# YouTube "Storytime" Clickbait Parodies YouTube "Storytime" Clickbait Parodies are Photoshopped jokes mocking the overblown confessional titles vloggers slap on "StoryTime" videos. Twitter user @drewistru posted one of the earliest known examples on October 8th, 2016, and by mid-December the Photoshops drew write-ups from NY Mag's SelectAll, Smosh and BuzzFeed. ## Origin On October 8th, 2016, Twitter user @drewistru posted one of the earliest known jokes aimed at the StoryTime genre, a tweet that gained over 800 retweets and more than 1,700 likes by December 20th that year[4]. The format did not catch on at the time, going quiet for roughly two months before being picked up more widely[3]. The target was a style of video popularized by teen and young-adult vloggers, in which a creator sits in front of the camera and narrates a supposedly true event, often tagged with aggressive capitalization and emoji in the title[2]. @drewistru's post set the template of mimicking that title voice while attaching it to a mundane or made-up scenario. - **Platform:** Twitter - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2016 ## Overview The parodies work by pairing a thumbnail of a YouTuber mid-expression with a fake title styled after real "StoryTime" uploads, where vloggers tell dramatic personal stories straight to the camera[1]. Posters invent captions so absurd they read as plausible, mocking the tendency of creators to inflate minor events into life-threatening ordeals for a punchier title[3]. The look borrows directly from Top 10 Anime List Parodies, which paste outlandish text over a frozen YouTube thumbnail to sell the joke as a real video[3]. Common invented premises target chain-restaurant mishaps, haunted houses, cheating boyfriends and near-death situations, echoing titles like "MURDERER AT SCHOOL | STORYTIME" that circulate on actual channels[2]. ## How to Use A typical post takes a screenshot of a real StoryTime video (or a plain YouTube thumbnail of a creator pulling an exaggerated face) and overlays an invented title in the all-caps, emoji-heavy style the genre is known for[1]. Captions often include fake view counts, upload timestamps and sidebar "up next" videos to sell the composite as a real page. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is YouTube "Storytime" Clickbait Parodies? It is a Photoshop joke format that mocks YouTubers who film dramatic "StoryTime" videos, overlaying fake, outlandish titles on real thumbnails to lampoon clickbait tendencies[1]. ### Where did YouTube "Storytime" Clickbait Parodies come from? Twitter user @drewistru posted one of the earliest known examples on October 8th, 2016, and the format spread more widely in mid-December that year[4][3]. ### What does YouTube "Storytime" Clickbait Parodies mean? The joke suggests that StoryTime vloggers invent or inflate experiences to drive views, so parody titles push that habit to an absurd extreme[1]. ### How do you use YouTube "Storytime" Clickbait Parodies? Pick a thumbnail of a YouTuber making an exaggerated face and overlay a fake all-caps, emoji-heavy StoryTime title mimicking the voice of real uploads such as "MURDERER AT SCHOOL | STORYTIME"[2]. ### Is YouTube "Storytime" Clickbait Parodies still popular? The format peaked in December 2016 with coverage from NY Mag, Smosh and BuzzFeed, and activity around it has slowed since that run[1][5]. ## References 1. [https://nymag.com/selectall/2016/12/youtube-clickbait-is-this-weeks-funny-new-meme.html]() 2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pn7vmvcMKU]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/youtube-storytime-clickbait-parodies]() 4. [https://twitter.com/drewistru/status/784918149544062976]() 5. [https://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/memes/twitter-making-fun-clickbait-youtubers]() 6. [https://www.buzzfeed.com/hattiesoykan/chipotle-employee-tried-to-poison-me]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/youtube-storytime-clickbait-parodies Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library