U of I study looks at how viral videos affect us

Posted on June 12, 2023
Emily Mendelson, a graduate student in interpersonal communication at the University of Illinois, used the “couch guy” TikTok video as the launching point for her study into how viral videos affect us. (WJBC file photo)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – The “couch guy” video, a TikTok sensation a couple of years ago, has spurred a University of Illinois study of how viral videos affect us.

Emily Mendelson, a graduate student in communications, says the real story is not necessarily the video, but, rather, how people respond.

“I saw a lot of derivatives of the video to make memes,” she said, “a lot of people analyzing the body language, a lot of people responding to it, and I thought this would be an interesting thing to write a paper about. Let me think about how I can connect this video to concepts in rhetoric and interpersonal communications and see what we have here.”

The video depicts a young woman surprising her boyfriend at college, and his reaction strikes some as underwhelming. The girlfriend – who posted the video – was upset when commenters told her to break up with the couch guy. But she got the last laugh in using her TikTok profile to sell “couch guy” T-shirts.

Mendelson’s paper: Sensemaking and public intimacy on TikTok: How viral videos influence interpersonal relationships offline – Emily A Mendelson, 2023 (sagepub.com)

The video: Couch Guy Original Tik Tok – YouTube

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…