Trevor Rainbolt is yet another 23 year-old with 2.3 million followers on TikTok. His peculiar talent is identifying the precise real-life location of any Google Street View photo in less than a second on the free online game Geoguessr. Wholesome, right? And a bit weird. But because this is the internet in 2023, even this harmless, obscure skill has the power to upset everybody. When a less famous TikTokker called Casketpaint posted a video “gatekeeping” (i.e. keeping secret) the New York cafe where he’d just scoffed a delicious bagel, Rainbolt tracked the cafe down. The two men engaged in a bit of good natured online teasing and the cafe owner re-named the sandwich after Rainbolt. But the internet doesn’t do “good natured online teasing” and fans of Rainbolt (who is white) promptly set about savaging Casketpaint (who is Black) with racist and homophobic abuse. Heavy sigh. On the upside, if you’re ever peckish in Lower Manhattan, we understand the egg and avocado sandwich at Bagel Market is excellent.
Photograph Trevor Rainbolt/Instagram
