Whispers of “dude on the couch” drifted across the internet as social media weighed in on a polarizing viral video.
Hailing from TikTok, “couch guy” has sparked quite a debate about cheating, gaslighting, lying, and exactly how someone is supposed to react when caught by a distant partner.
What is “couch guy” on TikTok?
This viral trend refers to a video posted by TikTok user Lauranzarras in which she surprises her boyfriend who has been to college and hasn’t seen her for a month.
The video is approximately 20 seconds long and has been viewed over 52 million times since its publication on September 21. The original TikTok sparked a viral wave of videos reacting, analyzing, and commenting on the people and events depicted in the video.
In the video Lauren, accompanied by several friends, walks into the room with her bags to see Robbie sitting on a couch with three other girls.
Robbie, now more commonly known online as the “couch dude,” sees Lauren and slowly stands up to give her a hug. On first viewing, the video looks pretty innocuous, but over the next few days viewers began to draw conclusions about the video.
Some have accused the “couch guy” of cheating on his girlfriend.
The whole interaction seems to be somewhat awkward as Robbie half-heartedly stands up to meet his girlfriend whom he hasn’t seen in weeks.
Comments on the post quickly filled with people trying to tell Lauren that Robbie was acting weird in the video and was probably cheating on her with one of the other girls on the couch.
Lauren posted a video shortly after the responses started, defending her relationship and asking everyone else to mind their own business.
Searching for “couch guy” yields a myriad of other videos that were created in response to the original. TikTok’s internet sleuths weighed, assessed the evidence, and delivered their verdict. The boyfriend, the couch guy, Robbie, is guilty of cheating on Lauren. Case closed.
Keen-eyed TikTok detectives spied on what looks like the moment one of the girls on the couch quickly withdraw his hand from Robbie’s back when he saw Lauren.
Others tried to determine whether or not one of the girls on the couch was holding robbie’s phone when Lauren only comes in to use an awesome knack to hand it to Robbie as he begins to stand up to kiss his girlfriend.
Other TikTok users have defended the “couch guy” against the cheating allegations.
Millions of viewers and dozens of viral responses all break down the content of the 20-second video.
Seems like every frame in this video has been covered from all angles. Everything from Tiktoks uncovering incriminating, pixelated details to a 17-minute body language analysis was created from the original post over a week ago.
While the consensus on the internet is that Robbie is cheating, some are trying to demystify the evidence infidelity in the video.
Even some of the girls and guys – and Robbie himself – in the video have come forward to defend the couple and insist that nothing untoward is happening.
Most people, however, seem to either be passing judgment on Robbie or making fun of the whole situation. Perhaps the funniest thing to come out of the whole sofa guy viral trend is parodies, showing exaggerated recreations of the original couch guy video.
It’s unfair to try to pass judgment on Robbie based on this little glimpse into his relationship with Lauren. Maybe he’s cheating, maybe not.
The only thing that’s certain is that all those exasperated-looking TikTokers analyzing the 20 seconds of available evidence have thrived riding the couch guy viral wave. The original poster, Laurenzarras, also seems to have come out on top, gaining millions of views and even selling sofa-type t-shirts.
When life gives you lemons.
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Dan O’Reilly is a writer covering current affairs, politics and social justice.
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