We're Out of Time

Sharukh Pithawalla on the Dark Side of Viral Fame

20 min
Apr 23, 2026about 1 month ago
Listen to Episode
Summary

Sharukh Pithawalla discusses the dark side of viral fame, emphasizing that sustainable success comes from building genuine community rather than chasing quick virality. The conversation covers the dangers of extreme content creation, substance abuse in social media culture, and the importance of authenticity and boundaries in online entertainment.

Insights
  • Sustainable social media success requires slow, consistent audience engagement rather than viral shortcuts; creators who chase virality often sacrifice authenticity and mental health
  • The creator economy has created new entrepreneurial opportunities for young people but also incentivizes dangerous behavior and substance abuse for content
  • Pranks and content creation require clear ethical boundaries; reckless content that endangers others reflects poor judgment regardless of engagement metrics
  • Traditional education metrics may be less relevant in the creator economy era, but foundational skills like communication remain universally valuable
  • Many viral influencers lack sustainable talent or skills; platform dependency creates vulnerability if algorithms or platforms change
Trends
Rise of substance abuse content and normalization of drug use in viral social media trendsCreator economy as alternative career path challenging traditional education and employment modelsEthical boundaries erosion in prank and stunt content as creators escalate for engagementMental health crisis among viral creators experiencing rapid fame followed by burnout or addictionShift toward authenticity-based content as audience fatigue with manufactured viral trends increasesPlatform dependency risk for creators whose entire income relies on algorithm-driven visibilityGenerational divide in education value perception between traditional schooling and online learningFentanyl crisis awareness among younger demographics through social networks and peer loss
Topics
Viral content creation strategies and sustainabilityCommunity building vs. viral chasing in social mediaSubstance abuse and fentanyl crisis among young peoplePrank content ethics and safety boundariesCreator economy as alternative to traditional employmentInfluencer mental health and burnoutAuthenticity in online content creationPlatform dependency and creator vulnerabilityTraditional education vs. online learningContent monetization and incentive structuresDangerous stunts and reckless content creationAlcohol and drug normalization in social mediaAudience engagement and parasocial relationshipsTikTok culture and influencer talent assessmentYouth entrepreneurship and digital economy
Companies
One Call Placement
Substance use disorder treatment referral service mentioned in public service announcement during episode
Carrera Treatment Wellness and Spa
Treatment center affiliated with One Call Placement, mentioned in PSA segment
One Method Treatment Centers
Treatment center affiliated with One Call Placement, mentioned in PSA segment
Chipotle
Referenced in discussion of viral prank video where someone stole money and quit their job
Instagram
Social platform where Sharukh shares content and where guest discovered someone who died of fentanyl
TikTok
Primary platform discussed for viral content creation, influencer culture, and algorithm dependency
YouTube
Mentioned as alternative learning platform where young people consume educational content
People
Sharukh Pithawalla
Guest discussing viral fame, content creation ethics, and building authentic communities online
Dylan
Co-host asking questions and discussing viral content trends with guest
Trey Carter
Referenced in viral video where he proposed to girlfriend, slid on milk, and was arrested
Chef Boy Blancs
Viral influencer known for eyes popping out of head content, discussed as example of unique talent
Jennifer Lawrence
Mentioned as example of celebrity in 'celebrity pass' conversation about relationships
Megan Fox
Mentioned as example of attractive celebrity in 'celebrity pass' conversation
Drew Barrymore
Mentioned as guest's choice for 'celebrity pass'; praised for being cool, funny, and kind
Bryce Byron
Artist who created song called 'Drew Barrymore' mentioned during celebrity discussion
Quotes
"You don't build a community by going viral quickly. You gotta gain fans slowly by engaging with them and talking to them and just connecting with their audience."
Sharukh PithawallaOpening segment
"I feel like they want to go viral quickly. And that never kind of works out because you don't build a community by going viral quickly."
Sharukh PithawallaClosing segment
"Being kind and caring about what other people think and how they feel and just being a good person, that never goes out of style."
DylanMid-episode
"You got to set your boundary. You feel me? When pranking people. You're not being spirited about it. You're looking to have a good time."
Sharukh PithawallaPrank ethics discussion
"If TikTok shut down today, how many of these influencers would actually have talent?"
DylanPlatform dependency discussion
Full Transcript
I feel like they want to go viral quickly. And that never kind of works out because you don't build a community by going viral quickly. You gotta gain fans slowly by engaging with them and talking to them and just freaking just talk, just connecting with their audience. If someone has a problem with substance use disorder, please call one call placement. That's 888-831-1581. And if we can't help you, we'll make a referral to someone who can. One call placement is affiliated with Carrera Treatment Wellness and Spa and One Method Treatment Centers. All right, Shirook. Great to meet you, man. Great to meet you too. It's an honor to be here. No, no, man, the pleasure is mine. Believe me, if it wasn't, I would have told you. I watched some of your videos. Where? Gut laughter. Like it was a sterical. What was the one that we watched, Dylan, that I lost my mind over? The milk. The milk. Milk! Milk! You're doing that, dude! Milk! Milks go in everywhere. Like, right? And then he jumps off the thing, slides a little bit when he gets on, right? Yeah. And then he proposes... To the wife. To his girlfriend. Really? Yes! That's a f***! And then he gets arrested. Nah, they really got, bro. Hi, you have a collect call from inmate Trey Carter. It's so funny. It's ridiculous. Man, tell me about it. I've been laughing them while I was editing myself. The one that you did with that other guy that jumped on the counter, stole the money out of Chipotle and just walked out, he quit too. I quit! I quit! I quit! I quit! I f*** you! I f*** you! I f*** you! Woo! Woo! Hey, s***! These good-child support money, f*** you, Jay-Li, and I quit the job. Not for them. Go to emergency. Hello? I'm calling the term myself here. How do you do these things, man? Do you give these guys cash to do this stuff? Uh... Or are we not allowed to talk about that? No, we could talk about it for so. Okay. It's like cash, but it's like... It's like problem... Oh, right, right. So it's like when they... So Dylan, he's talking about when that kid was here and he did that money fan all over and I'm like looking at this. I'm like, this is not even real. That's what it is? Yeah. Okay. So they're just buddies of yours? Or people that want to be in the skit? Not really buddies of mine, they just... Fans of yours? Yeah, they want to be in videos of mine and stuff like that. So I get a lot of requests for people wanting to be in my videos. So if you were going to do a... Just off the top of your head, if you were going to do a skit with me, what would it be? You've known me for five minutes. Well, it depends what it is. It will have to fit for the both of us. I feel like... How about something like I'm looking for a wife on Figueroa, you know, where all the prostitutes are? Yeah. And then, but I'm looking for a wife and I'm just getting just slapped and shot down by all the prostitutes. Would that be funny or no? That would be funny, for sure. I was told that you were deejaying parties and clubs. Yeah. Let me ask you a question. You're out there at the parties all the time, okay? And you're young. You know a lot of people. Do you know anybody who's died of fentanyl? Fentanyl? Fentanyl. Oh, I know like a... Maybe like a couple. Well, I can't remember off the top of my head. Who it was? Who it was? It was this guy, if I hold on Instagram, we met at a party actually like five years back and like the next year, like 2021, he just, someone was posing that he died of fentanyl and I went to his page and I realized, oh, I followed this guy. Cause I didn't really, I didn't really talk to him. I wasn't really close to him. I mean condolences to him, his family and stuff, but... It's the worst, dude. You don't have kids, do you? Yeah. Your parents are proud of you though. They love you to death, right? Yeah. Can you imagine what would happen to them? I mean, if they lost their baby boy, they'd be destroyed. No, they'd be destroyed. More normal. Yeah. Especially when it's on to, she'd be one and same. And that's why I do this, man, because, you know, we all have a good time and I try to, you know, talk about other things than this heavy because it's heavy and it's all the time and this is like my life. So when I do this, I try not... I mean, you're really going to listen to the sad story. If it was all day, every day, all the time, I mean, it's just, you know, you want to let yourself on fire. It's just too sad, you know? All right, let's ask some questions right now. Dylan created some really cool questions. You ever see someone die chasing this content shit, like actually dead, not metaphorically? I should have seen one recently where he got shot during a prank. You're kidding. No, I'm not kidding. Do you know what the prank was? Well, he was like, blamely harassing. That's a different story. Right. Like, you can do pranks, but like, you got to make sure, like, you know, you know where your boundary is with that. Because people can just go overboard to just to get clicks and stuff. And I feel like it's just, I don't know. Me personally, I don't believe in like, root this pranks. I don't believe in the frigging, I watched this prank. It's somebody got a haircut at an NBA game. Like, that's a prank that that's harmless. They got a haircut, what? They got a haircut at an NBA game court side. Uh-huh. Yeah. Shut up. And that was, that was a prank. It was a prank. But that's the, that's like pranks like that people enjoy watching. Now, like the prank that he got shot at was he was putting a phone up to somebody's face, like just recklessly. And then he just, he said stop like three times and he kept doing it. Once he kept doing it, he, he just shot him right here. I pulled out a gun and boom. And he just fell off. I mean, he's still alive. That was gangster though. Like you got to set your boundary. You feel me? Yeah. When pranking people. Yeah. You're not being spirited about it. You're looking to have a good time. You're not looking to make anybody look like a fool. Right? Yeah. That's beautiful. That's beautiful. I love that. Hey man, how do you feel about this? I mean, I, I love that we have a new economy, right? For the young kids that grow up, you don't have to go to a job if you don't want to. This is an entrepreneurial spirit. I'm glad. Holy shit. Yeah. I mean, I enjoyed school, but it's like, I just, bro, like we're, we're ran by this, this repeatable system that everybody falls with school that you need to agree to be successful. And it's just, it's just not the case. No, it isn't the case anymore, especially with AI and YouTube. My kid sits there all day long and just learns all day long on YouTube and with his AI. That's where you learn the most actually. That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Like I don't use math for any single one of my real world life duties. The only, the only thing I really use as useful is English. Right. And maybe like a little bit of history, but that's it. You know how to use a calculator? I don't want to use a calculator, but I can't. That's, that's all you need. That's all I need. That's all you need. That's really all you need. That's correct. Like I don't think I need to solve X the third with parentheses with two multiplication sides of one plus Simon just, you know, Dude, he's a genius. I couldn't have done that. I mean, I know what he's talking about, but I couldn't. That was like, It's just like, it's just like, I'm not a mathematician. I don't need to learn this stuff unless I'm a mathematician. That's correct. That's correct. Feel me like it's, You're a thousand. Dude, I don't, first of all, I don't know math at all. Okay. Unless there's a lot of zeros, then I can concentrate. Yeah. Okay. I'm not a music calculator. Yeah. You know, you ever watch someone go viral just to completely lose their mind a few months later? Bro, that's so, it's so funny that you bring these these up because they'd be happy to recent. Literally last night, this girl was showing me this crater that only goes wrong for drinking alcohol and he posted on his reels and he just drinks alcohol by himself. And then he's what's iconic and his parents took him to rehab. So he stopped posting content, but he was one viral for like doing that. It's just finding weird because like, I don't know, people do weird shit for the internet. And this is like, like, there's, there's a million other ways to go viral and gain a community. You know, it's just like, I feel like they want to go viral quickly. And that never kind of works out because you don't build a community by going viral quickly. You got to, you got to gain fans slowly by engaging with them and talking to them and you know, just, just freaking just talk, just connecting with their audience, not just going viral. You know, what's funny is like, I don't understand any of that because I'm not from that world, but I do know that being kind and caring about what other people think and how they feel and you know, just being a good person, that never goes out of style. And if that is the kind of thing that you do, if that's the way you operate in the world online, okay, then I think people will appreciate it and people gravitate to that and like, no, good, well, let's hope so. Cause that's all I got. Yeah. A guy just sits there and drinks himself. Like, he's just, he posts the same videos of him drinking day one, day two, three, three. It's, it's just like. But why would people watch a guy who just sitting there drinking, like is somebody going to watch me drinking this coffee? I think the fact that it's alcohol makes it stand out. Wow. Cause nobody can relate. That's bizarre. Yeah. Yeah. They can't relate to a guy sitting there. Just drinking and drinking himself. Yeah. So they just watch it and be like, what is he doing? That you know what? There's a lot of truth to that because an alcoholic would never watch that. Yeah. Not too busy drinking. All right. Do you think people would rather be miserable and famous than peaceful and unknown? I know what my answer would be. People would be famous and this, I think this is a tough question. I feel like, honestly, miserable and famous for sure. Because I feel like, I don't know. A lot of people like, they don't act like themselves on camera. So like they have to portray a certain image to go viral and deep down the side is like, I'm not this person. And they know, they, I feel like they feel like they know that if they act like themselves, they won't go viral. So reality is like, you can be yourself and go viral at the same time. There's so many people that have been doing that. I think you made that choice because in your head, you were saying, no, I'm going to be famous and I'm not going to be miserable. Right? I think that was part of it. No. Was that, was that going on in your head? No, it was. Yeah. Yeah. What if I just asked myself my own questions on there? Dang, man. Let me see that real quick. Yeah. All right. So look. All right. So if TikTok shut down today, how many of these influencers would actually have talent? We'll go with you and they'll all go. Would actually have talent? Would actually have talent. Yeah. There'll probably be 20,000 people jumping out of windows. Because basically he's saying, there's a lot of people on TikTok that dance, do POVs, and then they don't consider that real talent. So like if TikTok was shut down, how many of these influencers would actually have talent? Zero. Okay. My answer is 10%. 10% my ideal answer. Because like TikTok, a lot of people are just like pretty boys, pretty girls that just like to dance and just freaking just like go and just play with their whatever. Anyways, and some of them aren't even great dancers too. I don't know why the fuck they're trying to dance to go viral. And they're asking themselves, why am I not going viral? Bitch, you can't dance. You want to go viral with dancing, you have to be a really great dancer. Or a shitty dancer. Oh, really shitty dancer. Yeah. But that's when people start clotting you and you go viral that way, if that makes sense. Oh, they clown you. If you're a really shitty dancer. And that's not good? I mean, whatever they want to think is good is up to them. But I'm just saying like, if you're a really shitty dancer, they're going to call you for being a shitty dancer. Then if you're the best dancer, then they're going to be like, oh, I'm G. Dude, I've got a guy on here that was on here for his eyes popping out of his head. I don't really think people care about why they. I think I know who you're talking about. Yeah. Chef? Yeah. Chef Boy Blancs? Yeah. He's the best. He's insane. I'm not mad here that I'd met. You guys are really like at first I was like, oh, God, we're in so much trouble. These kids are so stupid. It's painful. And then you guys get here and I'm like, no, no, I was actually the stupid one. These kids are wonderful in a lot of ways. Okay. Like in a lot of ways, you guys are much more advanced than we were. You know? Yeah. When was the last time a girl, a beautiful girl, okay, that you wanted to be with? Okay. Said she was like everything was vibing, right? But she wanted to do drugs first and she wanted you to partake in the drugs first, whether it's ecstasy or cocaine or pills or whatever. When was the last time that happened to you? So last year, I was DJing a festival. This girl that I happened to know was there. And then so I was DJing and stuff like that. And then she was just behind me the whole time just vibing and stuff like that. And then after that, I was like, like, is this the, are you trying to start over or what? Because we, you act like we didn't have something like, she's like, hey, can you come to the bathroom with me? I'm like, why? And then she was like, I thought it was like, you know, what we, what all guys think it is, but she wanted me to try coke with her. I'm like, nah, I can't do that. I never done coke. So did she do it? She did it with another guy because she, I wouldn't do it with her. I'm not tripping if I don't get this girl. It's not an issue. I've dealt with a lot of other girls. It's not, this girl's nothing special. She's just another beautiful girl. I just can't lay my eyes on. So she was like, come on, do coke with me. Like we shouldn't waste a perfect night like this. I'm just like, bruh, there's so many ways to have fun without doing coke, but you got it. She was like, okay. And then she kind of like, we kind of didn't talk after the rest of the night. Who's your cheap pass? That I could just always go back to. You're with a girl? Yeah. You're with a girl. Oh, if I'm with a girl. If you're with a girl. And I had to choose someone to cheap with. You get, and you work it out with her. You don't know. Tell them about the cheap pass. Is this just a me? I kind of understand it. Like an exception to. You're with a girl? Yeah. And you go, who's your favorite actress? Jennifer Lawrence. That's an excellent choice. She's so cool. Yeah. Okay. I mean, I used to be, but I still, she, I still think she's bad. She is. She's the greatest. I mean, that would make me a pedophile, but she's great. Now this girl is your cheap pass, right? And you tell your girlfriend up front, hey, if I ever run in to Jennifer Lawrence, you can't hold that against me. Megan Fox. Megan Fox. Megan Fox. Bro, she was bad. She still is. That's a beautiful one. It's a beautiful one. Who's your cheap pass? Is my cheap pass? Yeah. I'm not with anybody right now, but if I was, who would my cheap pass be? Oh, without question. Without question. Drew Barrymore. Would be my cheap pass. Drew Barrymore. Yeah. Is that right? Yeah. Why is that? She's the coolest. And she's funny. She's kind. She's beautiful. She's interesting. And she was in the best movie of all time. You know there's a song made of her? What? Called Drew Barrymore. Stop it. It's by, what's his face? Let me, that's by Bryce Byron. I listened to this recently, but I'll send it to you because I don't want copyright issues. Yeah. Oh, good. Good. Yeah, send it to me. I'll send it to Dill. Yeah. She's just a cool girl. I love that girl. It's everybody loves that girl. She's like lovely. The best movie of all time. You know what it was? What was it? 51st dates. 51st dates? Wait, let me first date. Let me, let me see if I, oh my God, it's such a good movie. So that's the girl you will break the barrier with with the other girl. That's the, that's the cheap pass. Yeah, it's cheap pass for sure. Where can people find you, Shrook? So you can find me on Instagram at Shrook. The rest of my socials you'll see on my Instagram. So, and besides doing is going to link that anyway. So you'll find me on the description of the video. And yeah, thank you. Hey, Richard, my dog. Dude, that was the best time. This was a legendary podcast that we're doing today. No man, it was, it was fantastic. Talk show. See you next Tuesday. See you next Tuesday. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.