AntiSocial, a new YouTube channel created by students Levi Martinez and Christian Puckett, captures unsuspecting students during awkward interactions. They have posted nine videos over the course of three months, each averaging 2,000 views.
Martinez, a junior liberal arts major, said the idea came from watching online videos of people having fun joking with others.
They don’t like using the word “prank” because it is too childish, and that is not their intent, he said. Ultimately, Martinez said he wants to make campus life more exciting.
“I think people are not used to interacting with random strangers,” Martinez said. “It’s fun to spice things up and throw a curveball.”
Martinez said his favorite gimmick is seeing how long they can hold other students’ hands. They proceed by asking for directions, shake hands and hold the individual’s hand for as long as they can while walking to the destination.
Martinez wasn’t always so outgoing, he said. When he was younger, he often hid behind his parents and didn’t want to be around other people. That changed in September, when he and Puckett decided to break their own comfort zones.
“We want to challenge people to meet strangers and break social norms,” he said. “I now like interacting with random strangers and having fun with them. I want to build that culture and challenge other people to do the same.”
Puckett, a sophomore liberal arts major, said he looks for people who he thinks will give decent reactions.
Ideally, they want to lighten other students’ moods and make them have a better day, he said.
“At the same time, our audience is YouTube,” Puckett said. “Trying to create two separate communities, one at UNM — to try and do cool stuff here — but then also try to build a community of YouTube fans, is fun.”
They want to challenge people through their videos as well, he said.
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“In America we are raised to stay in our space, in our little homes with our walls, and so it’s cool to break that norm and do something different. People like their comfort zones,” Puckett said. “It is fun to do the unexpected.”
Stephen Haynes, a close friend of Martinez, said the videos have definitely inspired him to leave his comfort zone.
“Everybody tends to want to walk down the road and be undisturbed, and make it from point A to point B. They miss out on a lot of fun interactions,” Haynes said. “(Martinez and Puckett) tend to break down that wall.”
There is a lot to be said about the reactions received from the students, Haynes said. People aren’t very social; they are focused on themselves.
“If they do it, I can totally do it,” he said.
Haynes worked with Martinez and Puckett in this week’s video as a cameraman. They organized a flash mob consisting of various UNM students as well as some of their friends.
The group sat outside the SUB entrance and waited until someone walked out. On Martinez’s cue, the group stood up, clapped for a few seconds and promptly sat down.
Syam Dokuparthi, a first-year computer science graduate student, said he was not startled as he had seen similar pranks online.
“I was not nervous because it is our college and our students,” Dokuparthi said. “It is good (to see the interaction between students). If one doesn’t know what is happening then they will be shocked.”
Dokuparthi said he felt that the interaction should not be shocking because students should want to interact with others.
Cinthia Ramirez, a freshman nursing major, said her initial reaction was to be confused.
“I thought, ‘what the f**k’?,” Ramirez said. “I was like, ‘is this for me?’”
To see AntiSocial’s YouTube videos, go to youtube.com/AntiSocialYT.
Moriah Carty is the assistant culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at cultureassistant@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @MoriahCarty.
