Aaron Yeung is not concerned about his digital footprint. 

Yeung, better known on social media as “ADrizzy,” is a second-year business administration major from New York. Widely regarded as a Northeastern campus celebrity, Yeung takes every opportunity he can to film a comedy video, often making a public spectacle of himself in the process. His TikTok persona “ADrizzy” has amassed 8.3 million likes as of Nov. 18 and gained a combined audience of more than 150,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok. 

Yeung first started using social media in middle school when he would sit on his couch for hours with his brother watching Vine compilations, which inspired him to start his TikTok account. From the beginning of his social media career, Yeung had only one goal: to make people laugh.

“When I create content, I want to replicate that feeling to other people,” Yeung said. “I want people to laugh as hard as I did at Vine videos, and maybe they don’t, but it’s cool.”

Yeung has been creating content since he was in seventh grade, but said that he didn’t expect that his platform would grow to this size. At the beginning of his social media journey, his videos were mainly scripted comedy sketches. It took about two years of posting for one of his videos to reach over 500 views. 

Now, he frequently gets recognized from his TikToks on campus and around Boston. Yeung recalled the first time a video of his reached over 1,000 views.

“I remember the first ever comment that wasn’t from my friend said like, ‘OMG, this is crazy.’ I was like, ‘Yo, like someone actually commented that. That’s crazy. Someone [who is] real commented that,’” Yeung said.

In the years since, his content style has shifted toward more spontaneous, unscripted videos. No moment is too mundane for Yeung to turn into a funny video — he will approach strangers in the grocery store, vlog while crossing Huntington Avenue and sing in a crowded car on the Green Line. 

Ethan Kim, a second-year business administration major, met Yeung through the N.U.in program in Portugal, where they spent their first semester. Kim is often the cameraman behind Yeung’s videos.

“Every single second we walk around campus, someone goes up to Aaron and goes ‘Can I get a picture?’ or ‘Oh, I love that guy!’ or ‘Oh my God, are you ADrizzy?’” Kim said. 

Yeung’s creative process is simple: When he comes up with an idea, he starts filming immediately. He said he hates to miss an opportunity for a video and does not mind the silence that follows after he puts the camera down.

“After I stop recording, I just stand there,” Yeung said. “I literally just stand there, put my AirPods in. I listen to music. I just pretend it never happened.”

In a TikTok posted Sept. 21, Yeung filmed himself in a crowded Green Line car. 

“Man, oh man, is it a packed train in here tonight,” Yeung said in the video. “It’s a little hot in here, but it won’t stop us from partying. Isn’t that right?” 

Yeung held his phone camera up to reveal a silent and unresponsive audience. As he deboarded the train, he attempted to fist bump a man, but was only met with a blank stare. The video gained 5.4 million views and nearly 900,000 likes. 

The loud and outgoing persona Yeung shows on social media is generally who he is offline, too, said his friend Rathi Kolappa. Kolappa, a second-year data science and business administration combined major, met Yeung through mutual friends during the second semester of their first year.

“When I first introduced myself and met him for the first time, I immediately thought he was the funniest person ever, genuinely,” Kolappa said. “One thing that I do specifically like about him is that all of his jokes, none of it is rude, none of it is derogatory or weird. He’s just funny, and it’s all positive, which is kind of rare to find, especially on social media.”

Though his humor shines through in his content, Kim and Kolappa said viewers do not get to see Yeung’s more serious side and his commitment and genuine care for his friends. 

“If there’s ever a serious topic at hand, he is always there to talk and he is genuinely such a nice guy,” Kolappa said. “It’s not just surface level.”

Yeung said he does not fear rejection or embarrassment. He does not psych himself up before filming or worry about people’s perception of him. When commenters ask him how he musters the courage to do what he does in public, he said he just does it.

“You could call it courage, you could also call it stupidity. But most of the brazenness that comes from my filming definitely comes from not really worrying too much about other people’s judgements,” Yeung said. “I feel like when I was younger, I cared a lot about what people thought of me. And eventually, I kind of grew out of that phase, and I think I was a lot more free because of it.” 

Yeung said that his time online has taught him that “everyone only cares about themselves,” which has allowed him to be unafraid in his content creation. 

“Even if [people] say that it’s cringy, embarrassing, whatever, it’s more a reflection on them than on yourself,” he said. 

When it comes to how his digital footprint will impact his search for co-ops, Yeung believes his internet presence could be an advantage to help him stand out as an applicant for marketing roles. Just in October, his Instagram reels garnered close to 8 million views. 

“Seventh-grade me, who had this aspiration of creating content for fun, would never ever believe in a million quadrillion years that like, 8 million people … watch my videos,” Yeung said. “That’s insane.” 

Yeung said he is considering branching out to other platforms, like Twitch or YouTube, in the future. But for the time being, he just wants to make people laugh.