On TikTok, a woman named Pinkydoll with a thousand-yard stare faces you, undulating just enough to let you know she’s alive. Her chants now echo across the internet.
“Ice cream so good. Gang gang. Yes yes yes. Wow you got me feeling like a cowgirl. Gang gang. Ice cream so good.”
It’s a new trend that has popped up on the internet over the past few months: live-streaming yourself on TikTok while saying strange phrases robotically. During the streams, fans pay to leave the creators monetary tips, and as a tip shows up as an icon in the comments, it prompts the creator to respond. For instance, when you pay for a tip and leave an ice cream cone icon, she says, “Ice cream so good,” and if you pay for a “GG” icon, she says, “Gang gang.” Her robotic tone imitates something called an NPC, or non-playable character, in video games.
It’s the latest evolution of virtual tipping on the internet, and it sits at the intersection of gaming culture and sex work. Here are answers to some questions you might have.
