“Damn, Daniel!”
“Back at it again with the white Vans!”
These internet references have recently been heard on a frequent basis on and off campus, echoed by student users of social media including Vine, Twitter, and Instagram.
The Internet sensation known as “Damn, Daniel” was posted on Feb. 15; it went viral in less than a week.
According to the New York Times, the video strings together multiple Snapchat segments filmed by sophomore Joshua Holz. Holz took snapchats every day showcasing freshman Daniel Lara’s outfits, repeating the comment “Damn, Daniel” in a comical voice each video. Holz also points out Lara’s white Vans shoes multiple times, saying “Back at it again with the white Vans!” The boys go to Riverside Polytechnic High School in California.
The original tweet incorporating the videos has over 300 thousand retweets and has been liked by over 400 thousand Twitter followers.
Although the video was originally humorous, some Carlmont students appear to be rather irritated with the overused references to “Damn, Daniel.”
“I’m hearing references way more than I would like and it’s very irritating,” said sophomore Sophia Gunning.
Some were originally amused with the video, but became tired of constantly hearing about it.
Sophomore Jake Stulbarg said, “When I first saw the video I found it funny, but then everyone started saying it and it got old.”
“Damn, Daniel” seems to be an accurate representation of the way people, specifically teenagers, have the capability to view and wear out Internet trends quickly. Because so many young people are logged on, a humorous video can become viral overnight, leading to its predictable ripple effects.
Examples of these trends are often found on Vine, such as “What’re those?” or “What’s nine plus ten?”
According to statistics from Digital Stats/Scramblings in 2015, 31.8 percent of Vine users are between the ages of 14 and 17, which are the ages of most high school students. In addition, 1.5 billion Vine loops are played daily. If these statistics are correct, teens play Vine loops on an average of 477 million times per day.
Junior Julia Kelly finds popular Vines more amusing than irritating.
“People spin off of the references a little, and they’re fun because the Vines are super inclusive when a lot of people know about them. I definitely used a ‘Daniel’ joke in English class and it was really funny. Then again, that’s right when it went viral, and although I’m not annoyed with it I know people who are,” said Kelly.
