Sébastien Delorme is not an influencer, he is more of a TV guy. However, the 53-year-old actor has been turning a lot of heads on social media for the past few days.
Taking advantage of a week of vacation in Florida, the new Quebec sex symbol ventured onto TikTok and dared to publish short, flirty videos in which he flashes lots of naughty smiles against a backdrop of inviting music.
While the media season is in full swing, the actor has been able to take advantage of the real buzz media hype that it generated to publicize the launch of the third season ofIndefensiblea daily show broadcast on TVA in which he plays the lawyer Léo Macdonald. Appearing on the radio show It’s 4 o’clock somewherehe claims to have been caught in his own game by “returning[ant] in the famous algorithm, in the machine.” But precisely, beyond the actor’s gentle eyes, how can we explain the digital engagement he arouses? And above all, what lesson can the Quebec television industry learn from this unexpected publicity stunt?
Soyons clairs, les vidéos publiées par Sébastien Delorme n’ont rien de bien original : il s’agit d’une forme de contenu très populaire sur les réseaux sociaux qu’on appelle des thirst traps, des vidéos destinées à susciter la convoitise sexuelle. En fait, si l’acteur a si bien réussi à capturer notre attention et à séduire l’algorithme de l’application chinoise, c’est peut-être justement parce qu’il a su reprendre les codes propres à TikTok, sans chercher à faire de la télé. En entrevue à l’émission On va se le dire, diffusée à ICI Radio-Canada Télé, le comédien souligne d’ailleurs les différences qui opposent les deux environnements médiatiques : « [Sur TikTok]it’s not the same kind of language, not the same interest.” However, this is the language that you have to speak if you want to break through on the platform.
A fundamental ambiguity
THE thirst traps by Sébastien Delorme embrace the codes of the web, in particular because they reproduce the ambiguity inherent in all the stagings that circulate there. Thus, many people wonder if the actor is taking himself seriously or if he is simply orchestrating a good joke. What you need to know is that we find this ambivalence in many videos that circulate on the networks, in that it is increasingly difficult to determine the nature of the content that we consume. On TikTok, for example, comedy sketches are often put on the same level as sincere testimonies.
To carve out a place for themselves on platforms that contain an algorithmic feed, creators must attract people’s attention as quickly and for as long as possible. And they are ready to do anything to achieve this: provocation, appeal to rage, irony, role play. Distinguishing truth from falsehood sometimes even seems futile. From now on, it is the confusion that exists between reality and fiction that becomes a source of entertainment.
This ambiguity also sparks engagement among Internet users. In a participatory culture, the public competes in creativity to solve the mysteries they encounter. Take a look at the Quebec gossip forums on the discussion site Reddit, for example. Theories about Sébastien Delorme abound: he would use his videos to win hearts, he would have a hidden agenda, he would plan a collaboration with a sunglasses company, etc.
In addition to encouraging participation, the actor’s video format is memetic, in the sense that it encourages imitation. It can thus be taken up and parodied endlessly. In fact, this is what comedian Matthieu Pepper was quick to do. Inspired by Sébastien Delorme, he also published his own thirst trapcollected laughter and in turn enriched our Quebec internet heritage.
Look at the thirst trap by Matthew Pepper
Bridging the gap with TV
Following the interviews he gave, Sébastien Delorme has since clarified the motivations that pushed him to put his sexy videos online. In the middle of the cultural back-to-school season, he claims to have played the sex symbol on TikTok to recapture an audience disinterested in traditional media. And in my eyes, he succeeded, because thanks to him, I went to watch Indefensible for the very first time! It must be said that his thirst traps appear in a context of crisis, at a time when Quebec television is reaching fewer and fewer young people.
As I mentioned in a previous column, we often agree that social media compete with Quebec television, but we forget to consider how the two media environments can work in synergy to allow broadcasters to attract younger viewers, a demographic they have been neglecting for years. However, we cannot simply consider social media as additional broadcast channels. As Sébastien Delorme discovered, we must open ourselves to a new culture and its own codes.
Read the article “The generation that shuns our TV”
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