Mormon college student interviews on sex, alcohol are going viral. Why?

USA Today

a day ago

Would you rather drink a cup of coffee or a cup of cooking oil? How about hurt a puppy or take a sip of alcohol?
These are just some of the questions that have gone viral on a particular corner of TikTok that features videos in which people ask students at Brigham Young University − a college in Provo, Utah owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints − about sex, alcohol and swear words. The videos have become a massive niche on the app, amassing sometimes upwards of 17 million views on a single post and prompting fascination from those unfamiliar with BYU or Mormon culture. USA TODAY has reached out to BYU and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for comment.
The TikTokers who make these videos say they get wide-ranging answers from BYU students, but it's the most shocking ones that tend to go viral.
Daniel Spencer, a comedian with 1.7 million TikTok followers, says he used to film man-on-the-street interviews at BYU, his alma mater, until the school sent him a cease-and-desist letter around 2023.
Spencer, who grew up Mormon but left the church after coming out as gay in 2020, says he believes the videos strike such a chord because they show a culture many people are rarely exposed to − and one that's in stark contrast to stereotypes of other college campuses.
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"It's just funny to see that it's become this kind of subculture on the internet that lives around what it must be like to attend BYU," Spencer says. "That's kind of how I felt while attending BYU. While my other friends were at colleges, drinking and partying and having fun, we were doing game nights and going to bed at 10 p.m., so it's just such a very different experience."
Why is the internet so obsessed with BYU student interviews?
Robert Carpenter is not Mormon and has never attended BYU, but he started filming interviews there after some of his friends from high school who attended the university invited him to visit.
Carpenter says he doesn't stage his videos, but he suspects some of the students he's interviewed were likely being sarcastic or self-satirizing with their responses.
Like Spencer, Carpenter says he received a cease-and-desist letter from BYU in 2023. He also makes similar videos interviewing students at Liberty University, a private evangelical Christian university in Virginia.
In Carpenter's view, these types of videos have such a grip on TikTok because they showcase viewpoints contrary to that of many other college students. Most of the students who go viral say they don't drink alcohol or have sex outside of marriage. Some avoid cursing or drinking coffee.
What we can learn from the BYU interviews
Both Spencer and Carpenter say their videos aren't meant to disparage BYU or its students. They say most students they've interviewed have been polite and kind. Many happily agreed to answer questions as a welcome break from studying.
While it makes sense these videos have drawn interest online, psychotherapist Stephanie Sarkis encourages people to be mindful of their attitude when watching these videos.
"If you're watching it to really get to understand how other people live, then that's different than if you're watching it to ridicule someone," Sarkis says. "I think we have to keep that in mind. Are we watching it in a way that we are curious, or is it a way to feel better than? What's our intention?"
She adds it's also important to not come to judgements or conclusions about any religion or community as a whole from quick videos.
"The best way to find out about somebody's life experiences is to ask them," she says. "One person doesn't speak for the entire group."
The way Spencer sees it, every college has its own unique culture. In that sense, BYU is no different.
"It's just a fun little gag, fun to see a different kind of culture," Spencer says. "I think if you went to any campus and delved into the deeper parts of their culture, you could find something interesting and you find something worth asking that would be probably weird to everyone else in America."
Plus, not every student interviewed in these videos has the same views. Spencer recalls how one student's surprising answer actually helped her land a "ring by spring."
While asking students for their favorite swear words, one girl loudly cursed, and another BYU student saw it and was impressed by her brazenness. "A guy slid into her DMs and was like, 'Hey, you seem really chill. I saw you swearing in that video.' And yeah, they ended up dating and marrying each other."