’s social account, we can clearly see this child who has been famous since the baby, and still lives in an ordinary and healthy life. It seems that in addition to raising medical expenses for his father, it is difficult for him to find out what his fame can do.
Sam himself admits that some people will recognize him because he is concerned about his mother’s social account, and Sam will be asked to make a photo on the “Successful Kid” photo.
Although he didn’t understand why he impressed netizens 12 years ago, he did it according to people’s requirements.
“This is really cool, but it has no effect on my daily life.”
But this unique experience made him curious about the Internet world, and he was born to become an Internet video author.
Unlike many young children who are famous, Sam doesn’t seem to be traced by fame.
Laney said more than once in an interview with the media that their family is an ordinary person, “and we will continue to live as always.”