Have YouTube Pranks and Click-Baiting Gone Too Far?
In April 2019, YouTube couple Danielle Cohn (15) and Mikey Tua (16), began releasing a four-part YouTube series which followed their unexpected pregnancy journey. Fans all across the board were shocked when the news that the couple was expecting surfaced the internet, and everyone, supporters or not, began to follow this series.
The first video the couple posted was titled, "We Are Expecting...(Pt. 1/4)," and received more than 3.7 million views over the past three weeks since it was initially uploaded. This video consisted of the two YouTubers sitting down with their parents and breaking the news to them that Danielle was pregnant. As expected, the parents were outraged at this news and spent the majority of this 17 minute long video scolding their kids for being irresponsible. In contrast to the negative, and somewhat hostile mood of the video, its thumbnail pictured Danielle smiling while sitting next to her mom and friends, and Mikey being strangled by his dad in the background. It is common for YouTubers to make fake thumbnails in order for their videos to receive more views, however this thumbnail in particular left many fans speculating whether or not their situation was actually real.
The second video that was uploaded by the two was called, "We Got Married... (Pt. 2/4)." This video showed the two teenagers and their families in Las Vegas, where they got "married" at a small wedding chapel. The wedding was officiated by Elvis, and the two believed that it was a good idea to get married so they would be together when their baby was born. Once again, fans were shocked by the couple's actions, and some even started to believe that their pregnancy was legitimate.
The third video showed the couple visiting the doctor with Mikey's dad, getting an ultrasound (which was not included in the video), and setting up for their gender reveal party. There was also footage of Danielle and Mikey talking to his dad about what they plan on doing when the baby arrives in financial and practical terms. The two respond to his concerns with some very questionable answers, and Mikey's father's reactions to them showed that he was also skeptical about them becoming parents.
The last video the couple posted was their gender reveal video. The gender reveal showed Dani and Mikey decorating the house for their "big day," and even featured over ten other social media influencers congratulating them and guessing what the gender of their child was. All of their friends seemed genuinely happy and supportive of the two, and were taken back when they revealed their baby's gender. The couple popped a few balloons which consisted of pink confetti, indicating that the child was a girl. However, one of their friends had missed the big reveal, and Danielle let her pop the last balloon. The balloon contained a small piece of paper that fell to the ground, which confused the guests. The couple then opened it and announced to all of their friends that it was a prank, and that they were not expecting. The friends of the two YouTubers were all speechless at this announcement, and many seemed confused as to why they let this play on for so long. This same feeling was felt throughout the YouTube community as well.
Ever since the initial announcement that they were expecting, the internet became very vocal about their views on the couple. The majority of people seemed to be against the idea of their pregnancy, since they were so young and had millions of young children following them. Others did not believe it to be true, but were later convinced as the video series continued. After their fourth video, where they stated that this was all a prank, Danielle and Mikey received a ton of backlash for faking a pregnancy. One of the main arguments people made about these videos was that by turning this series into one big prank, young audience viewers are going to think its okay to fake pregnancies as well. Others were appalled by their actions, due to the fact that pregnancy, especially teen pregnancy, is a very serious topic and that many women are unable to have children, which is no joking matter.
Overall, I found this YouTube series to be very entertaining, but I believe that this was a terrible publicity stunt for the two teenagers to have pulled. Teen pregnancy is very serious, and while they made a video explaining to fans that pregnancy is nothing to laugh at, the couple did not seem very apologetic for offending anyone through this series. I think YouTubers have gone overboard with pranking one another and turning every real life situation into a joke, with the only goal in mind being the number of views they'd get from it. I understand that click-baiting is just another marketing technique used by influencers to attract more attention to their content, but I believe that people become dishonest and corrupt when shock-factor and thumbnails begin to be the most important part of their videos. While the desire to get noticed is understandable in the world of social media, influencers often go to the extremes to receive clout. These extremes have been normalized more recently in the media, and it is up to us in terms of how effective their use is.
In my opinion I think that this was incredibly genius. The amount of exposure their channel probably got is mind boggling. I myself am an incredibly successful Youtuber and speaking from experience click bait is a great tool to use. In terms of this situation I think that people on the internet these days are too soft and can't take a joke. Obviously it was a joke and people need to calm down. The thing that I was wondering however was if their parents knew it was a prank? Either way I don't think that this was that big of a deal and it was a great way to become famous.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben's comment. This stunt was genius for their exposure. Although it was not genius for their image. I think they'll just achieve another 15 minutes of fame for this because it is definitely an inappropriate joke. Many youtube jokes get out of hand because people get so bent on becoming a 'celebrity'.
DeleteI do agree with that this was an ingenious publicity stunt that was probably very worth it for the teens, despite losing the trust of followers and friends. I can believe that the teens didn’t tell their friends they were pulling a prank until the end, but I can’t help but wonder who in their family knew it was fake since someone had to help give consent for the teens to get “married” in Las Vegas.
ReplyDeleteI have seen this recent couple post these pranks and it has all honestly gone too far. II myself though this was true and so did many of my friends. And that right there shows how social media is dangerous in a way that it can be used to manipulate many people as well as make them believe stuff that aren't true. Social media is filled with people like them who think it is ok to trick many fans and viewers but it is really not. We as people need to be more cautious around social media because it is filled with a lot of fake stuff that can be dangerous.
ReplyDeleteHonestly I have seen something about this on social media but I never cared enough to invest my time to find out all of the details because I thought that this would be a waste of my time to do something better, and to my dispense I feel like I was correct because I didn't even know that this was a prank until I read your blog. I totally agree with you that this type of prank was one that went way to far especially considering the age of the teens who are 15 and 16 which is about our age. to think if one of the people in class would pull a prank like this, I cant even imagine why one would do that.
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