“Lazy Sunday” was blasting 

out of my dad’s office when 
he called my sisters and me in 
to watch Andy Samberg and 
Chris Parnell rhythmically talk 
about Narnia and Magnolia 
cupcakes. At the time, I wasn’t 
completely sure what was going 
on in the small video box on 
the screen, but I laughed along 
because all the older, wiser 
members of my family were. 
Quickly, Samberg’s voice was 
followed up by the blaring tune 
of “Numa Numa” featuring an 
overweight man gesticulating 
wildly on screen — and my 
introduction to YouTube was 
officially 
complete. 
“Numa 

Numa” played us out.

Born in the digital age, 

I never had any difficulty 
grasping 
the 
concept 
of 

YouTube. While it was foreign 
in the face of adults who were 
still wrapping their minds 
around DVD, YouTube was 
just another format on the 
continuously growing list of 
platforms that allowed me to 

publicize my life to friends 
and strangers alike. I would 
obsessively watch MadTV’s 
Stuart 
squealing, 
“Look 

what I can do!” and track 
down bootlegged episodes of 
“The Suite Life of Zack and 
Cody” while simultaneously 
loading low-quality, pixelated 
versions of PG-13 movies at 
the scandalous age of 10. The 
buffering symbol was the bane 
of my existence as a child, 
but little did I know that the 
Internet was preparing me for 
an acid wash that no chemical 
compound could sustain.

So let’s take it back, to Natalie 

Zak circa the seventh grade. 
Privileged and spoiled, I was 
blessed with the opportunity to 
go to London at age 11, an age 
where I could at least pretend 
to appreciate world cultures 
(while in reality I was slightly 
confused about how geography 
works). I remember boarding 
the plane while still fuzzy 
on the concept of countries 
and land masses; even then, a 

casual onlooker could tell my 
future was bright.

A trip highlighted by art 

galleries and carefully selected 
Gap Kids outfits, it marked 
a substantial shift in my 
adolescence and personality. 
Turning on the TV in the 
hotel room to find YouTube an 
available application, my sisters 
and I immediately logged on 
and were greeted by the fateful 
words that will forever be 
seared in my memory: “Alex 
Reads Twilight: Chapter 1.”

I was doomed before we 

even 
finished 
the 
video. 

Like any adolescent, I was 
experiencing my middle school 
excursion into Anglophilia that 
involved Union Jack T-shirts 
and a feigned passion for The 
Beatles (whom I couldn’t have 
known less about at the time). 
Had it not been for the video of 
a scrawny, overly opinionated 
British teenager, I could have 
escaped this phase unscathed. 
Instead, I came out bruised 
and bloody on the other side, 

having lost years of my life to 
an endless series of five-minute 
rants and ramblings.

“Alex 
Reads 
Twilight” 

served as my entrance into the 
world of British YouTube, and 
I was immediately hooked. I 
took in everything Alex Day 
said as the word of God even 
though his godless existence 
preached nothing of value. 
His 
outlandish 
ideas 
and 

championed causes became 
ones I ran around proclaiming. 
Through a platform of easily 
manipulated tween girls, Day 
built his career.

From the snarkiness and 

sass of “nerimon,” I moved 
to the lighter, more cheerful 
Charlie McDonnell, otherwise 
known as “charlieissocoollike.” 
While watching him dye his 
hair red and adorn token 
glasses, I learned of a little 
button underneath the video 
that urged me to make the 
relationship 
binding 
¬— 

“subscribe.” 

B
The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | Thursday, February 25, 2016
the b-side

See YOUTUBE, Page 2B

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Thanks, Lemon

I think it’s better if you just stop making videos.

All these people saying #forgivesam, remember two months 
ago when you wanted him to die? Yeah, I do. #dontforgivesam

Alex Day is a disaster, stop watching his videos and stop supporting 
him.

Confessions of a Middle School Anglophile: 
The Toxic YouTube Vlogger Community

By Natalie Zak,
Daily Community Culture Editor

DESIGN BY SCOTTY HARDIN & JACKLYN THOMAS