EAS Scenarios: The Next Big Thing?
‘Sorry, EAS what?’. This is a response I have heard numerous times now. In my investigation, my colleagues have frequently been left staring at me with a rather bewildered expression, waiting for me to explain what the hell I’m on about. So to save you from also doing the same, allow me to explain:
‘EAS Scenarios’ are a niche storytelling medium found on social media, mainly on YouTube. They use the E.A.S, or ‘Emergency Alert System’, as a way of conveying often catastrophic events that unfold in the narrative. Usually this is used in the U.S to warn people about extreme weather events, but ‘EAS Scenarios’ typically crank it up to 11 on the ‘bed-wettingly terrifying events’ scale.
EAS Scenarios are no new phenomenon. One of the earliest examples I could find of an EAS Scenario was from May 2007, a video titled ‘Mock EAS Alert (Tornado Warning) for Dish Network’.
Now of course, this early EAS Scenario was of terrible quality, but that can be forgiven, as this was a time when the phenomenon of a touch screen phone we all can’t keep our hands off for more than two seconds was first launched. Nowadays, the standard is much higher.
You may be wondering why I’ve spent so much time looking into this, and what the point of this article even is. To be perfectly honest, it is a gloat piece. A soon-to-be relic uncovering a niche little treasure I will one day use to say ‘I was there first’. EAS Scenarios are niche. The largest creators sit at between 5,000–10,000 subscribers, with a few notable exceptions. However, I believe that this will one day change.
And we are starting to see this unfold. On the increasingly-popular platform TikTok, a creator by the name of ‘SCP Realized’ struck gold, uploading a video that amassed an astonishing 11.2 million views. The SCP Realized account has over 555,000 followers. That’s enough to fill the US’ largest stadium, that being Michigan Stadium, with a capacity of 107,601, 5 times over and still have room to spare.
SCP Realized has become something of a phenomenon. They have found a way to tap into the already insanely popular ‘SCP Foundation’ community, and blend it with the more niche EAS Scenario-style content. On their YouTube channel, they have amassed 53,100 subscribers. That’s over halfway to a silver play button. His stats tell the whole story.
In June, they gained a respectable 750 subscribers. In July, they gained a stunning 7,000 subscribers, in August, they gained a whopping twenty-eight thousand subscribers. In September, they gained a lower but still incredible 11,900 subscribers.
What this is indicative of is that this niche medium of storytelling is finally starting to poke it’s head out into the mainstream. This may be where the medium is finally able to stretch it’s wings and share it’s fabulous array of terrifying, though provoking and nightmare-inducing content for all to see. The current creators (of which there are many), may very well go down as those that laid the groundwork for the bigger and more successful creators to rise up into mainstream awareness and recognition.
A tough pill to swallow for them I’m sure, but the expansion of this incredibly creative and talented community can only be a good thing.
