The American Dream and the Price of Going Viral

Addressing my internet trolls...

Friends,

It’s been a remarkable month in America.

Not only have I had the once-in-a-lifetime privilege of seeing my country compete at a World Cup, but I’ve also had countless incredible experiences and met so many kind, generous and welcoming people.

On top of that, my social media content has been viewed more than 120 million times over the past month. For a content creator, that’s genuinely life-changing. I am truly grateful for every single one of you who has supported my journey so far.

With that attention has also come a darker side.

Around 99.9% of the interactions I’ve had have been wonderfully positive. Unfortunately, the remaining 0.1% seem to consist of a particular breed of internet sleuth who have convinced themselves that I must either be a CIA asset (please...) or some kind of scammer.

So, for the sake of having one place to point people in future, I thought I’d address it properly here.

I arrived in America in mid-June for the World Cup full of excitement, but also carrying a fair bit of anxiety.

Normally, when I travel, I have a reasonable idea of what things will cost and whether I can comfortably afford them.

This trip was different.

Before I’d even stepped foot on American soil, I’d already put an eye-watering amount on my credit card. At the time, I genuinely thought it might take me years to pay back.

But I pressed the YOLO button because opportunities like this don’t come around very often.

Thankfully, thanks to those 120 million views - and thanks to all of you watching -everything has worked out.

More than that, this trip has reignited a dream I’ve held for years: to one day move to America permanently, build a life here, contribute in whatever way I can, and pursue my own version of the American Dream.

Now, about the trolls.

I’ve always been fairly good at ignoring them.

Years ago, there was a guy absolutely convinced I’d secretly had a botched hair transplant and I had colluded with the surgeon for other imaginary nefarious purposes. I actually miss this troll a little as he’s been gone for a few years. I hope he’s okay. For the record, I have never met a hair surgeon, nor have had a hair transplant. Perhaps I need one now though!

Back then, I could laugh it off because the negative voices were tiny in number.

This time feels different.

The reach I’ve unexpectedly had seems to have attracted some of the internet’s darker corners. People who believe everything must be a conspiracy, that nothing good can happen organically, and that every positive story must have some hidden agenda.

Some are simply looking for attention.

Others, I suspect, are just determined to prove they’ve uncovered something nobody else has.

Normally I’d ignore it, but I’ll admit something.

Over the past week it’s genuinely caused several sleepless nights.

Not because strangers disagree with me - that comes with putting yourself online - but because people began digging into my personal life.

They’ve trawled through more than fifteen years of YouTube videos searching for “gotcha” moments. They’ve looked into where I live, my family, my personal life and even my day job.

The fact they also started investigating my family and my clients - where I work as a fractional marketing director - crossed a line for me, and ultimately led me to shut down my LinkedIn account.

I have nothing whatsoever to hide, but that doesn’t make it pleasant.

So the sleepless nights end here. Whenever this drama inevitably resurfaces, I’ll simply point people to this newsletter.

These are the two main accusations that keep getting repeated.

1. “This isn’t your first time in America.”

No s**t, Sherlock.

I’ve had a public YouTube channel for well over a decade documenting my travels, including multiple trips across America. I was even publicly made an Honorary Citizen of San Antonio, Texas, for goodness sake.

If you Google my name, you’ll probably find those videos before you find anything else.

While I was flying to America for the World Cup in early June - literally on the plane - I edited and reposted three of my favourite videos from an old Texas road trip.

I thought they might warm up my audience before the tournament started. I also used admittedly loose language that tied into the excitement surrounding the World Cup, and perhaps this is my greatest Sin through all of this.

Did I think any of those videos would explode and end up being shown on national television? Absolutely not.

What conveniently gets ignored is that the 50-plus videos I posted after arriving for the World Cup were all brand-new, original content documenting this trip.

Apparently, because those first three videos were reposts, none of the rest counts.

If that’s the biggest “gotcha” people can come up with, I think I’ll survive.

Interestingly, this wasn’t even hidden. During my first week in America, a reporter from one of the world’s biggest news organisations specifically asked me about those videos, and I explained..

2. “The GoFundMe is a scam.”

No.

I’m incredibly grateful that people have supported me. In fact, several viewers encouraged me to create the GoFundMe page in the first place.

Long-time followers will know I’ve spoken for years about my ambition of obtaining an O-1 visa so I can live permanently in America.

The process is expensive.

You need an experienced immigration attorney, and even then there are no guarantees. Yes, you can find lawyers who advertise lower prices that what I’m targeting. Somehow, the trolls believe this is reason alone to discredit me.

Equally, there are highly regarded firms with strong track records that charge significantly more. Once legal fees, filing fees and other costs are added together, the total can realistically reach $15,000–$20,000 or more. Be assured that I’ve investigated this, thoroughly.

Even after spending over $700 on initial consultations with different attorneys, I still don’t know exactly what my final costs will be.

Yet somehow these people - none of whom are actually supporters of mine - expect a penny-by-penny budget before the process has even begun.

Ironically, none of the people who have actually donated have demanded that.

Another accusation is that because I flew back to America shortly after returning home, I must have spent the GoFundMe money to do this.

That simply isn’t true.

For the record, I haven’t yet withdrawn a single cent from the GoFundMe, and I will use the GoFundMe platform functionality to provide updates to backers.

Every penny will go towards my visa application.

There are also parts of content creation that people simply don’t see. When your content reaches a certain scale, opportunities start appearing. You’re invited to events. Brands invite you to experiences. Sometimes those invitations include travel or tickets.

Sometimes you’re paid to attend. Whenever I enter into commercial partnerships, I disclose them exactly as required by the platforms.

I always have, and I always will.

Several of FIFA’s corporate partners have hospitality allocations and tickets.

When I was offered opportunities to attend later stages of the World Cup through commercial partners, why would I turn down a genuine once-in-a-lifetime experience?

In the end, I couldn’t make the Quarter Finals because of logistics, but I will, of course, disclose any relevant invites when the content is published, just as I always do. I will be attending the Semi Finals, and potentially the Final as well.

Similarly, Icelandair kindly partnered with me to provide flights between Scotland and America on this trip.

There’s another side to this world that I’ve almost never spoken about. As your audience grows, a tiny percentage of your viewers turn out to be incredibly successful people.

Occasionally they reach out with astonishing acts of generosity - offering accommodation, inviting you onto boats, recommending places to visit, or simply helping make your trip easier. I think they do this mostly because they want to show me the best bits of the places they live.

Most of them ask for absolutely nothing in return. In fact, many specifically don’t want any recognition or public acknowledgment, for obvious reasons. It feels crass to share these details, so I don’t

The trolls are demanding a cent-by-cent breakdown of my expenses. To be honest, I already know that NOTHING I say will satisfy them, and they’ll want to keep the clicks going for as long as they can. One of them has literally gone viral on the back of my name, which is astonishing to me, but is part of my new reality.

And as a side note, most of these trolls are not American. I’m looking at you England flag man!

To be honest, I already feel I’ve shared far more than I normally would and feel that I need to. I don’t believe I owe anonymous people on the internet an audit of my life.

But when people start questioning my character, investigating my family and clients, and building viral content around my name, I felt it was worth putting everything in one place.

I’m enormously grateful to every single person who has watched a video, left a comment, shared my content or supported me over the years.

America and Americans have been incredibly good and kind to me.

The people I’ve met here have changed my perception of the country in the best possible way, and I hope I’ve managed, in some small way, to show another side of America to the rest of the world too.

That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do.

My promise is simple: I’ll keep telling honest stories.

I’ll keep celebrating the people and places that make this country special.

And, wherever possible, I’ll keep trying to put a little more positivity into the world.

Yours truly,

Shaun