From Jessica Lowndes to 'Natural Born Pranksters,' online pranking has reached a tipping point

LOS ANGELES -- If there's anything the Internet can learn from April Fools' Day, it's that not all pranks are created equal.

While pranking is -- of course -- not a new tradition, the rise of social media has tons of people thinking they can pull off a good prank, then rake in the likes (and publicity). Gone are the pre-social media days where shows like Jackass and Punk'd actually did elaborate pranks for fun, not for clicks.

But most prank-stars say that designing the perfect practical joke isn't easy. In fact, it's an art, one that takes time to master. 

"When we started doing pranks, we stood out because we did edgy, cool stuff," YouTuber Dennis Roady told Mashable in a recent interview while promoting Lionsgate and Studio71's Natural Born Pranksters, which comes out on Friday. "No one had done them before, and the pranks still weren't crossing the line."

Prank videos have helped the Natural Born Pranksters -- Roady and fellow digital stars Roman Atwood and Vitaly Zdorovetskiy --  amass about 29 million subscribers to their respective channels.

Still, it's not easy to get famous off a few good stunts alone.

Going all out to go viral

Most people in the digital space agree: There's a lot of pressure to attract eyeballs to content -- be it a prank video or just a video blog. 

But when it comes to pranking, creators are increasingly faking certain aspects of their content or editing footage to make it more appealing.

That's because the market is saturated. These days, searching for the word "prank" on YouTube will bring up a whopping 21.7 million videos. Vine, too, is overpopulated with six-second videos of digital influencers messing around. 

"Competition is just too tough" Roady said. "People are doing whatever they can get views."

Some, like Defy Media, use pranking videos for social good. The digital entertainment company behind properties such as SMOSH and Clevver created the series Prank it FWD in April of 2014. The series partners with DoSomething.org, donating $1 for every 1,000 views -- as well as $1 for every social mention and share tagged #PrankItFWD.

Others, however, take advantage of fan interest in the growing genre.

In February, Sam Pepper, known for his controversial and frequently insensitive pranks, admitted that most of his YouTube channel was filled with completely fake videos. 

When he first started on YouTube, the 26-year-old British star said he was just trying to do "silly, harmless, dumb stuff" that "people would laugh" at. 

Then other creators entered the space with similar -- if not better -- pranks than his own. That's when Pepper decided to fake his own elaborate jokes.

Pepper's confession -- though not shocking to popular Internet creators -- did shed public light on the fact that fake pranks happen, more than people care to admit.

"The Internet can be so naïve that people get away with a lot," Jesse Wellens, who has a new show on YouTube Red called Prank Academy, told Mashable. 

"90% of the pranks online are fake," Wellens added. "I can watch a prank video at this point and tell if it's real."

That's why the duo -- known as PrankvsPrank on YouTube -- make their videos as genuine as possible.

"We don't want to put any fake BS out there," Wellens said. "If a prank fails, it fails."

Celebrity stunts

Even outside of #TeamInternet, some traditional celebrities are trying to generate buzz with their own social media stunts.

Just this week, Jessica Lowndes decided to promote her music video in an untraditional way. 

Using a series of Tweets and Instagram posts, the former 90201 star made it seem like she was in midst of a whirlwind romance with Saturday Night Live alum Jon Lovitz. Turns out, it was just a gimmick.

For the Internet, the buildup to the music video and the video itself were perplexing. For Lowndes, a self-proclaimed "goofball," the experience was simple fun.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"My videos in the past have been over-the-top sexy -- I wanted people to know I'm cool with doing comedy," she told Mashable. "It was like a big wink. I thought it might get a little traction, a couple more eyeballs."

And yes, people did watch Lowndes' video for Deja Vu (Remix). Since its release on Monday, it's garnered about half a million views, proving that pranks will always be a draw for viewers -- even if they're just plain awful.

"Some people just want to be entertained, whether it's real or fake," Atwood said. "Audiences don't care if it's fake if it's fun to watch."

So what's key in making people actually like your pranks? 

"They have to be original, sharable and have a beginning middle and end," Roady said. 

"And have some balls," Zdorovetskiy added.

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