If you’re like me, you enjoy watching YouTube videos, and why wouldn’t you? No matter what your interests are, no matter how silly or obscure, there is always some YouTube community built around it. From makeup to video games, YouTube has something for everyone, and that’s the principle reason it has become one of the world’s top viewed websites. But another big reason is that YouTube incentivizes its content creators with revenue sharing based on the amount of views they get. However, like with all things that are profitable, this has led to people building communities and making videos just to cash in on a quick buck. Which leads me to all of the YouTube pranksters.
For those of you who don’t know YouTube has an insanely huge community of people who post prank videos and they are some of the most viewed videos on the website. While it may have started off small these prank channels have gotten out of control in recent years. Many of the most popular pranksters don’t even actually do pranks anymore, instead using actors to fake reactions and make their videos more enticing. While there’s nothing wrong with faking pranks simply to get rich it becomes a problem when these fake pranksters attempt to give some sort of implication with their videos.
For instance, FouseyTube, the most popular YouTube prankster, made a video where he “dressed up” as a homeless man (by taking off his shoes and wearing clothes that look brand new) and giving people money to see how they react. Many people just dismiss him in an angry fashion because they’re too good to take money from a homeless person. Throughout the video, Fousey also puts up messages about how important it is to give to others and have humility. This should make for an inspiring message, except the people shown in the video are hired by Fousey himself and are told how to react and what to say. What could have been an authentic message that inspires people to give unto others is instead just a means for Fousey to add to his already massive bank account.
Adam Saleh, another prankster, also took a serious topic, racial discrimination, and just used it as an opportunity to make money. Saleh made a video where he wore traditional Middle Eastern clothes and claimed to be harassed by the police because of it. Except the cop was just an actor who later admitted he was hired, the police department in that area adamantly denies they have ever harassed anyone of Middle Eastern descent for their dress, and Saleh himself later said the video was a “dramatization.”
Faking pranks about serious subject matter doesn’t prove anything. These videos don’t really have meaningful implications for life simply because they are not real life. Instead of calling out a serious issue and actually addressing what we can do to make it better, they trivialize them for the sake of making a person rich who doesn’t really care. There are actual people who struggle with homelessness on a daily basis and there are actual people who are harassed for their racial identity. These pranksters don’t actually care about the cause; they just do whatever will get them the most views and money. These pranksters are vultures putting nothing off limits as they attempt to garner fleeting attention and make bundles of money.
What we’re seeing with these pranksters is nothing new. We’ve seen it on every reality show, every shock jock political commentator, and every child star trying desperately to shake off their innocent image. People who are willing to do whatever it takes to stay in the public consciousness and strive for attention are always fleeting and right around the corner from their 15th minute of fame, but the YouTube pranksters are becoming particularly detestable because of their attempts to make statements about serious issues they don’t actually care about.
