Mukbang is a South Korean video craze in which a host eats huge amounts of foods while interacting with their audience. Comedian and mukbang superfan Rose Matafeo decided to make her own mukbang, so she bought $60 of takeaways from Double Happy in Te Atatū South, west Auckland, and got to work. The Spinoff’s food … Read more
Jamie Curry uploaded a video titled “my sexuality” last Sunday, and in doing so let viewers in on a deeply personal side of herself. Sharing one’s personal life online isn’t a new phenomenon, but for YouTube content creators it’s also a part of their job. Audiences expect to be let in to the creator’s world, … Read more
The 80s were a time for wellness videos from all kinds of celebrities. But the best one? Dame Angela Lansbury’s. Sam Brooks found the tape, and dug through it for the gems. Look, Angela Lansbury is a damn treasure. She’s got five Tonys (those are the Oscars for theatre), she’s been nominated for three Oscars, … Read more
You may have come across ASMR videos on YouTube and been baffled at people speaking softly while they pretend to cut your hair or do your makeup. But for some New Zealanders these videos are not just a way to relax, but an aid to their mental health. Baz Macdonald investigates. A beautiful young man … Read more
Many parents of young people have been in touch asking for advice on how to talk to their children about YouTuber Logan Paul’s video in the Aokigahara ‘suicide’ forest in Japan which showed a man who had died by suicide. High school teacher and counsellor Louisa Woods has some tips for parents. Content warning: This post contains … Read more
Would you watch a stranger open PR packages in a YouTube video longer than the average sitcom episode? Millions of people do. Morgan Ashworth explains why. Shannon Harris is sitting on the floor in her filming room, wearing a Gucci-esque t-shirt and Homer Simpson pyjama bottoms. She’s surrounded by packages. It’s like 15 Christmases at … Read more
Alex Casey spends a night at the New Zealand Social Media Awards, and meets both the influencers at the top of the food chain, and those trying desperately to climb the ladder. Joel Thomas took the photos. A sales rep for Mitsubishi Electric specialising in heat pumps and refrigeration, Tama was proudly sporting a t-shirt … Read more
Whether they’re sharing beauty tutorials or performing pratfalls for the camera, social media influencers tend to have one thing in common: they want us to buy things. In a video collaboration between Frame News, Wrestler and The Spinoff, we look at influencers, and the powerful marketing industry behind them. Almost as soon as we had … Read more
Josie & T are best friends, Auckland University students, and rising social media stars who’re unafraid to speak out on social issues. Their latest video goes in on and straight at ‘blackface’ Youtuber Jimi Jackson. Zaskiya Lesa talked to Josie & T about why they’re happy to be outspoken. Online video star Jimi Jackson is no stranger … Read more
Zaskiya Lesa talks to Kris Fox about finding fame online, beauty blogger sellouts and why he can’t go to the mall anymore. I tend to find myself mindlessly scrolling through social media to kill time, and without fail a Kris Fox video will always pop up on my timeline. His sassy, rambunctious tone is always … Read more
On YouTube, every conceivable interest is catered to, including the brutal power of top quality, highly engineered swords. David Farrier talks to Lynn Thompson, founder of sword, knife and viral video makers Cold Steel. “The pig is the closest thing to a human, in terms of flesh consistency, arrangement of organs.” Welcome to the violent, … Read more
No-one knows who they are in the ‘real world’, but the members of Viva La Dirt League are famous in the only place it counts: the Internet. They tell Hayden Donnell how to walk their path to success. Until six months ago, Alan Morrison, Rowan Bettjeman and Adam King were just workaday losers like you … Read more
David Farrier, director of docu-thriller Tickled, stumbles into another deeply disturbing instance of vulnerable people being exploited online – this time children, on YouTube. Editor’s note: While we have endeavoured to protect the identities of the children involved, we recognise that by publishing this story their privacy may be compromised. It is our opinion that privacy … Read more
Today marks the 10th anniversary of one of YouTube’s first viral videos. To celebrate, Madeleine Chapman looks back on 2006, the year of stellar YouTube content. October 12 has always been an eventful day in our history. On this day in 1492, Christopher Columbus reached land in The Bahamas. In 1773, America’s first insane asylum was … Read more
A group of young Wellingtonians have scored millions of online views for their idiosyncratic Shakespearean revamps. With the launch of their third series, Bright Summer Night, we asked them to explain themselves, and they sent us a video. The first two web series by the Candle Wasters put a girdle around the earth in hardly … Read more
It sounds like a bureaucratic bore, but Auckland’s Tripartite Economic Summit, with guests including a British YouTube superstar and an American political “rock star”, is the hottest ticket in town. Tim Murphy reports from day one. YouTuber Tom Cassell – who is globally famous as Syndicate Tom – has been walking and talking around Auckland, … Read more
For three decades, Jesse Mulligan has followed his favourite comedian to the point of obsession via every available medium, facsimile included. On Garry Shandling, who has died at 66 Before YouTube, it was so much harder to follow the careers of the comedians you loved. I’d fallen hard for the comedy of Garry Shandling when … Read more
Spinoff legend Alex Casey’s 2015 as a first-time author: Jamie Curry, Jamie’s World, Napier, Sydney, ‘proper famous’, bacon and eggs and revenge. The first time I encountered Jamie Curry she was in a short Facebook clip, you know the kind that start out kind of normal and then you suddenly see a dog walking past … Read more