Live, risky, controversial. If a YouTube prank vlog goes wrong, OSINT can help.
On April 23, 2005, two months after co-founding the site, Jawed Karim uploaded a clip to his YouTube channel – Me at the Zoo. The aforementioned ‘Paypal Mafia’ member stands in front of the elephant enclosure at San Diego Zoo. Today, it’s low-key, almost boring: a grainy, ordinary, monotone kind of spectacle.
“Alright, so here we are in front of the, uh, elephants, and the cool thing about these guys is that, is that they have really, really, really long, um, trunks, and that's, that's cool. And that's pretty much all there is to say.” – YouTube Co-Founder Jawed Karim in the site’s first upload, Me At The Zoo. [Source: YouTube]
These 19 seconds have been viewed by over 350 million people to date. More than 10 million have commented. Karim’s video signalled that YouTube was democratizing broadcast media, sparking a cultural shift unique to the internet age.
The rest is history. Twenty years later, no-holds-barred platforms like Kick, Rumble and Twitch share the stage. Controversial ‘lifestreamer’ Ice Poseidon sets up a prank speed-dating booth on UCLA's campus, promising free candy as an excuse to roast students’ majors, hometowns, and looks in front of 20,000 viewers.
To “trigger the liberals”, one uncomfortable student gets a misogynistic ‘debate’ about women's rights – others get crass shock humor, or ‘ironic’ racism. It’s an interactive show: fans can trigger unpredictable text-to-speech remarks, mostly slurs and one-liners. After a half hour, campus police cite complaints about hate speech from students and force him to leave.
"I don't have a personal life. My personal life is my stream…" – Ice Poseidon, controversial YouTuber and ‘lifestreamer’. [Source: Rolling Stone]
Fans can watch ‘IRL streamer’ Johnny Somali with the KNP as he’s banned from leaving South Korea, facing 10 years in prison after performing lap-dance gestures on the memorial to ‘Comfort Women’ held in sexual slavery. In Japan, Suspendas streams himself making racist comments on Kick, behaving sexually in front of a minor and sexually assaulting two passed out women, live. 21-year-old Jack Docherty crashes his McLaren sports car live while reading chat messages on his phone. He streams the aftermath, including his cameraman bleeding from the head.
“Michael, here. Michael, do you have your — film on that phone, too…” – YouTuber Jack Docherty to his injured cameraman, after his livestreamed crash. [Source: NBC]
Often hilarious, often horrifying, livestreaming today is vlog culture pumped on steroids. The germ was there in Me at the Zoo: too-close-for-comfort POV camera, the illusion of a one-on-one in-joke between high school buddies, the (now tame) sexual innuendo that sets a tone for transgressive behavior. Karim has since updated his vlog’s description to warn us “microplastics are accumulating in human brains at an alarming rate”.
Karim is right that the human brain is very different from twenty years ago. Now accustomed to interactions through a rectangle of Gorilla Glass, our brains undergo processes that make it worth a streamer’s while to ‘farm’ controversial content. Katharine Hodgdon at Texas A&M University suggests content creators capitalize on “parasocial interaction”, performing the signals of friendship to keep viewers watching: “a person, typically a consumer, develops a one-sided relationship with a media persona… even though they have never met [them] personally or even know what [they’re] like outside.”
In tandem, it's hard to deny the element of schadenfreude. The butt of the joke has shifted from the elephants behind glass; today, Karim would be the real exhibit, in a zoo of his own making. Streamers are often subject to swatting and IRL harm, report feeling suicidal, and reach shocking emotional lows – often on-stream. The impetus to scream slurs and embarrassing content in text-to-speech isn’t likely to be parasocial friendship, particularly as a content creator tearfully recounts his painful childhood (albeit while zorbing).
“When your job is to constantly share your life, even your worst moments are an opportunity to please your audience.” – Adrien Chen, ex-New Yorker Staff Writer on Internet Culture. [Source: New Yorker]
Streamers can come from everywhere, and not all are engaged in risky, boundary-pushing behavior. Twitch boasts thousands of IRL glimpses into everyday life, garbage men and on-duty cops. However, because this is interactive media, drama is an inevitable draw. When the joke stops being funny, it's often down to viewers to set boundaries of what is acceptable; if not for controversial content creators themselves, for the health of a wider content culture. Whatever occurs on-stream has thousands of witnesses. In a format tending from the outset to walk the line of taste, to run close to the wire, viewers hold those who push things too far accountable – if they don’t join the mob.
“YouTube is more than a platform; it’s a beast, with different cultures making up its exoskeleton. It’s formed an entire culture around displaying every aspect of people’s lives… and people will try to take advantage of that public space.” – Julia Alexander ex-Entertainment Reporter, Polygon [Source: Polygon]
Openly accessible streams, openly accessible data. A livestream is a public space. If things go awry, an investigator has all the open-source data at their fingertips to dig deeper into what went wrong – and draw the line on what is acceptable on-stream. Enter an analyst with a novel application for OSINT Industries.
Meet Jordan, an OSINT/SOCMINT Analyst.
“I have been doing OSINT since the age of 11 without even knowing it…” – Jordan, an OSINT and SOCMINT Analyst [Source: OSINT Industries]
Jordan S. is an OSINT/SOCMINT Analyst, and an OSINT Industries user. In many ways, he’s a stellar example of an independent OSINT professional.
OSINT has been a part of Jordan’s life for as long as he can remember, since his beginnings as a teenager “tracking down sources of information for facts that had a [citation needed] template” on wikis. Soon, his OSINT expertise took him on a journey through video game writing to due diligence, SOCMINT, missing persons, and journalistic efforts in difficult OSINT climates like Japan.
Jordan began his career as a Deputy Director. Now, he employs a Deputy Director under him – on his own site. He is currently scouting for opportunities to put his SOCMINT and OSINT analysis skills to the test. OSINT Industries is an everyday part of his workflow.
One such opportunity came along when, on YouTube, Jordan was one of thousands of witnesses to a “standard prank routine” escalating into a sexual assault. Working alone, Jordan decided to apply his OSINT skills – and demonstrate how SOCMINT, GEOInt and OSINT Industries can be instrumental in livestream and video investigations that leave only scraps of evidence behind.
‘He Wouldn’t Stop Touching Me’: From Comedy to Trauma
‘Social experiments’ are a mainstay of modern livestreaming. Content creators will set up scenarios that range from harmless interactions — like offering strangers free money — to more extreme pranks or staged conflicts, ostensibly to test human behavior and social norms in unscripted settings. Of course, unlike more scientific social experiments performed in controlled environments and analyzed after the fact, livestreamed ‘experiments’ unfold in the opposite of a hermetically-sealed laboratory: in public, with a thousand-strong audience actively engaging through live chat, suggestions and donations.
These ‘social experiments’ are designed to provoke reactions. The unfiltered nature of livestreaming adds an element of risk, as blindsided participants react with amusement or hostility to a format that either raises deeper psychological or societal questions – or blurs the line between entertainment and exploitation. In this real-time feedback loop (streamer to viewer to participant), anything can happen.
Mario Adrion is a German-American comedian, YouTuber, and former fashion model, known for his comic turn on American Idol performing a catwalk in a Speedo with Katy Perry. After modeling for Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Gucci and Vogue, Adrion transitioned to establishing a strong YouTube following as a comedian, refuting the suggestion he’s “too pretty” to be funny. Adrion’s livestreams, comedy skits, vlogs, and storytelling videos have amassed over 2m followers and 256 million views as of December 2024, and he’s succeeded too as an offline stand-up, performing at The Stand, The Hollywood Improv, and the Laugh Factory.
Adrion’s channel includes traditional stand-up comedy, but also boundary-pushing live ‘experiments’: ‘Hitchhiking in my Underwear’, ‘Asian Man vs German Model’ or ‘How Big are You?!’. His emphasis throughout, however, is on harmless and well-intentioned fun – with the consent of all involved. Adrion is a legitimate and multifaceted comedian, with an intention to challenge male stereotypes, promote emotional authenticity, engage with LGBTQ+ identities and find his voice as a comic post-modeling.
“One of my most important messages is to redefine what it means to be a man… I want to break a lot of blocks men have when it comes to talking about their sexuality or their vulnerabilities. I want to entertain and learn from my guests while also challenging a lot of the narrow minded ideas a lot of Americans have about masculinity.” – Mario Adrion, YouTube Comedian and Streamer [Source: YASSMagazine]
In early 2022, Jordan was watching one of Adrion’s ‘social experiment’ videos. In West Hollywood, California, at night, Adrion approached strangers with a dollar and “asked them to do random things.” One participant was approached and asked to “sing a birthday song”. There was “no vibe”, Mario says, he was “not flirting”. He did so, before groping the comedian’s crotch without his consent. Mario asked him to stop several times, but the participant continued, sexually assaulting Mario a total of five times.
This assault did not make the cut of Mario’s final stream video. Censored footage of the incident was uploaded briefly to YouTube, but was later privated. A version was then uploaded to Dailymotion, but replaced with another video: ‘He wouldn't stop touching me...Sexual Assault as a Man’. Here, above the disclaimer “this is not a comedy video”, Mario tearfully recounts how he was assaulted in front of his thousands of fans.
Through tears, Mario tells his assaulter “go f*ck yourself”. He recounts the times he had been sexually assaulted and harassed as a male model, but felt the burden of masculine expectations preventing him from speaking up. He discusses the tendency men have to deny that they are “traumatized by this”, to become paralyzed and silenced, and holds up a book: Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It. This incident was the catalyst to “finally” discuss how his trauma as a sexual assault survivor disrupted his life, his sexuality, and his sense of self-worth.
One of the regrets Mario describes is being unable to tell these “motherf*ckers” they were “f*cked up”. As an OSINT professional, Jordan had an idea. Adrion’s videos share a common quirk of ‘social experiment’ streams: pseudonymity. Participants are usually identified only by first names, or nicknames bestowed by streamers or fans. With OSINT, this scrap of information could be enough to identify Mario’s assaulter, and draw the line of acceptability. In Mario’s words, Jordan was “not gonna be part of the problem by looking away”.
“I wish I could always make the most fun videos and inspire you to get out of your comfort zone… However with this video I feel it is my responsibility to talk about something nobody talks about… As men we can’t talk about things that happen to us, but F*CK THAT… There’s NO f*cking excuses.” – YouTube Comedian Mario Adrion in ‘He wouldn't stop touching me...Sexual Assault as a Man’ [Source: Dailymotion]
Jordan knew two things to begin his manual OSINT search. First, the assault had occurred in West Hollywood. In the video, Jordan could see a building’s turret in the background, placing the video at the intersection of Robertson Blvd, in front of The Chapel At The Abbey. He could quickly pin this spot on a map.
Second to this GeoINT, Jordan knew Mario’s assaulter “worked at a hot dog stand”. Indeed, a hotdog stand was in the local area: Big Dix Hot Dogs in Santa Monica (located at 8954 Santa Monica Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90069). It would be a one minute drive to the site of the assault. The owner of the stand was ‘Anthony Reed D.’ Following this name brought Jordan to an old resume that had been publicly uploaded.
Jordan had a hot lead. He turned to OSINT Industries.
‘Big Dix Hot Dogs’: The Irony of Self-Exposure
On his public resume, Anthony Reed D. had listed not only his address, but also his email and phone number.
Jordan inputted these into our tool, and OSINT Industries reverse phone lookup immediately revealed connected accounts: WhatsApp, Facebook, Apple, BeenVerified and data aggregator Melissa. They suggested that Mario’s assaulter typically went by the name ‘Reed D.’ Crucially, Jordan had also found CashApp and Venmo profiles linked to Reed D.’s number. His CashApp username – “bigdixhotdog”.
“So many people have this fucked up perception that just because I’m a man they can do whatever they want to me…” – YouTube Comedian Mario Adrion in ‘He wouldn't stop touching me...Sexual Assault as a Man’ [Source: Dailymotion]
OSINT Industries also revealed that Reed D.’s accounts had been subject to several data breaches, on Modern Business Solutions, Twitter, AT&T and Eye4Fraud. Further accounts were revealed on Google, Whoxy, eBay, Dropbox, Yelp, AliExpress, Pandora and Napster. This was a clear corroboration of identity; what’s more, Jordan had uncovered connected profiles for Reed D.’s hot dog stand. Reed D.’s stand had a presence on TikTok (@bigdixhotdogs), on Instagram (@bigdixhotdog), and a website (bigdixhotdogs.com).
Ironically, Jordan was able to cross reference Reed D.’s profile pictures via his appearance in Big Dix video content.
Reporting the“Motherf*ckers”: The Power of Data Visualization
Now that Jordan had leveraged OSINT to identify the location of the assault and the identity of the perpetrator, he planned to hand the information on to law enforcement. He filed an anonymous report with the Los Angeles division of Crime Stoppers, compiling his findings.
“I don’t have to punch a guy in the face to make him understand it’s not OK to touch me like that.” – YouTube Comedian Mario Adrion in ‘He wouldn't stop touching me...Sexual Assault as a Man’ [Source: Dailymotion]
This reporting process, Jordan says, was made far easier with the use of Palette, OSINT Industries’ powerful visualization tool. With Palette, the links that could be drawn between Reed D’s digital footprints were clear. Jordan attached both OSINT Industries’ concise and comprehensive export documents and Palette graphs – and in the process found additional details (such as a LinkedIn account) that he had not seen before.
These “updated discoveries made through using OSINT Industries… bolstered [the] original evidence”, strengthening Jordan’s case for Reed D.’s guilt in assaulting Mario Adrion. With our OSINT tools and an independent investigator’s open-source expertise, it was clear that nobody had to “punch a guy” to make him understand his actions were beyond unacceptable. This assault had thousands of witnesses, and any viewer with OSINT knowhow could speak out clearly against what they had seen.
Identifying Mario’s assaulter was also a strong statement about consent and respect for male survivors of sexual assault. By taking steps to leverage OSINT in support of Mario Adrion, Jordan’s investigation emphasizes that male survivors are heard, amplifying the streamer’s tearful message that “unless it’s a clear yes, it’s a NO.” In a transgressive YouTube culture where male-on-male sexual assault is often reduced to a punchline, this OSINT investigation clearly demarcates where the culture should change, and the laughter should end.
OSINT Industries: Fueling Independent Investigations
“While OSINT Industries’ tool doesn’t collect data from everywhere (yet), it has introduced me to countless new data sources. As an example, golf app sites were recently added. I never would have thought of that as a potential source of OSINT…” – Jordan, an OSINT and SOCMINT Analyst [Source: OSINT Industries]
Jordan’s case was a victory for independent OSINT investigators. It’s an example of why OSINT Industries is proud to offer our support for grassroots OSINT work.
Before our tool, Jordan was painstakingly conducting phone, username and email searches manually, utilizing Boolean searches and proprietary HTML tools that “cover a fraction of the sources [our tool] has access to.” His journey with OSINT Industries began when we supplied him with credits to assist his research. The boost to his research powers led Jordan to become part of the evolving community around our tool, and – although a Canadian resident – into the UK OSINT Community, inspired by the collaborative strength of OSINT professionals working together for #OSINT4Good.
Now, this independent investigator relies on OSINT Industries to tackle unique challenges in his investigative work, automating connections that might otherwise go unnoticed. His passion for OSINT often spills into his everyday life, inspiring large and small-scale investigations that OSINT Industries facilitates. Jordan has found himself backtracing scam callers with OSINT Industries, warning other potential victims in “Yellowpages-type outlets”; he found our email search could identify the owner of a PayPal account “scamming people with false promises of custom content.”
“As an example, a phone number linked to a Microsoft account can tell me who that account belongs to if it is also indexed in AT&T phone records… if I was investigating criminal harassment perpetrated by one player via Xbox Live, I have a better chance of identifying and reporting the player to Microsoft and police than I would have without OSINT Industries. It has opened up multiple new angles from which I can begin and continue an investigation…” – Jordan, an OSINT and SOCMINT Analyst [Source: OSINT Industries]
Perhaps parallels exist with content creators’ trajectory. Jordan observes that in the ever-growing OSINT field, “you have to constantly shift your tactics, safeguard your investigation and your own safety, and be wary of the ethics of what you’re doing.” Unpredictable, risky and accessible to everybody, OSINT gives investigators the chance to “uncover mysteries” and “use [their] skills to help people”. Wherever OSINT can be utilized to right a wrong, no matter how scant the evidence may be, a diligent independent investigator like Jordan can get to work.
After all, the first YouTube video – the beginning of a revolution in digital media – was just one man’s trip to the zoo.
To find out more about Jordan’s work, visit:
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jordan-s-121463113
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