Real or Fake: YouTube Sensations

A WIRED retro item, from the 25th anniversary issue.
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YouTube: the platform that made it possible to get famous for videos other than sex tapes. Since its rise, aspiring influencers have performed amazingly stupid—and occasionally clever—stunts for a global audience. Can you tell which of these are legit? (Answers are at the bottom.)

Since 2009, Dude Perfect—five guys from Texas A&M—have spent their lives creating trick-shot videos with everything from basketballs to boomerangs and crossbows. Millions of subscribers have watched them break world records.

OR: JuanGTA, a Colombian Grand Theft Auto fiend, started out by posting videos of himself narrating backstories for in-game characters. In 2016, he landed a job as a Spanish-language writer for the franchise’s next installment, out in 2020.


British YouTuber KSI’s original shtick was recording himself playing FIFA, but 4 billion or so views later, he moved on to a very public feud with a controversial vlogger/wannabe actor that culminated in a pay-per-view boxing match.

OR: Roommates at Kansas State created EpicFAIL, whose Jackass-type skits about post-college dating have 16 million subscribers. Get hot tips every “sexy Wednesday,” along with face-plants and crotch shots on “OH SNAP Monday.”


Ryan ToysReview is pretty self-explanatory: A small child named Ryan reviews toys. He has one of the top 50 most-viewed videos of all time, “HUGE EGGS Surprise Toys Challenge with Inflatable water slide.”

OR: In 2007, Annie Walker and Kari Okaze introduced the world to their Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen parodies. In 2014, Mary-Kate herself made a cameo; the video hit 14 million views, and SNL came calling. Walker has been a writer there since 2015.


Jenna Marbles’ channel (18 million followers) features videos like “Drunk Makeup Tutorial,” “Things Guys Lie About,” “What’s the Best Mascara to Cry In,” and our personal fave, “I Let My Dogs Walk Me for a Day.” She also posts reaction videos of herself … watching her old videos.

OR: The Meet the Morgans! channel includes videos like “Best Proposal Ever!!!,” “OMG gender reveal!!,” “Casting My Pregnant Belly,” and “Puppy Meets Baby Cuteness Explosion,” which have all hit between 10 million and 12 million views. They recently teased a second pregnancy.


About Real or Fake

Debut: Jul 2012 | Status: Ongoing | Appearances in print: 15

“I kept finding new things that were stranger than fiction. Why not play with that? See if we could confuse people?” —Caitlin Roper, former articles editor and creator of Real or Fake

“I figured out the upside of fake news long before 2016. Easiest money I’ve ever made freelancing.” —Elise Craig, frequent writer of Real or Fake

Real: Dude Perfect; KSI; Ryan ToysReview; Jenna Marbles

Art by Ariel Davis

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