Everyone knows that Nathan For You's Nathan Fielder is a master at using his extensive knowledge of human behavior to improve small businesses. But in a series of experiments conducted earlier this year, he proved that his skills are also useful in ruining lives via Twitter.On his Comedy Central show Nathan For You, Nathan Fielder works as a consultant for small business owners to help them increase their revenues and connect with their communities. But like any smart businessperson, he bases his plans on things like research and numbers and pie charts. So this past spring and summer, Fielder hit Twitter to collect data on a heretofore unstudied question: what happens when you send loved ones cryptic or alarming text messages out of the blue? It began on April 24, when he tweeted to followers asking them to text their parents, "got 2 grams for $40" followed by "Sorry ignore that txt. Not for you," a prompt which elicited thousands of responses, retweets, and favorites. Fielder followed up the study with three more, including (most successfully) asking participants to text "I haven't been fully honest with you" to their significant others and then waiting a full hour before texting them again. He also got followers to solicit advice from their parents about the efficacy of dollar-store condoms and the legality of disclosing STD history to a partner. In addition to familiarizing the uninitiated with the show and its sense of humor, the experiments also turned Fielder from a lesser-known analyst into the subject of an ABC News profile, not to mention the focus of similar press coverage whenever he tweeted out a new prompt. The end result? A show with a following strong enough to get renewed for a second season. Also, data.
