What started out as just a photo of a 16-year-old cashier at Target grew into a viral Twitter sensation. “Alex From Target” started out with a mere 144 Twitter followers, but since the beginning of his “fame,” he’s received roughly 732,000 followers and counting. He’s been featured on the Ellen Show, and is regularly visited by teenage girls while he’s bagging groceries at Target. Alex had no idea he was Twitter famous until after the photo of him had gone viral, and his manager had showed him the original Twitter post. Along with more than 100,000 Twitter followers, his Instagram has blown up with roughly 2.4 million followers as well.

But why is he so famous? He could be famous just because of his looks. It seems that in today’s society, if you’ve got good looks, you have more privilege than others. If someone is physically attractive, they get more attention. For example, free things given to them at gas stations, strangers being more polite to them, or in Alex Lee’s case, internet fame. His fame could also be caused by teenage girls or boys mindlessly scrolling through their Twitter timeline, not even paying attention to what exactly they’re re-tweeting or sharing with their followers.

Unfortunately, there is also a dark side of his fame as well. He more than likely expected it, however, when he found out he was internet famous. “Alex From Target” and his family have been receiving death threats and things alike from people who don’t agree with his fame. Personal information of Alex’s, such as his phone number, social security number, bank account numbers, and phone records have all been leaked to the public. He may not be famous for any particular reason, but that’s no excuse for invading his privacy or sending out death threats to him and his family. Alex was not aware of his photo becoming a well known internet post until after he had received nearly 100,000 Twitter followers, so why should he be blamed for something he had nothing to do with?

Shortly after finding out he was a Twitter sensation, he tweeted to his many followers, “Am I famous now?” and that tweet received 42,000 re-tweets and was favorited by 86,000 users. Alex has been offered to appear on dozens of talk shows, such as”Good Morning America” and E!, but he humbly turned them all down. According to the New York Times, Alex hopes to one day travel to Asia and help children who are trapped in the sex trafficking business. Alex From Target seems to be a regular teenager with a regular job and a regular life, despite being the hottest trend on Twitter. Even though some people don’t agree with his fame, he hasn’t done anything wrong by being internet famous. But now, since he’s become a Twitter trend, he can share his run-of-the-mill life with all of his followers.