Rutgers University Staffer Becomes Overnight Internet Sensation with YouTube Video

After having a big beard for five years, Matthew Ferguson was looking for an interesting way to shave it with the proper fanfare.

So, with the help of a longtime friend, he videotaped himself in several stages of shaving while lip syncing the pop hit "Turn Me On" by artists Nicki Minaj and David Guetta.

On Wednesday morning, he uploaded the video to YouTube, intending to make his friends laugh. He posted it to Facebook, sent out a few Tweets and didn't expect more than a few hundred views.

The internet world ate it up, and in two days, the video has gone viral, amassing more than 333,000 views.

It has been posted to web hubs like Reddit, The Daily What and Buzzfeed and has been Facebooked and Tweeted all over the place.

"We did not expect this one to go the way it went," Ferguson said. "The machine took over."

Ferguson, 29, is the assistant director of student life at Rutgers, and at night, works as an adjunct professor of American studies at the University.

He said the video began to take root around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, when he was sitting in a diner booth with longtime friend and freelance filmmaker Brian Bennett, the video's executive producer and director.

The duo began discussing concepts, and an hour later, had already begun filming, Ferguson said.

Six hours later they were in the editing phase, and then on Wednesday morning, were uploading it to YouTube.

That's when the views and comments started rolling in.

"If you read the comments on the video, it's clear they're just sort of talking about the video itself and it's kind of wild," Ferguson said.

They chose the song after watching music videos and taking a shine to Minaj and Guetta's video for "Turn Me On".

"That song is kind of an interesting hip song and (we were) looking for something PG," he said.

To date, Minaj has not Tweeted that she's seen the video, but Ferguson is still hoping that she may.

He is also hoping that it will reach one of his role models, Ellen DeGeneres.

"She really appreciates some of the social media stuff," he said.

Ultimately, if the thrill of the YouTube views is all that comes of the project, Ferguson said he is OK with that.

"If we make some people smile and laugh…thats a good day for us," he said.

Ferguson said that he has not had any classes since he posted the video, but has already gotten some feedback from people on campus.

"Some people jokingly asked for my autograph," he said.