Never Post Lolcows and the Internet's "Digital Freakshow"
Mar 26, 2026
Dr. Jess Rauchberg, assistant professor and researcher of internet culture, studies lolcows and online spectacle. She traces how vulnerable creators are provoked and monetized in live-streams. She links these dynamics to medieval freakshows, platform design, text-to-speech instigation, algorithmic ableism, and the need for protections and creator labor rights.
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Lolcow Defined As Exploitable Internet Persona
- Lolcows are internet personas perceived as highly exploitable and intentionally instigated for entertainment.
- Jason Oberholtzer describes Gothic King Cobra and Josh Block as streamers who are pushed to escalate behavior by audiences and pranksters.
Passerby Shouts Trigger Public Meltdown
- Jess Rauchberg recounts a live stream where a passerby shouts "put the fries in the bag" and the streamer bites and threatens the person.
- The shout is meant to provoke and viewers cheer, showing how in-person interactions escape the forum into real harm.
Digital Freak Shows Mirror Medieval Spectacle
- Contemporary lolcow dynamics echo medieval freak shows and the role of the 'natural fool' who entertained communities while being marginalized.
- Rauchberg links historical spectacle to modern platform-mediated exploitation and lack of creator agency.