I'm Hearing. Why Should I Sign the Caption Smosh Petition?

You are a teenager and you can hear and you are wondering why you should sign a petition asking for closed captions on Smosh, a show you might not even like yourself? The reasons why you should sign are many! Here are seventeen reasons.

1. You might have a friend who is deaf or hard of hearing. Especially if you are a teenager! Smosh is very popular with hearing kids aged 13 to 17. 
2. Even if you don't have any friends who are deaf or hard of hearing, there are probably deaf or hard of hearing kids in your school or college.
3. Make it possible for deaf and hard of hearing teens to chat about Smosh on social media. There's a lot of talk about Smosh on facebook, twitter, instagram, and tumblr!
4. You don't like Smosh but you are a fan of Pewdiepie or another top YouTube channel? Smosh is just one of many top YouTubers that are not captioning! We had to start somewhere.
5. Maybe you have a friend who is learning English as a second language. Captions can help him or her.
6. Captions help you too even though you can hear! If you are in bed and feel like watching a video, you can watch it without sound and not worry about waking anyone up.
7. Don't feel like paying attention in class? Captions let you watch videos secretly. (We don't advise this)
8. Falling asleep or it doesn't interest you in Mass or during a sermon? Captions let you watch videos letting you get through it. (We don't advise this)
9. Eating in a noisy cafeteria? Captions let you enjoy video while you are eating.
10. Got a little brother or sister? Captions will help your little brother or sister learn to read!
11. Have trouble understanding a speaker on video (accent, background noise)? Captions can help you understand.
12. In a library where you have to be quiet? Captioning lets you watch a video quietly.
13. Trying not to wake the house watching a video? Captioning lets you watch the video quietly, unless you start laughing too much.
14. Surprise, surprise. Most people who use captioning are NOT deaf or hard of hearing! Eighty percent are hearing, according to a British study.
15. If you don't want your parents to know that you are watching Smosh, captions let you hide it. (Mom and/or dad might not approve of the humor or language in Smosh).
16. As people get older, it is common to lose hearing. Captioning helps people who are getting older be able to watch. (Captions may help your grandma or grandpa.)
17. Closed captioning is not that hard to do, nor is it that expensive. It is the right thing to do!

Sign the Caption Smosh petition!

Why Should I Sign the Caption Smosh Petition??

We are having a tough time getting deaf and hard of hearing people to sign the petition to Smosh to caption. And no wonder!  Because Smosh does not caption, deaf and hard of hearing people are unaware of Smosh. One deaf person actually said to us, "Why should I sign??? I don't know anything about Smosh!" Of course not...because there are no captions, deaf and hard of hearing people are unaware that Smosh is a top funny YouTube channel with 19 million subscribers on their main channel, and a total of 30 million on all their channels combined. Deaf and hard of hearing people are unaware that Smosh is an award-winning channel. Deaf and hard of hearing people are unaware that Smosh is making a movie that will probably be released in summer 2015, and that features Smosh's two main actors plus a slew of other YouTube stars (none of which are captioning).

Why You Should Sign

Why should you sign even if you know nothing about Smosh and have never seen the show (some videos have been captioned by volunteers)? You should sign the Caption Smosh petition because:

• Top YouTube shows need to somehow get the message that they need to caption!
• Deaf and hard of hearing children and teenagers are missing out on the ability to participate in teens' chatter about Smosh on social media. If you are not a kid, sign the petition so that today's deaf and hard of hearing kids don't have to miss out! Do it for the deaf or hard of hearing kid that you used to be.

Why We Are Petitioning Smosh

Why are we petitioning Smosh? We are petitioning because it is a last resort. Nothing else we have tried has worked to get their attention! Smosh has never responded to all the people who have been asking for captions.We have tried:

• Personal email. Failed. There's been no response to private email sent to the Smosh "contact us" emails - info@smosh.com and support@smosh.com.
• Tweeting. Failed.
• Facebook comments. Failed. (There's no ability to send a private message or post to the Smosh Facebook page)
• Instagram. Failed.
• Tumblr. Failed.

Petitioning is the only tool left for us to try! We are on the cusp of 2015, and the vast majority of the top YouTube channels are not captioning. A petition, if it has enough signatures, can get the attention of the media. A petition can go viral. A petition can be used to tell people about Smosh and the need for captions on Smosh, even if people are not on social media.

Help us get more signatures on the Caption Smosh petition - we HAVE to do something to get the top YouTube channels to closed caption! We don't know what else to do!

Sign the Petition to Smosh for Captions!

Now Petitioning Smosh!

Caption Action 2 has launched a petition demanding that Smosh closed caption. We've tried everything else to get Smosh's attention, including old-fashioned email. How do you get the attention of a YouTube channel with 19 million subscribers, 2.6 million followers on Twitter, and 6 million likes on Facebook? Start a petition!

(Wondering what the big deal is? Volunteers have captioned a total of 40 Smosh videos so you can get a taste of it at http://captionedwebtv.blogspot.com/2014/05/smosh.html. We have been watching,  and these videos are damn funny! It is not hard to see why Smosh has grown to 19 million subscribers! But, deaf and hard of hearing people are left out.)

This is historic. We don't think anyone has ever petitioned a YouTube channel before! Will it work? We hope so! But its success depends on people like you!

Sign the Petition to Smosh Demanding Captions!

https://www.change.org/p/smosh-start-captioning-smosh

Note: The screenshot above is an example of nonsensical automatic captioning on Smosh.

#CaptionSmosh!

Update! There is now a Change.org petition to Smosh! https://www.change.org/p/smosh-start-captioning-smosh

Mark your calendars!

Friday December 19, 2014.

This is when people should  push the YouTube channel Smosh to closed caption, using the hashtag #CaptionSmosh. (You don't have to wait til Friday to start using the hashtag #CaptionSmosh) Smosh is a top YouTube channel with over 19 million subscribers that releases new videos every Friday. Caption Action 2 and others have repeatedly asked Smosh for captions, but got no response. They aren't the only top YouTube channel not captioning - we had to vote on ONE to target, and Smosh got the most votes! We've got to get at least ONE YouTube superstar to caption so other YouTube superstars get the message!

Here's What to Do!

Facebook. Go to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/smosh and post comments demanding captions, on Smosh posts. Watch the Caption Action 2 facebook group (and join the group!) for reports!

Make a Video: Are you on YouTube? Create a quick, short video blasting Smosh for not captioning. We can then share links to those videos on our own Facebook pages and in Facebook groups.

Blog. If you are a blogger, re-blog this or blog about it!

Discussion boards. If you are active on a deaf-related discussion board, post about this.

Twitter: Tweet @smosh, @smoshian, @smoshanthony to demand captions. Also tweet @defymedia! They own Smosh and have less than 1,000 followers and are more likely to pay attention to your tweet! The hashtag to use on social media is #CaptionSmosh.

Instagram: We need an Instagram volunteer to post screenshots on Instagram of bad automatic captions on Smosh videos. Along with hashtags and comments. Smosh instagram: instagram.com/smosh

Tumblr: We need Tumblr volunteers to post screenshots of bad autocaptioning on Tumblr. Smosh tumblr: http://smosh.tumblr.com/

Pinterest: Same thing here.

Google+: (https://plus.google.com/107658787431067089650). Ditto.

LinkedIn:  It could work if done within activist/deaf circles.

Reddit: Post in Reddit /r/deaf, /r/transcript, and /r/captionrequest subreddits.

Email: Smosh has two email addresses that would work for this: support@smosh.com (for technical problems. lack of captioning certainly qualifies!) and info@smosh.com.