This year, Anime Riverside took place at the heart of the Inland Empire at the Riverside Convention Center on June 1st and 2nd. Anime Riverside brought hundreds of fans together through fun and thought provoking panels, vendors, voice over actors, and more. One of those panels was “Being Silly Online: Overcoming Insecurities.”
Being Silly Online: Overcoming Insecurities Panel
Host Tyler McPhail along with creators known as Scuba Steph, Girls Got Rhythm, and BrownBakugo, brought fans and creators for a panel on “Being Silly Online: Overcoming Insecurities.” During this panel, they discuss how they got started as well as how they overcame any insecurities and adversities while becoming social media influencers known for their comedy sketches.
Scuba Steph is known for her creative cosplays, most notably her cosplays as fast-food mascots. She enjoys producing silly content and doing fast-food cosplay. Scuba Steph’s character of “Rhonda,” her iteration of Ronald McDonald has become one of her fan favorites.
Girls Got Rhythm (Melissa or Wendy) is also known for her extraordinary costumes. Girls Got Rhythm’s content is centered around “weird, violent, nonsense.” She also plays the character of the fast-food chain mascot “Wendy” alongside Scuba Steph.
BrownBakugo (Jose Estrada) plays a multitude of anime characters alongside his friends, creating videos that make his audience laugh. BrownBakugo’s content is anime focused and having fun with friends pretending to be anime characters.
How did they deal with shyness, and how did they overcome the nervousness of putting themselves on the web?
Scuba Steph encouraged fans to find like-minded friends. She attributes her overcoming shyness to friends who did not embarrass her but instead encouraged her. She also states that although she lost friends because of her content, the friends she gained are invaluable.
Girls Got Rhythm emphasizes that she was extremely shy at the start but by surrounding herself with the right friends, she has been able to achieve what she loves to do. She has hosted panels and creates videos that she genuinely enjoys. She states, “Now I hit people with a baseball bat, and scream, and everyone loves it.”
BrownBakugo still feels a bit nervous when it comes to a live audience (like panels). BrownBakugo states that when making videos, he tries to make everyone feel comfortable and surrounds himself with folks that he can be himself. He also states that it takes time to get over the nervousness but motivates the audience to ask themselves if they love what they are doing and it is fun for them, then it’s worth continuing to do.
Overall, the panelists seemed to reiterate that finding the right group of friends is what helps create the best environment for getting rid of any shyness. The right group of friends will encourage and support you.
How to do the “Silly”
Apart from gaining confidence, a fan asked, “How can we be funny, or how can we do the silly content?”
Scuba Steph inspires fans to just do what they want to do and not care what anyone says. Scuba Steph said, “if you can get over that, you’re free.”
Girls Got Rhythm embraces her “cringe.” She is well aware of the content she is creating and will take advantage of what the naysayers might say.
BrownBakugo advises to “not take yourself seriously” and to not look at the negative comments. People will always have something to say, so folks should just be themselves.
Takeaways from Being Silly Online
Overall, the “Being Silly Online” panel was encouraging the audience to be themselves and ignore the negative comments. The audience seemed receptive to the panelists’ advice. The panelists engaged with the audience and answered all fan questions including the “silly” lighting round questions.
Feel free to check out each panelist’s social media for fun content!
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