A firing filmed for the internet sparks an unemployment debate under Arthur Frederick's 'Attention Seekers'
His newest 'Try Not to' video follows last week's customer service episode, and its comment section has turned into a lesson on quitting versus being let go.
Arthur Frederick
Story of Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 105,409 views a day, 27 times a normal first day on this channel (3,867).
Try Not to Cringe: Attention Seekers
A strong start, again. "Try Not to Cringe: Attention Seekers" went up on Tuesday and had close to 42,000 views within six hours. A regular video on Arthur Frederick's channel usually gathers around 4,000 across its whole first day.
The format is simple. Arthur, also known as ArthurTV, works through clips of people who, in the words of his description, only posted to seek attention, and he tries not to wince. It is the second long video in this run of "Try Not to" titles. The first, "Try Not to Crash Out: Customer Service," came out last Friday and is now well past a quarter of a million views. The short clips he posted in between drew a few thousand each.
One clip, about seven minutes in, has taken over the conversation. A young woman shares a recording of her own firing from a corporate job, and viewers keep asking why anyone would rather be fired than quit. The answer many American commenters give is unemployment benefits, which they say you cannot claim in the US if you walk out on your own. Others defend her for calmly saying that working from home had been hard for her, and push back on a person in the clip who called that unprofessional.
Viewers also bring up a woman with an umbrella, a heap of packaging for a single drink, a tennis crowd that is meant to stay silent, and a driver who seems glued to a phone. One of the most liked comments has a sharper thought for a video about attention seekers: you can mind your own business, get filmed, and become the subject of an online argument you never knew about.
That argument is moving quickly. Six hours in, the video already had about half the comments a regular upload on the channel collects in a full day.
Published on Trari
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What viewers say
7:03 I tried working from home. The boss was furious. "You're a landscaper! You can't work from home!" Jokes on him, my lawn looks amazing.
@OrphancripplrSee it on YouTubeIt’s crazy how u could just mind your business and someone can film you and start a discussion online, that you know nothing about
@ad1k594See it on YouTubeI love watching your reactions because I really appreciate how open minded and non-judgmental you are. You throw shade when it's deserved but you always give the benefit of the doubt and look at both sides, a great reminder to treat others with kindness and let go of judgement :)
@elliesaurusart1202See it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
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- Channel
- Arthur Frederick
- Subscribers
- 759,000 ▲ 3,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 1,732,283
- Channel views, pace per day
- 195,956 (on a normal day: 218,317)
- Video published
- October 6, 2026
- Video views so far
- 41,829 (less than a day online)
- Video views, pace per day
- 105,409
The numbers
Six hours in, this upload is far ahead of a normal first day for Arthur's regular videos, even as the channel as a whole runs close to its usual daily pace.
💡 Test your knowledge
One of the clips in the video shows a tennis crowd. At Wimbledon, which color must players almost entirely wear?
Wimbledon's long-standing dress code requires players to wear almost entirely white clothing on court.
