Kristin Giannas was trying to do anything but draw attention to herself.
She failed.
Giannas was copying papers in a WUFT office in Weimer Hall when she saw a bright light. She looked up, stared forward for three seconds and dipped out of view. Then she stood back up. Then she looked around. Then she dropped to the floor. Then she peeked around the copy machine.
Her will-she, won’t-she antics unfolded in the background of a WUFT newscast about four years ago. Until Thursday, the evidence was just a fun video to show around the newsroom. But “Awkward Kristin” inexplicably went viral last week, and as of Tuesday night the 30-second clip had 1.9 million views on YouTube.
Giannas, 23, doesn’t know the exact date she was caught lurking in the background, but she remembers feeling groggy. She spent hours editing a story and was in a zone, unable to focus on anything but her work.
When she walked into the office, Giannas knew they were broadcasting, but she thought she was out of sight. Then she looked around and read people’s reactions.
“My legs wouldn’t move,” said Giannas, who graduated from UF in 2010 with a telecommunication degree. “I was just paralyzed with fear. I didn’t know what to do, so I exited elevator-style. I could have also done the stairs. I’m pretty good at doing the stairs.”
One of Giannas’ friends, Andi Babineau, uploaded the video to YouTube in November 2010, about two years after the incident actually occurred. Giannas, who has worked for WCJB TV20 since graduating, showed it to friends at the office.
They liked it, she said, but nothing more came of it. The video still had about 400 views Thursday morning.
Then, around noon Thursday, someone posted a link to the social news website Reddit. Giannas doesn’t know who posted it, but by 12:50 p.m. the video already had 10,782 views, according to one commenter.
“Awkward Kristin” was played on “Good Morning America” and “Anderson Cooper 360” on Friday, and it has only grown in popularity. Giannas said she likes the attention she is receiving and said the video represents just who she is: “Awkward Kristin.”
Two days before the video went viral, Giannas filed a report about a racist video posted online by a pair of Gainesville High students.
Her lead for the story: “It is amazing what one YouTube video can do.”
Contact Tyler Jett at tjett@alligator.org.
