Tag Archives: pranks

“Swatting” on the Internet

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/24/2016
Primary Language: English

Swatting is the act of pulling a prank on another by falsely reporting serious threats such as incidences of domestic violence, shootings, and hostage situations to the police. Using altered caller IDs and voice modification devices to conceal their identity, these pranksters use these terrifying threats to mobilize police forces into entering the homes of and arresting the chosen victims.

The term “swatting” was coined by the FBI in 2008, when the phenomenon began gaining serious popularity. Typically, this prank is pulled within the online gaming community while gamers are using Twitch, a website used to livestream a gamer’s playthrough of a game to the entire world. Because these livestreams can be so popular, it has become customary to swat a gamer while he or she is using a digital camera to stream his/her face. This way, thousands of people around the world can watch as a person is aggressively arrested and charged for a horrible crime. Often, the videos recorded from these events are posted onto YouTube, where many who find the prank amusing decide to participate in it themselves.

The informant, Ian, is a 21-year-old university student who considers himself a gamer and internet enthusiast. He knew a victim of this prank in high school, and has since maintained interest in the internet phenomena. While Ian considers the act terrible, he is still fascinated by the immorality of those who partake in it. Although he sees the activity as an awful internet trend, he watches videos of it because he is intrigued by the violence surrounding it.

As someone who has grown up with the internet as its culture has become more advanced and developed, it is quite interesting to see how dark some of its aspects have become. Although the internet can be very personal, the popularity of this activity is likely a result of the lack of face to face contact between those interacting on it. When a prankster cannot physically see the long-term consequences of his or her actions, it becomes easier to commit to the act. This is probably why so many have swatted others.

More information concerning this subject can be found here: http://www.complex.com/life/2016/02/swatting-is-proof-that-the-internet-sucks-as-much-as-you-thought

Mench, Chris. “What Is Swatting, and What Does It Tell Us About the Internet’s Worst Qualities?” Complex.com. Complex, 25 Feb. 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Examples of this phenomenon can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiW-BVPCbZk

CrowbCat. “10 Streamers Get Swatted Live.” YouTube. YouTube, 22 Oct. 2014. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Getting “Rick Rolled”

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: U.S.A.
Performance Date: 4/24/2016
Primary Language: English

On sites like YouTube, it has been customary to “Rick Roll” someone who is looking for specific content/video. Often, when someone is searching for something of interest online, it is common to click on a seemingly relevant link to instead find the music video for Rick Astley’s 1987 song “Never Gonna Give You Up” playing. Even though this prank is harmless, it tends to be incredibly frustrating for its victims, as they are left feeling deceived and without whatever it is they were looking for. For the pranksters who are uploading these videos intentionally, this prank is quite entertaining because it allows them to feel that they have tricked a complete stranger.

The informant, Ian, is a 21-year-old university student who considers himself a gamer and internet enthusiast. He was first introduced to this phenomenon in the 9th grade after attempting to find a video he had been looking for on YouTube. He admits that while it can be frustrating to fall victim to it, it is still highly entertaining because it is so unexpected. He also enjoys how silly the video seems compared to today’s music videos. To him, the trend is interesting because it represents the randomness of and complete lack of control over the internet.

This phenomenon is fascinating because of its unpredictable nature. In American society, people tend to value completely understanding their actions and being able to predict their consequences. It is because of this that these videos are so disconcerting. We are so used to being able to easily find what we are looking for that it is genuinely surprising when something completely irrelevant shows up instead.

The relevant video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0

The “Trollface”

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: U.S.A.
Performance Date: 4/24/20`6
Primary Language: English

The “trollface” is a popular image that can be found online. It is meant to represent the face an internet “troll”, or prankster, makes after playing a prank on another. The image often appears on an online discussion when an individual intentionally interrupts the flow of the conversation by mischievously misdirecting the original poster. The image usually follows one of these situations, indicating that a trick has been pulled. Sometimes, the image includes intentionally misspelled words or grammatical errors in order to frustrate readers even more. Because of the negative connotation surrounding it, the image can be frustrating for those who had been taking the conversation seriously.

The informant, Ian, is a 21-year-old university student who considers himself a gamer and internet enthusiast. The image has a special place in his heart, as it is one of the first internet memes that he encountered in his younger years. He learned about the image after seeing it posted in the popular comedy website ebaumsworld.com, where many similar humorous images and videos are posted. For Ian, this image in particular is entertaining because it represents the triviality of the many arguments that internet posters have. He argues that after coming across so many useless and childish arguments that people on the internet have, it is refreshing to see someone mess with them with a quick joke and the posting of the image.

What is interesting about this image is the fact a simple image that used to be insignificant has gathered much connotation and meaning. Even though the image was posted by a single individual, thousands of people came together online to assign a definition and purpose to it. Because of this, the image should be considered a strong indicator of the collaborative nature of the internet.

 

trollface

Senior Pranks

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 22, 2016
Primary Language: English

On Reddit, which is a message board type website, one of the most popular subreddits is one called /r/AskReddit, where users ask questions for all of Reddit to answer. One of the most popular questions that have been asked over the years are about senior pranks, or really any prank for that matter. Senior pranks are a tradition in American school where students in their last year of high school decide the go out with a bang and prank the school, usually in a humorous way. I asked my friend Will, who sends me funny or interesting things he finds on Reddit, what his favorite senior prank was that he saw on Reddit, and this is what he found…

“My friend tapped into the PA system and figured out how to broadcast from anywhere. He found an English teacher that was willing to collude, and near the end of the year he started broadcasting pre-recorded messages to the whole school.

the administration had no idea where it was coming from and they followed every lead that the broadcasts claimed they originated from (including the local high school burger joint). a lot of the broadcasts were hilarious, including a fake emergency drill where the speaker said that our study desks could double as flotation devices and that our teachers would demonstrate.

We had a nice lunch one day where we got to listen to opera and classical music.

Eventually he got caught but it was only because he let too many people know. because he didn’t broadcast anything offensive he didn’t get into any trouble.”

Me: How did you find this?

Will: It was a while back, and it was just a thread that I would always go to when I was bored and just shift through. This is one that always stuck out to me.

Me: Why?

Will: I just love it. A lot of pranks nowadays go too big and they usually destroy property or hurt somebody. This is just harmless fun.

Me: It reminds me of when, in “The Shawshank Redemption”, Andy started playing classical music into the prison.

Will: Yeah! Yeah!

Me: So, let me ask you, if you were to do this prank, what would you play?

Will: Oh, I’d play some fucking death metal or something.

Me: You don’t even like death metal.

Will: I know! Nobody does! That’s why it’d be so funny. That’s the other thing, is that kid who pulled that prank should work as a writer. “Use your desk as a flotation device”. I stole that joke one time in class and everybody laughed. It’s priceless.

Will and I have often spent time talking about pranks, especially those that we see as detrimental and end up hurting people or damaging property. It makes sense to me that Will would love this prank. It’s not only harmless, but it’s incredibly witty. I personally think it’s a much better prank for both of those reasons. One of the reasons I asked Will about what he would do if given that opportunity was because I knew Will loved thinking about that. He likes hearing stories and wondering what he would do if he was in that situation. Even when he watches movies, he puts himself in the shoes of the main character and says what he would’ve done. I think he partially likes this story because he wants to think he could be that witty.

“Two bears in a shower…”

Nationality: African-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: USC
Performance Date: April 30, 2014
Primary Language: English

The Joke:

Two bears are taking a shower. One of the bears asks the other, “Hey do you have any soap?” The other replies, “No soap…radio.”

Analysis:

“The joke is,” the informant said, “that it’s not really a joke. It doesn’t make any sense. But if you’re in a group of people and you and a few buddies are in on the joke together, one of you says the joke and everyone else just needs to laugh as if it’s the funniest thing ever. No one else is going to get it. They’re going to be really confused and then from there…it just gets funnier. It’s beautiful.”

Collector: Where did you learn it?

Informant: On a retreat I went on last year, during the drive up, two of the guys [who were older members] in my car did it to us. I had heard similar jokes before, so I picked up on it and started laughing, too. But the two other girls that were in the car had no idea and got really pissed. And even after we explained it to them, that it’s not supposed to make any sense, they didn’t find it funny at all.

 

I think this “joke,” or rather meta-joke (in which the joke aren’t the words but rather the situation of performance that becomes the joke) beautifully exemplifies the use of prank in liminal space. This retreat that the informant attended, he later explained, was a new members retreat to get the new members situated in the group. Ironically, while the intention of the retreat is to integrate additional people into community, the older members in fact alienated some of them. The informant, however, having figured out the joke earned a kind of place among the “big boys.” When asked if the joke was enacted intentionally as a bonding/alienating experience, the informant clarified that it probably wasn’t. Rather it may have just been an irresponsible prank in which the potential consequences hadn’t been fully recognized prior to enacting it on that nature of a retreat. Nevertheless, the experience illustrates a tension that lies between old members and the new: those who are in on the joke and those who are not. And if you happen to be new and yet somehow in on the joke, then you have only affirmed that you belonged in the group all along, even prior to having joined.

This type of prank emphasizes the binaries that establish identity: the “us” and “them” distinction, the “us” presumably being the originals.