The Text-Your-Parents-Your-Drug-Deal Experiment 267
theodp writes "Having fooled major news outlets with a heartwarming-but-entirely-faked video of a pig rescuing a drowning goat, Nathan Fielder turned his attention to texting. CNET reports on the great Twitter 'text-your-parents-you're-a-drug-dealer' experiment, in which the Fielder called on his Twitter followers to text their moms and dads and (accidentally) reveal a drug deal. Fielder's tweet read: 'Experiment: text your parents "got 2 grams for $40" then right after "Sorry ignore that txt. Not for you." Then tweet pic of their response.' The reactions are various and, sometimes, hilarious."
Seems like a risky proposition (Score:5, Insightful)
In the United Paranoid States.
This is a good idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
Now these people know that their children are morons.
Re:This is a good idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes.
And while the standard moron often shows initiative, these ones are "obeying morons", the duller subset.
Come on, make your parents regret having had you.
Again.
Re:This is a good idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
Because nothing good can come from texting that to your parents.
At best, they just ignore it. At worst, well, there's all sorts of possibilities for that.
Because (Score:5, Insightful)
Because encouraging kids to lie to their parents is a good thing. Causing family stress is a good thing. What a stupid idea. Kids lie enough and cause enough stress as it is.
Shit (Score:0, Insightful)
What the fuck is with this shit submission? Post this fucking shit on redditand keep it the fuck off slashdot
Re:just an observation... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'll lighten up, if you can explain to me what's funny about telling your parents that you're a drug addict and a criminal.
really? (Score:5, Insightful)
I've never actually done a comment like this, where I go "Oh come on Slashdot, what is this and why is it here?"
But come on Slashdot, why is this here?
News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters.
On the validity of screenshots (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is a good idea. (Score:2, Insightful)
Because while teenagers may not realize it, parents are people too. Causing them the stress and worry of thinking that their child has become a criminal is pointlessly cruel.
Re:This is a good idea. (Score:4, Insightful)
Sure sure, just one question, why are they morons?
I will answer you, but first you must complete my next "experiment": Text your parents, "n car wrek hlp", then turn your phone off for at least 12 hours.
Not to mention not nice (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This is a good idea. (Score:2, Insightful)
No, at worst they now think you're a drug dealer.
Jesus fucking Christ, you're the moron.
Why would you think it's FUNNY to potentially sabotage the trust in a parent-child relationship that way?
Re:Not to mention not nice (Score:5, Insightful)
Ah come on, what sort of a relationship do you have with your family if you can't play a little prank on them from time to time.
Re:Not to mention not nice (Score:5, Insightful)
Ah come on, what sort of a relationship do you have with your family if you can't play a little prank on them from time to time.
Probably the kind where the parents can not entirely dismiss the notion that their child may be doing something quite serious that they don't know about. In other words: virtually every parent of a teenager who is honest with themselves.
Re:This is a good idea. (Score:3, Insightful)
If they freak out and go apeshit over it, the parent-child relationship doesn't hold a lot of trust anyway.
Don't have kids, do you?
Re:just an observation... (Score:3, Insightful)
FFS lighten up. My dad was an asshole. I'm an asshole. My kid is an asshole. Unless the kid finds a saint with whom to have a child, I suspect my grandson will be yet another asshole, in a long, long, long line of assholes. What's your problem with assholes, anyway? You're another bigot?
Re:This is a good idea. (Score:5, Insightful)
No True Parent...
Re:Not to mention not nice (Score:1, Insightful)
Er... yes? In what world does this count as "nice"?
Fun 'prank' that is... (Score:5, Insightful)
...makes me think of punk'd, to be honest.
Remember when there were good prank shows?
When you'd have a desk clerk do a quick change act between tending to a customer and seeing them slowly wonder "wasn't she wearing a red shirt just a moment ago? Hold on, I swear she was a brunette!". Or perhaps one of the greatest pranks, switching a regular car for its UK equivalent in mere minutes, moving the person's every possession, then watch as they come back, get into 'their' car, try to start, and suddenly realize the ignition they tried to put the key in is actually thin air and wonder just wtf happened.
Now it seems it's a 'better' prank if you take the same car and bash its windows in in front of the person, then quickly run up to them with a camera in their face telling them how they were had because the celebrity victim is about to call the cops in on the situation - and being a celebrity, they have little choice but to react 'like a good sport' because who wants to be deemed the sourpuss?
No, I don't see what's funny about this. Nor newsworthy; Jimmy Kimmel has put up prank challenges and asks viewer to YouTube them for some time now. I'm sure he wasn't the first either.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jimmy+kimmel+challenge [youtube.com]
What's next? "Text your mother 'Mama, just killed a man' and post their replies"? You know, 'cos that's hilarious - and if found otherwise just claim it's a sociological experiment to see how many pranksters' moms know Bohemian Rhapsody. 'cos the text in this story clearly doesn't refer to drugs either (I'm sure he ran that by legal).
Re:Not to mention not nice (Score:3, Insightful)
Which this is becoming....
Re:Fun 'prank' that is... (Score:4, Insightful)
You have the power to grant yourself that wish :) I'm happy to live in a world where people hold different senses of humor - I just prefer the more creative ones over the shock/humiliate ones. If the latter is more up your alley, I believe MTV has you covered.
No pranking my parents at my age... (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm in my 30s and thankfully both my parents are still alive. With the small insight my age has given me I am increasingly grateful for the endless s*** my parents had to put up with (which I'm not going to list). My parents are nice enough to not rub it in my face now that I'm somewhat wiser, and in return I try to demonstrate that maybe I learned from it.
Now days if I get a call from my parents wondering if I could look at their PC and fix it, or teach them (again) how to use MS Word templates, or needs ANYTHING, no problem - I am there. I don't say "I'm kinda busy, and my kids have the flu..." (Cat's in the Cradle (no I don't have kids, I read slashdot)). I do it with a smile. My Mom says she would appreciate it if I would call more often, like once a week, I call, even if I don't really have anything interesting to tell. Because she asked.
Doing this false drug prank would be the worst kind of crass. It is taking the love and concern that a loving parent has for you, mocking it, and using it against them to cause them worry, concern, and pain. Then saying "Ha ha!! Just a joke. Got you!!!"
Kids now days... Did I just say that? Geez I'm getting old...
Congrats soulskill (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Fun 'prank' that is... (Score:5, Insightful)
Most "pranks" just seem to be forms of bullying. They only work because there's an asymmetrical power relationship, those in a position of power "pranking" those in a position of weakness.
[I saw this illustrated in Punk'd. The crew tried to prank Ashton Kutcher himself. He responded by "pretending" to throw a tantrum and fire the crew involved. Then "ha ha, only joking" revealed that he knew he'd been set up and was just turning the tables... However, what I saw (both in the reactions of the crew, and in Kutcher's braying "ha ha! I am the master! You don't Punk me, I Punk you!") was a thin-skinned bully demonstrating his power over those weaker than him. He showed them that he could, in fact, destroy their livelihoods if he chose to, and they continue purely because he decided to be a "good sport".
By contrast, while I's not a fan of Jackass, it does seem like they have a culture where they genuinely mutually prank each other; however painful/violent the pranks, it's not coming from the more powerful against the weaker. The dwarf is just as likely to do something to the star as the reverse, and the reaction of the rest of the crew (including the star) is of appreciation of the prank. 180 degrees from Kutcher's reaction.]
Re:This is a good idea. (Score:4, Insightful)
If they freak out and go apeshit over it, the parent-child relationship doesn't hold a lot of trust anyway.
Don't have kids, do you?
I do, and if my kid texted me something like that, I'd probably either assume I was being pranked, or freak out a little (but definitely wouldn't go "ape-shit" or anything). If the latter, then when they told me it was all just a prank, I'd see the funny side of it and we'd have a good laugh together.
I've never understood the type of child-parent relationship where so little trust exists. Someone, somewhere, screwed up bad in that situation.