Coby Persin has two different videos on the dangers of social media. Both a “boys” and “girls” edition exist and together have a total of 56,805,860 views as of today, 1/29/2016. So, yeah, these videos are popular.

In the videos, Persin gets permission from several children’s parents to friend them online and pretend to be somebody else. He talks with them until they agree to meet, where Coby and the parents are waiting. The videos (while definitely 100% fake) prey on common fears for parents; people online aren’t who they say they are, strangers are dangerous and that kids are stupid and will get into trouble. All of these, individually, make sense. There is even a show on MTV about people not being who they claim to be online.

In the beginning of the first video, the “girl” edition, Persin explains, “How easy it for a pedophile to pick up an underage child on social media?” According to the videos, all it takes is a couple of days of talking online.

But, come on, we all know that this is a lie. Right? It took me about 30 seconds and a google search (which brought me here) to find that about 100 children are kidnapped each year in the stereotypical stranger abduction scenario and about half of those 100 come home. So why is Coby Persin lying to me? He must use Google, we ALL use Google. He must know he is exacerbating fears.

The fact of the matter is, he is playing all of us. Pretty intelligently too. He knew a video like that would circulate around Facebook, he knew that he could use a click-bait title for anyone browsing YouTube and he knew that most people wouldn’t really notice how both videos were fake. You can find the videos here and here.

These are just two of the hundreds and hundreds of “social experiment” and “prank” videos that clog YouTube. These videos push actual content creators aside and rack up millions of views. If you factor in that PewDiePie, with 44,884,315 subscribers, has essentially been making the same videos for the same audience for several years, it can be frustrating to think about.

YouTube has become a business and many large channels make plenty of cash and own the front page of YouTube, especially if they also stream on Twitch.tv, but there are hundreds and hundreds of genuinely creative and amazing people on YouTube just trying to connect with people. Wonderfully small channels that deserve millions of subscribers that are overlooked day in and day out because of click-bait “pranks” and the Goliaths of the site.

Mike Falzone, found here, posts videos twice a week (CHOOSDAY and Friday) answering questions from people on the internet, giving advice or just making some observations. Now on YouTube for 10 years, he currently sits at 134,700 subscribers. Go give him some of your time because he is hilarious, honest and a positive person to spend your time watching. And, come on, his hair.

Rusty Clanton, found here, writes and sings songs. That’s his thing. Influenced by bands like The Beach Boys, Rusty has a knack for songwriting and goofy music videos. Coming about once a month, you can hear and see all the hard work he puts in to each video. He currently sits at 42,052 subscribers and I strongly suggest giving him a view.

Podcast and Chill, found here, is a movie/ gaming/ TV podcast created and run by Hutch and Actabunnifoofoo. Running about an hour each and sometimes featuring guests, each episode is Hutch and Bunni talking about their mutual love of movies and games and TV. It’s wonderful to hear an opinion on a movie from people that just genuinely love movies and aren’t being paid to give a critique. They currently sit at 3,084 subscribers and deserve a listen.

These are just three of hundreds of small channels just trying to make the best thing they can make. Just trying to connect with the community on YouTube. So, next time you scroll past a “prank” or “social experiment” video on Facebook, don’t click on it. Hop to YouTube and give your time to people that are actively making something actually worth it.