Dan Thorn is a news anchor tor WVNS, a CBS and Fox affiliate that serves a chunk of West Virginia. Dan Thorn desperately wants viral popularity outside the Beckley/Princeton/Lewisburg area. In the past week, Thorn has uploaded not one, not two, but three separate videos of himself dancing to pop music in the newsroom while the program is off air. Each video raises the stakes, adding production value that hints at potential co-conspirators in Thorn's shrewd play for internet fame.

First, Thorn published his lip sync to T.I.'s "Where They at Doe?" on top of Bobby Shmurda's "Hot N*gga."

Then came his second video, a lip sync slash interpretive dance to Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off." Thorn isn't afraid to tie his wagon to the biggest star in music.

The third video, like the third film in a trilogy, throws reason to the wind, expands the scope of Thorn's art, adding special effects and attitude. It's a dance to James Brown set against B-roll footage of a Halloween lights display.

Dan Thorn's motive, to become a viral sensation, is supported by plenty of evidence. The videos are uploaded on Thorn's own account. They appeared within a short timeframe. And they even adopt branding by the second YouTube video: "News Anchor Dance," or as it's written on the James Brown video, "News Anchor DANce Part 3." At first, I thought "DANce" was a typo. But in the moment of writing the words, I realize Dan made a cheeky pun of his own name.

Typically, I'm cold to shameless exploitation of the internet's fickle tendency to name a goofy bro with a slight sense of humor the man of the moment. But I don't know, there's something about these videos that is pretty damned charming. Maybe I'm getting soft in my digital old age of 29. Whatever the case, I've chosen to play my part in the rise of Dan Thorn. May his internet fame bring him inner peace.