Imagine for a second you’re a teenage boy living in Adana, Turkey. Your life is that of a typical 17-year-old, you do typical teenager things. But then all of a sudden, those typical teenager things become wacky celebrity-related things. You may think you’re so far removed from the glitz and glamour of Hollywood that this could never happen to you, but that’s the amazing thing about social media. You can reach out to — or be reached by — anyone. Even someone super-famous. Even if it’s an accident.
Take Mert Alas. He’s the 17-year-old boy you were imagining yourself as. His Twitter handle is @mertalas. Note the lower-case L, or at least try to. Seemingly normal kid, right?
Burda dursun .d pic.twitter.com/m8Cjktv3uN
— Mert alas (@mertalas) January 3, 2015
There’s another Mert Alas (heck, maybe there are dozens of Mert Alases in the world). According to Buzzfeed, he’s also from Turkey but works in the United States as a fashion and celebrity photographer. His Twitter handle is @mertaIas. Yes, it looks the same but that sixth letter isn’t an L. It’s actually an upper-case I.
l and I. Can you tell the difference? Even the most discerning eye might miss it. But, change the font to something a little more more fancy and… looky:
So, being the fallible human that she is, when Kim Kardashian hangs out with Photographer Mert and posts pics of them together on Twitter, she often mistakenly tags teenage Mert.
LA LOVE! I love when they come to my home town! @carineroitfeld @mertalas pic.twitter.com/AC8EqHnJYy
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) March 21, 2016
But Kim’s not the only one. Miley has done it too, so much so that because of his new ‘celebrity links’, young Mert’s scored oodles more followers.
Coming soon in @wmag “bed time portraits By @mertalas & @macpiggott” so xxxited check it out 2 see the real deal⭐️ pic.twitter.com/pfWNa5NYyl
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) February 6, 2014
“Before this I had 200 followers,” Teenage Mert told Turkish publication Milliyet. “Thanks to Miley Cyrus I got 600. And after Kim I got 65 more.”
If we’re keeping count, Teenage Mert has over 1,400 followers on Twitter. Photographer Mert, despite his celebrity friendships, only has two. That’s right, two. But he’s only got himself to blame. Why an I, Photographer Mert? WHY?
Teenage Mert has tried to alert Kim K. of the confusion but she either hasn’t noticed or can’t be bothered because she keeps tagging the wrong Mert. So he’s decided to just have fun with it.
Bende seni seviyorum tamam @KimKardashian
— Mert alas (@mertalas) September 1, 2015
Thank you for everything @KimKardashian
— Mert alas (@mertalas) September 1, 2015
And Kim and Photographer Mert are none-the-wiser.
#party @riccardotisci17 📷 @mertalas pic.twitter.com/tfgZddgEmn
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 27, 2015
LOVE & LIGHT @mertalas pic.twitter.com/XhnnJFP0Xy
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 3, 2015
Hey, Teenage Mert, you tried. Now just continue to enjoy your link to fame, however accidental.
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