The Internet’s Most Cringe-Inducing Subculture: Pimple-Popping Videos

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Millions tune in to watch professionals terminate unsightly skin blemishes, making a star out of a California dermatologist known as Dr. Pimple Popper; ‘it is very relaxing.’



Lynn Barnes often went home filled with stress from working 14-hour days at an insurance call center. So she developed a nighttime relaxation ritual.

First, a small glass of milk and a cup of hot tea. Then some cross-stitch or crochet. After crawling into bed, she searched YouTube for the newest pimple-popping videos, which made her troubles melt away.

“I’ve woken up with my cellphone on my face because I fell asleep watching,” says Ms. Barnes, 55 years old, of Virginia Beach, Va. She retired in 2015 but says she still watches blackhead extractions and the slicing of inflaming cysts online, which are more relaxing than any sleeping pill.

Zit-popping has joined the ranks of YouTube-driven internet subcultures, turning some dermatologists into celebrities and many watchers of the videos into confessed pop-a-holics.