Reply to Thought Id Never See You Again Yahoo Answers
An Interview With the Man Behind Yahoo Answers' Infamous "Am I Pragnent?" Video
"It'south definitely weird to retrieve that this is going to be my mark on history."
"How is prangent formed?" It's a question that has haunted people to the melody of 40 million YouTube views and come to symbolize a very specific era of the mid-2000s internet. An era that, with the looming shutdown of Yahoo Answers, Yahoo's question-and-respond forum, is about to be lost to fourth dimension. (For the uninitiated, Yahoo Answers allowed anybody to submit questions near, well, just about anything, which, equally with all things on the internet, led to a combination of comedy, racism, genuinely useful information, and outright bizarreness.)
To memorialize Yahoo Answers, Madison Malone Kircher, co-host of ICYMI, Slate's podcast about internet culture, talked to the creator of the viral "How Is Prangent Formed?" video almost his primeval memories of Yahoo Answers, the wildest moments in the site's history, and what the internet is losing with the platform'southward demise. The interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Madison Malone Kircher: How did the video come about? What inspired you lot to create this—I'll say information technology—masterpiece?
J.T. Sexkik: Oh, well, thank you lot. Perchance this will sound weird, but before I even had the thought of making this stuff into YouTube videos, I would merely do this for fun. I'd sit around with a couple of friends or my girlfriend, and nosotros'd only go digging effectually on Yahoo Answers and reading questions out loud and laughing our asses off at all the weird stuff that's on at that place.
Do y'all remember any of the other weird stuff y'all plant in those days?
Oh man, so here's i genre that I actually like: questions where somebody will be looking for the championship of a song that they heard. People who literally will be like, "What'due south the drum and bass song that goes like doo doo doo doo doo doo doo?" In that location's one that's "What song is 'royals royals'?"
Like "Royals" past Lorde, right?
Yes. The question is: " 'royals royals' and and so she says something and goes 'royals royals' and then there'south music and she says, 'royals royals.' "
Incredible. So, apparently yous had a lot of options to cull from. What made you choose to make a video about the pregnancy questions specifically?
I had a big binder of all different screenshots of questions and stuff that I found. And I had a couple pregnancy-related ones. Those tended to be pretty expert, and at some indicate I was just like: "OK, let's actually pull this thread. How many means can yous actually misspell the word pregnant?" And information technology turns out the answer is fucking space.
There'south a moment in the video, it'due south about. "if all woman have starch masks," and you lot merely crack yourself up. I'm curious, how many times did you take this? Did you make yourself express mirth as hard as we laughed watching information technology?
It'southward funny you mentioned that one, considering I actually did two takes and that was the spot where I disintegrated. I barely managed to go past that one, and I just completely lost my sophistication after that. So that was where I broke off. Simply other than that, it was just the straight two takes. Just bang, bang, blindside, just going down the list.
What was it like watching the video go viral?
When I make a video, I never gear up out to become viral. I'thou never thinking, "Oh, this is going to be a large smash striking. I'g going to be the next Jake Paul with this," or anything like that. Merely it's heady. It's really weird. Fifty-fifty now, it'due south weird. And it's funny when I'll be on Reddit or Twitter and the word meaning will come up and then the replies will just erupt into "Pregante," "pregananant." It's cool though.
Yous go past J.T. Sexkik online. People don't know you in real life as "Pregananant" guy, correct?
Some really exercise. That'south some other weird aspect of it, when I'm meeting a new person for the first time and 1 of my friends is like, "Oh, he'due south the meaning Yahoo Answers guy!" And they're like, "What? You're that guy?" And I'm like, "I'm simply going to … I'm going to leave now."
At least with your online footprint, it seems like you're fairly removed from it in a way that I think a lot of viral creators are unable to dissever from their content, salvage for your friend doing your PR.
Pretty much.
I assume making YouTube videos is not your day job, correct?
No, no, no.
Did yous ever submit or reply Yahoo Answers questions seriously?
No, no, no, no. I only discover from a distance. I don't collaborate—prime number directive. I've used Stack Substitution, if that counts. That's basically Yahoo Answers except non stupid. And so perchance that kind of counts.
How are you feeling about the news? What was your first thought when you heard Yahoo Answers was shutting down?
It's a release. My spirit can remainder now. But I mean, it's a bummer. Information technology's a large slice of net history. It's a monument to just how weird and dumb and crazy the internet tin can exist. At the same time, part of me wonders how it lasted as long equally it did. I feel bad in a fashion for the people who used it seriously, considering you have these people who could not fit together the most basic building blocks of life, and now they're just beingness kind of gear up adrift out into the ether. Another way that I expect at it, though, is that internet communities are more near the people than the website itself. For example we know, based on the big exodus out of Tumblr that happened a couple of years ago, that when a site dies, fifty-fifty though the community is gone, the users, the people, don't simply disappear. They but go somewhere else.
Is at that place a planned promised state for the exodus from Yahoo Answers?
In that location are enough of other Q&A sites that are basically the same thing. There's Question.com. There'due south Answers.com. There's this site called BlurtIt.com. There's eHelp.com, which actually has a lot of good, classic, dumb, Yahoo Answers–type stuff on information technology. So there are definitely places where they could end upwards.
I somehow just keep getting stuck on Quora. If you go to Quora one time, you're getting emails forever.
Oh yep. How could I forget?
What was the worst affair you ever saw on Yahoo Answers?
It is kind of a bummer when yous're on there and you see people asking questions that they should really exist request a dr. or a therapist probably. There was this ane I saw that really stuck with me. It was this guy who had a sexual attraction to Garfield—like drawing lasagna true cat. That on its own is completely fine. Yous know, whatever floats your gunkhole. I don't care nearly that. But he besides was afraid that this would make him gay. So it's like, I want to fuck Garfield, merely I don't desire to exist gay because then it would be weird.
That is how information technology happens. That'south definitely how it happened to me. I was sexually attracted to Gar—no, I'm kidding.
Well, hold on. I'm not finished however.
Oh no, I'm sorry.
So he was afraid that this would make him gay. And so in his fantasies about Garfield, he would imagine Garfield with, like, a hot woman'due south body. The way he described it was Garfield'southward caput on Pam Anderson's body. And he had this rich, inner fantasy life of him with the Garfield-Pam–Anderson hybrid abomination that he came up with. And he had like drawings and stories that he wrote and stuff. And his girlfriend in existent life found all this stuff and freaked the fuck out. And he's coming to Yahoo Answers, and he'southward like, "Help. What exercise I do? How do I prepare my relationship?" Yes. This is above the pay grade of Yahoo Answers. Yous need counseling, my friend.
Professional assist. On the flip side, I'grand curious if you e'er came across whatsoever reactions that were genuinely good or heartwarming. I hesitate to say "inspiring," but—
Heartwarming is not really something I would use to draw Yahoo Answers. In fact, it's really the opposite—peculiarly more than recently at present that it's get kind of a joke. A lot of times the answers are a peanut gallery where people will roast the question asker. Equally far equally the best stuff—the stuff that I've had the nearly fun reading—if I had to selection ane, information technology would probably exist "How is babby formed."
A classic.
Another affair that I really like is people who write questions talking about hypocrites, but they spell information technology like Hippocrates. So yous get questions that are similar, "Why are all Democrats Hippocrates?" Or just, like, "I hate Hippocrates." And it'due south fun to imagine that they're actually talking well-nigh the ancient philosopher.
Right, right, right. The guy who gave us the oath that all medical professionals have—we hate him. I experience like we should explain for people whose brains are perhaps non as mushy as yours and mine: "How is babby formed" was a Yahoo Answers question request nearly how a babe is made, just baby was spelled "babby," which, just, jokes aplenty.
Yes. And not just the question. It was not just the question of "How is babby formed? how girl get pragnent"—but actually the answer to this question is, "They demand to do way instain mother> who kill thier babbys. becuse these babby cant frigth back? it was on the news this mroing a female parent in ar who had kill her 3 kids. they are taking the three babby back to new york too lady to residue my pary are with the father who lost his chrilden ; I am truley pitiful for your lots."
Do you have a favorite on the long list of pregnancy questions in your video?
Oh human being. Information technology's got to be the "starch masks."
So I know you said y'all don't make videos with the idea of "This is going to be the matter that makes me go viral," which is great because trying to go viral is a recipe to fail, but can yous walk me through what it was like watching that view counter and realizing, "Oh, shit. I have made a truly viral video here"?
So before this I had like xxx,000 subs. I had a little niche carved out, but nothing remotely shut to this. I was not prepared for fricking Markiplier, PewDiePie—Steve Carell tweeted it at ane point.
At that place'south a trio.
Yeah. The three comedy grades: Pewdiepie, Markiplier, and Steve Carell. I'm sure he'd be happy to exist held in such esteemed visitor, but, aye, that was fuckin' baroque.
Did yous tell your girlfriend, your friends, your family unit?
Yeah. Information technology kind of all happened at once. I had people who I knew from school messaging me on Facebook, and my girlfriend's whole family knows about the YouTube channel and everything now, which is pretty awkward. Every time nosotros have some kind of family go-together, people are like, "Oh, pregnant, pregananant, put the video up on the TV," which is peculiarly weird because there is this one point in the video where I say "pre-cum," and and then just hearing my vocalisation through the speakers, saying the word pre-cum in front of my girlfriend's entire family, is not a great experience.
And so is the video monetized? Did yous make money off this matter?
Enough for beer and pizza.
Does it continue to pay for beer and pizza?
Yeah, yeah. I go a little scratch every calendar month from that.
Do you lot think you lot could recite the thing by memory at this point? I'k not going to brand yous exercise it. I'm just curious.
No, in fact, I actually can't become back and watch my onetime videos. I blench. I tin't repeat whatsoever of that from memory. I haven't actually seen the video, probably, since I posted it.
I hadn't seen it in a while until the swell Yahoo Answers announcement. I'm sure there was a spike in your views, correct?
There was a fiddling bit of a revival there, yeah.
Is there something you wish you were known for instead? Do you lot ever accept a moment where yous stop and retrieve, "Oh, this is the thing I am best known for in this world"?
Y'all know, information technology's definitely weird to remember that this is going to be my mark on history. This is what I'yard going to be remembered for. I am the Yahoo Answers guy. Merely I can't complain. I don't want to be a jerk almost it.
Yes, totally. In that location are worse things.
There are definitely way worse things to be known for.
To mind to the rest of the episode, including more on Yahoo Answers, subscribe to ICYMI .
Source: https://slate.com/culture/2021/04/yahoo-answers-shutting-down-pregnant-video-interview.html
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