Reaction Videos

Editor's note: Not to be confused with Forum Weapons.

About

Reaction Videos are recordings of individuals or groups of people reacting to an outside stimulus. While the practice originally focused on reactions towards shock sites and screamers, it has since branched out to cover a wide variety of other prompts.

Origin

On March 26th, 2006, YouTuber raw64life uploaded a video recording from 1998 featuring a child reacting to unwrapping a Nintendo 64 video game console on Christmas Day (shown below). In the next 10 years, the video gained over 19 million views and 52,000 comments.

Spread

On May 20th, 2006, YouTuber Can't We All Just Get Along? uploaded a video of a child reacting to the Scary Maze Game (shown below, left). On November 27th, 2007, YouTuber Jacqueline Leigh uploaded a recording of a grandmother reacting to the shock video "2 Girls 1 Cup", garnering upwards of 10 million views and 25,000 comments (shown below, right).

On October 26th, 2008, YouTuber Jason Bryan uploaded footage of a family reacting to a FAIL video (shown below, left). On December 7th, 2008, Urban Dictionary user Señor Giggles submitted an entry for "reaction video," defining it as a recording of a reaction to a "disturbing or frightening image or video."^[2] On October 2nd, 2011, YouTuber bashthemonkey uploaded a video titled "Son's reaction to 'Empire Strikes Back' reveal!", in which a child is recorded reacting to a scene from the 1980 science fiction film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (shown below, right).

On November 25th, The New York Times^[6] published an article about YouTube reaction videos titled "Watching People Watching People Watching." On December 5th, 2014, YouTuber Tyler Oakley uploaded a video titled Tyler Oakley Reacts to Teens React to Tyler Oakley" (shown below, left). On April 16th, 2015, Father Roderick Vonhögen uploaded footage of himself reacting to a teaser trailer for the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens (shown below, right). Within one month, the video gained over 1.2 million views and 770 comments.

Various Examples

As of May, 2015, typing the keyword "Reaction Videos" on Youtube would yield more than 10.2 million results^[5].

Scary Prank Reaction Videos

Scary Prank Reaction Videos are a series of videos that shows an individual or a group of people reacting towards shock sites and screamers, including the "Scary Maze Game."

Reunion Videos

Reunion Videos (sometimes known as Homecoming Videos) are amateur footage of people meeting their loved ones after being separated for an extended period time, such as estranged family members, pets and soldiers returning home from deployment. The earliest known reunion video to spread online is a video clip a man hugging a lion named Christian from the 1971 Australian documentary Christian, The Lion at World’s End (shown below), which was first posted on a fan web site in 2002.^[1]

Marriage Proposal Reaction Videos

Marriage Proposal Reaction Videos are video recordings of orchestrated events in which a person asks for their partner’s hand in marriage. The earliest known marriage proposal video was uploaded by YouTuber Dave11 on October 25th, 2005, which featured a woman rejecting a man’s proposal in the middle of a basketball court. The video has since been removed.

Kissing Prank Reaction Videos

Kissing Prank Reaction Videos are videos in which a person is tricked or persuaded into kissing while being secretly recorded without their knowledge. On October 26th, 2006, YouTuber i Felix uploaded a video titled “Kissing Test,” in which several young women are fooled into kissing chimpanzees for a lip balm commercial (shown below). In the first seven years, the video gained over 4.49 million views and 1,400 comments.

Cochlear Implant Activation Videos

Cochlear Implant Activation Videos contain footage of deaf individuals having their hearing restored during the activation of a surgically implanted electronic device. The earliest known example was submitted to YouTube on January 5th, 2007 by user Kwilinski, featuring a six-month-old deaf child hearing for the first time following the activation of his cochlear implant device (shown below).

Post-Anesthesia Videos

Post-Anesthesia Videos are amateur footage of people acting intoxicated or rambling incoherently while recovering from the effects of anesthesia after surgery. Since the viral reception of David After Dentist in 2009, at least a dozen of similar homemade videos have been shared on YouTube and other video-sharing platforms. In May 2008, David DeVore took his seven-year-old son David DeVore Jr. to a dental surgeon to take care of an extraneous tooth that was caused by hyperdontia. After the surgery was completed, DeVore filmed David’s reaction, in which he asked various questions including “is this real life?” “why is this happening to me?” and “is this going to be forever?” After sharing the video with his family and friends on Facebook, DeVore uploaded it to YouTube with the title “David After Dentist” on January 30th, 2009 (shown below). Within six years, the video gained over 128 million views and 100,000 comments.

The Fine Brother's React Series

The Fine Brother's React Series is a web show in which different groups of people are shown several online phenomenas and record their reactions and opinions. The series is considered to be one of the most popular Reaction Videos series to date with a total of 98.7 million views since it began in 2010.

First Time Tasting Reaction Videos

First Time Tasting Reaction Videos are recordings of people tasting various foods for the first time while providing commentary about the experience. The earliest known tasting reaction video was uploaded by YouTuber NinkComPoop on February 9th, 2014. In the video, two British girls consume various American candies and snacks, while reviewing the taste of each (shown below). In the first two years, the video gained over 550,000 views and 2,600 comments.

Search Interest

External References