Why This Streamer Might Be the Future of International Diplomacy
10 April 2025 | Written by Parker Floris
YT: SpeedUniverse | iShowSpeed's First Time in Beijing China! 🇨🇳
What does a billionaire TV host and a 20-year-old kid from Ohio have in common?
They both wield more diplomatic soft power than entire government tourism boards.
In 2010, Australia flew Oprah and 302 audience members down under. The result? A historic tourism boom, even as the Aussie dollar was at a record high. Now, 15 years later, it’s not talk-show hosts but live streamers drawing global crowds—none more impactful than IShowSpeed.
George Burns from Oprah.com
He isn't just a streamer—he's a one-man international spectacle.
Darren Watkins Jr.—known as IShowSpeed or Speed, has mastered the art of IRL streaming. While others peacefully broadcast from their desks, Speed turns cities into stages. And the crowds? Think Michael Jackson or Beatlemania. Speed has easily garnered hundreds of billions of impressions throughout his relatively short career.
But it’s not all fun and games
Despite never announcing his location, mobs of fans materialise even before he goes live. In Norway, he needed a police escort to escape a souvenir shop where he twisted his ankle, and fans ripped out his hair. Now he has numerous bodyguards wherever he goes, and he even does car switches and hires a body double to lose fans.
This is similar to what we learnt from our documentary last year with Tim Hayden and his former-military bodyguard Sheldon Boyajean—who pre-calculated exit routes, knew the closest hospitals and had an emergency backpack ready for anything. Even Tim who is successful in his own right, but has nowhere near the attention of Speed, was found in seconds in Sydney. As a result, he has often with Sheldon had to engage in evasive driving manoeuvres to shake people off their vehicle.
Further, the danger of IRL streaming was exemplified earlier this year when major American streamers Valkyrae, Cinna and Emiru were harassed and threatened by a random man on the street—that forced them to literally run away, end the stream and call the police.
Streaming is not for the faint of heart.
On a lighter note,
Speed just completed his tour through the Middle Kingdom—exploring numerous cities around China, collecting well over a hundred billion impressions in the process.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Because Speed may have just redefined how the world discovers itself.
It is estimated that Oprah brought at least 140,000 additional American tourists to Australia. Speed is likely to bring far more than that to China. His breakout 17-country European tour garnered over 2.5 billion views on his pages alone. Throughout the trip, he met the prime minister of Albania, featured local celebrities, and now most importantly—changed the narrative around entire nations.
With China, Western media often ignores their technological innovations and economic prosperity, while Speed’s streams showed a nation of hyper-modern subways; drone-delivered KFC; jumping, swimming and flying cars; and eccentric crowds embracing his presence. His genuine awe at underground WIFI and these futuristic vehicles became viral moments. The Chinese Embassy in the US even retweeted his clips, and used it as an opportunity to highlight their nation’s visa free access by certain passports.
YT: Live Speedy | iShowSpeed Explores Shenzhen, China!
He became a soft-power asset. By accident.
All of this was achieved in a country where YouTube is banned. To broadcast, Speed either gained government-level whitelisting or used a VPN that dodged China’s Great Firewall. When his stream clips hit Chinese platforms or were ripped directly live, millions watched. And Speed even wondered aloud what the concurrent viewership numbers on YouTube would be if these couple million viewers on BiliBili, Sina Weibo and Douyin could access the platform.
Before this, he broke the YouTube record for most viewers on a solo stream with one million while live in Indonesia. But for China, these are rookie numbers.
It is no surprise that if he is recreating Karate Kid scenes with Actor Zac (Zhenwei) Wang, playing table tennis with Olympians and performing on a massive stage in front of a live crowd with iconic local artists—that he would receive the attention he has—especially as an American celebrity. A demographic who rarely ventures to the continent, with the exception of the NBA.
YT: Live Speedy | iShowSpeed Explores Chongqing, China!
This power Speed has to revolutionise a nation’s image and grow his audience in these rarely explored regions, I first discovered when I met Jack and Paige Aynsley in Japan in March of 2024. They are a travel creator duo that while don’t film live, also let the camera roll, and are phenomenal at engaging the locals around them—embracing and sharing their culture.
HOW IT IMPACTS YOUR FUTURE
Speed is part of a new breed of creator—a cultural conduit. Like Oprah before him, he makes countries visible. But unlike Oprah, he doesn't need a network, a production team, or government permission. Just a phone. A SIM card. And a fanbase willing to keep up.
This is a seismic shift:
Tourism boards used to pay for attention. Now they beg for a cameo.
Media coverage isn't dictated by the views of a western Oligopoly—or Hollywood misappropriation.
Coincidently as this was being written, US Vice President JD Vance in a public interview referred to Chinese citizens as “peasants”—showing just how outdated, and how much of a naïve superiority complex the west can possess.
Meanwhile, millions are watching Speed embrace Chinese culture in a way we have only seen in those overproduced travel cooking shows from the 2010s.
YT: Live Speedy | iShowSpeed Explores HonKong, China!
WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
1. Rethink influence.
Size of production is no longer representative of size of influence. Oprah needed a studio. Speed needs a charger.
2. Pay attention to the “IRL streaming economy”.
Streaming saw a boom during the pandemic as people had nothing else to do but consume media content. Since then, global viewership numbers have decreased, but the top streamers have begun finding their stride—like Kai Cenat who regularly features the biggest A-list celebrities on his stream.
3. If you’re a creator—travel.
There are plenty of creators who sit behind their desk and repeat what has already been broadcast elsewhere. But sometimes the world needs some first-hand accounts of its monumental achievements and cultural intricacies.
4. Don’t ignore the cultural shift.
Whether you’re a startup, a tourism board, or just someone trying to understand the world in this new era of media, IRL creators are now shaping what people feel about your country and your product.
FINAL THOUGHT
So, what do Oprah and IShowSpeed have in common?
They highlighted previously hidden gems. They blurred borders. They made millions dare to explore.
The only difference?
Oprah had a multi-million-dollar campaign with thousands of support staff and national production crews.
Speed had a camera man, couple bodyguards, and a WiFi signal that didn’t drop in the subway.
Who do you think is the future of media distribution?
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