Disturbing YouTube Trend: Tweens Post 'Am I Ugly?' Videos Looking for Feedback

Just as Glenn Beck interviewed former Victoria's Secret model Kylie Bisutti on GBTV who stopped posing in lingerie due to her faith and in the hopes that she'd influence young girls by promoting positive body images, a disturbing trend has been growing in popularity on YouTube over the last couple years.

It's called "Am I ugly?" The Daily Mail reports that girls as young as 11 are posting videos of themselves for the Internet world to provide feedback. As you can imagine, it's not all positive -- or clean:

One video, uploaded by sgal901, sees a pretty young blonde asking whether she is ugly and posing in a selection of photographs.

Her film has been watched an astonishing 3,432,137 times since being uploaded in December 2010.

"A lot of people tell me I'm ugly. I think I'm ugly and fat," she says to the camera.

Laying herself open to the dark anonymity of the internet, comments are a mixed bag.

Some fall into extremes - either over-the-top compliments, suggesting sex, or reflecting a level of animosity that is stunningly harsh.

"This is such a stupid video......What stupid person would record a video like this one and then upload on YouTube don't they notice that they are just embarrassing their self by the way you are ugly the only thing I see in this video is ugliness I see no beauty" writes one watcher.

Here's sgal's video:

This young lady uploaded a video just a couple days ago because she had noticed several other girls doing the same:

The trend has become so popular, there are even several parody videos. This young woman even asks people to stop making the videos:

Amy Gaff, who writes the San Francisco Chronicals' The Mommy Files blog, writes that YouTube is the "last place" that these youngsters should be going for affirmation. Gaff laments the website's lack of oversight on its own policies, noting that those younger than 13 are not allowed to post videos. She writes, "[...] so then why is there a video of an 11-year-old girl asking the world if she’s ugly? Where are this girl’s parents? Something is wrong with this picture."

It should be noted that females aren't the only ones uploading these types of videos soliciting feedback. A significant number of boys and men are doing so as well.