Just about Dotan

To get straight to the point: I am writing this voluntarily. Yes, that has become quite a thing in the last week when it comes to the singer Dotan , but I am not part of a troll army. Even though 'troll army' sounds very Frodo-and-the-ring-like, admit it...

Our app starts buzzing with the thud on the mat from the Volkskrant and the ping from the mailbox, a screenshot, link to Blendle; everything is being forwarded. It's about Dotan. With bated breath, I read every point, comma, and reference about his troll army, the girl on the plane, the sick child with leukemia. And the first thing I think is: this can't be, this doesn't exist, not Dotan. Could it really be?

It remains silent in Dotan's camp, too silent. There is no statement, his Instagram remains unmoved and it all feels a bit awkward. Until a video appears on Facebook in which he confesses. Sometimes with a detour, but he confesses. The fake profiles, a fictitious support base, it's true. And that's why he joins RTL Late Night wearing a gigantic apology cloak, which I really watch with clenched cheeks.

After Humberto has scolded Dotan three times and says that we can now doubt everything, you could have shot me. I know that now, Humberto. They even pushed an Inside-my-bones victim of Dotan to the table, to give you a knot in your stomach, she feels hurt because she honestly told her story. And Dotan? He takes it, admits it, and nods. It was wrong and he should never have done it. By the way, is it just me or was that table of Humberto suddenly very full? I could be wrong, of course.

Dotan wanted to get his music more in the picture, hence the strategy and his ‘street team’. But honestly... It's no secret that influencers use quite a few strategies. Following, unfollowing, there are even secret like societies and comment pools, and if they don't do it themselves, they have an army for that. Is that different? Is it different now because it's Dotan? Do they all need to sit at the table with Humberto? Does he need to tell them all for fifteen minutes how wrong what they do is? Yes, made-up stories belong in fairy tale books, that's where you need to intervene, especially if a leukemia patient is being fantasized about. Dotan should have done that when the story went viral. But Dotan is really going to get the blow now, should we all keep kicking him in public? The pillory suddenly doesn't seem so old-fashioned anymore and I get a bit of a sour taste from that.