Hello. I am Graduate Student Slave No.06 (@grad_slave06). I upload a series titled “Gradually Breaking the Lab Behind the Professor’s Back” on Instagram. Over the past two months, these videos have accumulated more than 56 million views and gained around 16,000 followers— many Instagram users have probably come across them at least once. Many similar videos, derived from my content, have appeared, spreading as a new trend.

Before starting, I want to make things clear. Every piece of content is created with my advisor’s prior approval. The objects shown as “broken” are either items that can be disposed of without issue or entirely staged props. Nothing in the videos compromises the safety of the research environment.

Anyone who has seen the videos probably wondered: Who is this person, and why did he start an account like this? In this column, I want to talk about how this account began—and what I hope to do with it.

Actually, the “Gradually Breaking” series was not my original idea. The first video that inspired me was “Gradually Breaking the CEO’s Car Behind His Back.” On day 1, the creator simply tapped the car tire timidly with their hand. Despite its timidity, the video reached around 2 million views. I realized something important: you don’t need an elaborate concept or fancy editing skills to capture people’s eyes.

That evening, the idea popped into my head: As a graduate student, what if I broke the lab instead? Labs are unfamiliar and closed-off spaces to most people. Luckily, I thought that point could spark curiosity. And that identity of a “graduate student” may easily draw empathy from people. I was convinced that this content would get an immediate reaction, and I uploaded the first video that night. It was a video where I put a small tack on a wall.

Starting with zero followers, that video reached roughly 4 million. Since then, I’ve uploaded one video every day, and I am now on the 45th day of the series.

We live in a society that can no longer be separated from media—sometimes it even feels we are governed by it. Just as the saying “You need at least a place to call your own,” It is a new era that “you need at least one media channel of your own.” To survive in this era, I also felt this channel is essential, and I have been experimenting in various ways.

The first goal was simple. I thought the channel could naturally promote POSTECH and could be expanded to share research environments by featuring our lab and others in our school. Now I receive filming requests from several labs, and if anyone is interested, I am always open to collaborations.

Taking one step further, I believe that research itself needs to go viral, and that researchers no longer avoid becoming personal brands. My long-term goal is to effectively showcase my robotics research within my content and communicate it to a broader audience. If the account continues to grow, I eventually hope to disclose myself and use it as a tool to move toward the path I truly want.

There is one last thing I want to say. Becoming a creator is not as difficult as it seems. No large amounts of money, no fancy instruments are needed. Just film your floating idea and upload it. The most important thing is to act without stopping at an idea. Deciding whether the content is good or not is the next step. If you never do, you will never know the outcome. Take action now, and press the “post” button.