by Google
Adam Štrba is one of the most prominent young creators on social networks. In the interview, he revealed how he got to Telerán, what his participation in the show Love Island brought him, and how he handles attacks and hateful comments. He also speaks openly about relationships and male-female issues.
How are you?
I'm fine, I'm just about to start filming. September has started, so it's pretty busy.
How was your summer?
Good. I usually spend my summer somewhere scattered at every festival in every country, so scattered, but otherwise completely fine.
How and why did you start creating for social media?
I started because Oskar Barami, with whom I worked as waiters, called me and said, "Come make some vlogs for me" because I'm such an extrovert, and I wanted to see if I could do his vlog. So we became friends and then he convinced me to make my first video. At the time, I was a courier, delivering food, so in my free moments when I didn't have anything to drive, I would make TikToks in my car. I really enjoyed it, so I made and added more, and it got to the point that I ran out of first collaborations. That's when I realized that I could make use of it and that I could make a living from it. So I started doing it full-time.
Are you still an extrovert?
Very much. Probably as extroverted as possible, although it is true that the older I get, the less extroverted I become, but I am still a big extrovert.
Has that changed even though people started to get to know you?
Well, sometimes it's a lot, but it hasn't changed. I still like to chat with people who come up to me, unless I have something else to do.
Do you think you get a lot of hate on social media?
In my opinion, quite a lot. Mostly it's more or less just because I exist and that I'm probably more affected than most people. I like to laugh, shout and use intonation, which many people don't do, for example, or that I have embarrassing videos. However, I don't think I'm doing anything wrong socially.
Do you feel the hate in real life or only on the internet?
Sometimes in real life, but rarely. It's mostly on the internet.
A few days ago you added to your storku that someone beat you up because you're an influencer. Can you say something about that?
Of course, I can. It was like he already told me two months before, before it happened, he wrote and sent his friends to me to come out in front of the business and that he was waiting for me there. Of course, I ignored him at first, but then he came to me in the bathroom and started shouting at me. It was obvious that he knew me from Instagram and was shouting things that were being said about me on the internet. Then it escalated, he kept coming back, coming back, coming back and then it turned into physical contact…so actually if I wasn't an influencer and if he didn't know me from the internet, then the conflict simply wouldn't have happened at all. He probably had me figured out for some time.
And how are you dealing with it?
I'm totally fine. He then wrote to me and basically apologized, and asked if we could chat when we meet somewhere and so on. I guess that's part of it and it's to be expected that when I have those benefits, I will also have disadvantages.
The fifth season of Love Island is about to start, you participated in the fourth season. What did this experience give you?
It was a great experience, it also gave me some friends and it certainly helped me in terms of numbers. I saw it there that it helped me in the media. But most of all I had fun there, it's a perfect experience, that's what I would probably say the most is that I really enjoyed it.
And was there anything different than you expected?
Probably just that there wasn't a girl who I really liked and who I would say to myself ,,wow, that's her!". That's a shame, no.
Before becoming an influencer, you worked at Telerán. How did you get there and what did you do there?
A woman who worked at Telerán wrote me an email saying that she thought I would be a good fit and that I should apply. So I wrote a cover letter, sent my resume, and they called me for a camera audition. At the same time, the editor-in-chief told me straight away that they weren't looking for anyone new, but that at least they would have my audition in the database.
But after the camera auditions, she finally told me that she liked the way I was and that there would be a place for me. That's where I found myself.
Would you go back to working in television?
No, I wouldn't, because of the early morning hours, but the team and the work were great. I couldn't handle the early morning hours, though.
You said in a podcast that women don't respect men, and it went viral, Reelsko. Do you still stand by that opinion?
So...I stand by the opinion that some women do it. I'm not saying that all women, we don't have to generalize, nor am I saying that men respect women. First of all, it should refer to the fact that I often feel in that society that women have such a privilege that they can be bothered by everything, while a man, when something bothers him, is oversensitive.
For example, I can handle it, I can handle everything, I just think that I should also be able to tell when something bothers me. What I mean is that I don't think that women step on men, but not as a man who should be able to stand up for himself, but when a woman wants me to listen to her, she should be able to listen to me too.
Do you think that many women lump all men together?
Yes, definitely, men are always only interested in sex and women are never interested, women are always the good ones, women stick together and such statements seem to me like... a man may be cool and he may not be, a woman may be cool and he may not be, so it's individual. I've also had a woman scold me for little things a few times, but if something bothered me, I was oversensitive or shouldn't have been jealous.
And how do you perceive relationships today? Do you think it's hard to find a partner?
It's probably harder than it used to be, because now we have a lot more choice. Like in a store, when they have apples and bananas, you choose, but when they have everything from apples to pitahaya, it's harder to choose what I want, haha. The number of people you can come into contact with on social networks and the internet is simply so huge that it's harder to choose and people will always feel that something better could come along.
Do you think that social networks have changed our standards by only seeing the perfect people on the internet?
I think it depends on how critical a person is of their surroundings and how much they are focused only on social networks. For example, I personally do Instagram, but I don't feel like I have everything idealized, because I try to live in a normal world and my primary life is outside of social networks. It's stupid when even those influencers or those people who operate on social networks and follow them start to feel like that's the bigger reality. I don't share most things from my private life on the Internet, I share it with my friends, I don't choose women on the Internet, I choose them in real life. So, in my opinion, it depends on whether a person can distinguish between social networks and reality.
In the podcast with Laura, you were interested in what it's like to have your period. Do you think that men are sufficiently interested in these women's topics and maybe vice versa, whether women are also sufficiently interested in men?
That again varies from person to person. There are men who are completely hooked on it, there are women who are completely hooked on it, there are men who are interested in it and so on. In my opinion, those things should be taken into account, but most importantly, I don't need to know everything about those women, but if I had a partner, I should know her problems. Men should understand this, but they don't have to be interested in it and know exactly what's behind it biologically. Let's talk about it, let your partner be able to buy his girlfriend tampons because he knows what kind she uses and let him be considerate of her.
There's a lot of talk about body positivity, body image and the fact that you shouldn't comment on your figure among women. Do you think that guys are also concerned about their figures and that men are more open to you?
I understand what you mean. Body shaming among men has never ended in my opinion. When I tell a girl that she's gained weight and I mean it in a good way, that she should do something about herself, it's an insult. Of course I understand it, because I can knock her self-esteem, so I'll respect that, but I get the fact that I'm short on a daily basis. So, in my opinion, women are more considered when it comes to pointing out imperfections. But again, I'm not that sensitive and a guy has to deal with that.
Another thing is that men perceive the visual side of their woman much more and perceive it more critically, in my opinion. I'm not saying that women often have an idea of the perfect man, but they are willing to go below it if the man is good by nature. While a man has a certain level of how he wants a woman to look visually, and if a woman doesn't meet that, in my opinion he is less willing to adapt. Men are much more superficial in this than women.
If we go back to that work, what product would you never collaborate on?
So the classics, like financial markets, crypto, casino, nicotine products, insurance and things like that.
If you had an unlimited budget for some collaboration, what would you do?I would travel the whole world. Normally, a trip around the world.
And what are your plans in terms of your work, and any of your own?
I want to move to Prague, that's kind of my life plan now. I hope I can do it by the end of this year or the beginning of the new year. As for my work, I'd rather not say it, because those are things that if I say, someone will take it away from me or it won't work out. I've already learned that every time I've said something, it didn't work out in the end, so I'd rather not say it.
