Martin and Bex: Wigan TikTok stars speak out against online trolls

The vast world of social media today is often a difficult one to navigate, thanks to trolls, constantly evolving technology and relentless trend cycles. But there’s one couple in Wigan who seem to have mastered it – and are now looking to make it a better place.

Viral TikTok sensations, Martin Clarke and Rebecca Kane – known online as Martin and Bex – started making videos during lockdown and have since amassed 1.3million followers on TikTok and a further 205,000 on YouTube.

Most of their videos involve the pair, who have been together 20 years and have three children together, pulling outrageous pranks on one another, and part of their charm is their down-to-earth nature and fun relationship.

Martin told Manchester World: “We just be ourselves. People started watching us for us and we’ve not tried to change anything. We’re not exactly Instagram models, so we just chuck ourselves out as we are. We could go and get our teeth done, hair transplants, but we’re just us.

“To be honest, I don't know if this sounds a bit corny, but we don't see ourselves as famous at all. When people come up and ask for a photo or want to speak to us, we're gobsmacked that people want to do that.”

Dealing with trolls

While their videos are designed to make people laugh, they still have to contend with the occasional troll. Martin said: “People need to stop. It’s not fair. I speak to a lot of creators and they go through it, they get hurt a lot more than I do. I’m quite thick-skinned, so I don’t let things bother me too much. But I’ve had phone calls from people where they’ve been crying. It’s not good.”

“They will use the word ‘opinion’ to write nasty messages. But there’s a difference between an opinion and being an absolute idiot. And it’s hard to try and get people to stop doing it.

“Somebody said to me: ‘You put yourself out on the internet, you should expect it’. But that’s not right. It’s like saying if I go out in public to a shopping centre, it’s ok for someone to abuse me because I’m out in public. It’s not right.”

“It does have an effect on you some days. Most of the time you ignore, delete the comment, you might block them, but that one out of ten it does. It can catch you on the wrong day.”

Martin added that he believes the big social media companies need to do more to protect the content creators like him, particularly when it comes to repeat offenders. But in the meantime, he has created a network of other content creators who support each other.

He said it was difficult at first because creators with larger followings would ignore his messages. That all changed, however, once his own follower count grew and since hitting two million he has created a “bubble” of around six creators that share tips and advice with each other. He got the idea from looking at American TikTokers, who often help each other out by commenting on each other’s videos and reviews.

He said: “There’s a lot of things that happen within Facebook and other platforms that you can’t quite figure out, someone has always been there before and we help each other out and it works.”

Advice for getting started on TikTok

Aside from dealing with trolls, Martin says that the most important thing for budding viral stars is uniqueness. The nature of viral trends means that, at any one time, numerous creators and influencers will be posting their version of the same thing, so you need a way to stand out, Martin says.

For them, it’s using a signature filter that distorts their faces, as well as high-pitched voices and repeating certain themes – mainly Wigan and pies, Martin said. He added: “We try not to do anything exactly the same, we do it our own way, put our own spin on it, do it slightly different.”

• You can follow Martin and Bex on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.