Most Torontonians between the ages of 15 and 30 have most likely heard of the social media account 6ixBuzz. Created by two college students in 2017, the account shares Toronto news and memes. They are also quite present in the Toronto hip-hop industry. The company has surely become a hit, boasting 2.4 million followers on their main Instagram account alone. In many ways, this was what the youth of Toronto needed. It is not the norm for many young people to switch on the news channel or read the paper every morning, so this was a perfect way for them to be in the know about their city. However, the 6ixBuzz account has also been subject to much controversy over the years.
Since its launch in 2017, the 6ixBuzz comment section has become a breeding ground for hateful comments and heated debates. While the account may not explicitly display their opinions, they do find ways to show their viewpoint. They often post many memes with racist, sexist, or homophobic undertones. Their news reports are always captioned with an open-ended question such as “What y’all think about this??”, followed by a series of emojis that are intended to incite reaction. Often, they post about certain topics knowing that they will spark a response, notably their ongoing anti-Brampton sentiments. What was seemingly playful banter at first has escalated into xenophobic and racist comments. Seeing how much traction they gain, the account continues to release these posts.
One of their most viral blunders is their post concerning Markham restaurant, Wuhan Noodle 1950. At the beginning of the pandemic, the restaurant took a hit because of baseless allegations that they were spreading the COVID-19 virus. In a now-deleted post by 6ixBuzz, a photo of the restaurant was captioned with “@ W Must Order Lunch Here.” For context, COVID-19 originated in the city of Wuhan, which the restaurant was named after. The post garnered over 8,000 comments, many of which contained anti-Asian rhetoric. There were countless accusatory messages, claiming that this restaurant was selling food that triggered the virus. In an interview with the Toronto Star, the owner of Wuhan Noodle revealed that they had lost two-thirds of their customers since the post was shared.
An example of a more daily occurrence on their account is their recent post about Victoria’s Secret’s new line. They reported that the brand was “done with prioritizing ‘wokeness’ over ‘sexiness‘” in response to Victoria’s Secret’s recent inclusive line of lingerie and the debatable failure of this launch. What does this have to do with Toronto, though? This is a question that is raised with many of 6ixBuzz’s reports. The post triggered fatphobic comments, which was expected. 6ixBuzz has seen this before, as they often release memes or news of a similar nature and notice how much discourse and attention they receive.
If better executed, 6ixBuzz could be very beneficial to Toronto youth. After all, the account began with good intentions; to give a voice to underrepresented youth in the city. And to an extent, they were successful. Their showcasing of the underground music industry gave exposure to artists of colour that were otherwise finding it difficult to make a name for themselves. 6ixBuzz was doing what many news outlets were failing to do: adequately representing marginalized communities. Traditional news outlets often struggle to connect with these communities properly. 6ixBuzz allows young people to see themselves and their experiences reflected in the media. If the company did not fall so short, it would truly be what youth in this city want to see.
