"But wasn’t this all just a big con? Nakajima had tricked people with a 'cool girl' stereotype to boost his Twitter numbers."

"He hadn’t elevated the role of women in motorcycling; if anything, he’d supplanted them. And the character he’d created was paper thin: Soya had no internal complexity outside of what Nakajima had projected, just that eternally superimposed smile.... But some of Soya’s followers have said they never felt deceived: It was Nakajima — his enthusiasm, his attitude about life — they’d been charmed by all along. 'His personality,' as one Twitter follower said, 'shined through.' In Nakajima’s mind, he’d used the tools of a superficial medium to craft genuine connections. He had not felt real until he had become noticed for being fake.... Nakajima said... he’s grateful for the way [Soya] helped him feel: carefree, adventurous, seen."

From "A ‘beautiful’ female biker was actually a 50-year-old man using FaceApp. After he confessed, his followers liked him even more. The middle-aged father’s big reveal sparked a debate over identity in the Internet age: ‘The only thing I’m creating is … my appearance. Everything else is me’" (WaPo).

ほんとにアップされて
感動してます(⸝⸝⸝ᵒ̴̶̷̥́ ⌑ ᵒ̴̶̷̣̥̀⸝⸝⸝)♡*゜
Thank you everyone https://t.co/bhmGjXwU51

— 宗谷の蒼氷 (@azusagakuyuki) May 12, 2021