In Washington Square Park, everyone has main character energy.

On any given day, dozens of young people scour the downtown park with smartphones and microphones, looking for people to interview. Buskers and dog walkers increasingly compete for space with tripods, even in corners of the park with well-earned reputations for grittiness.

The park, which for decades was known as a hub of counterculture and an anchor for protests in the city, has now been overrun with social media influencers looking to go viral.

Much of the country got an introduction last month to Washington Square Park’s latest incarnation as a major stage for aspiring social media stars after a popular social media channel promoted a snowball fight. The account Sidetalk put out an invite to its 2 million followers to come to the park. The impromptu event drew hundreds of revelers, many of them social media influencers themselves.