Viral video

A viral video is a video clip that gains widespread popularity through the process of Internet sharing, typically through email or IM messages, blogs and other media sharing websites. Viral videos are often humorous in nature and include televised comedy sketches such as "Saturday Night Live"'s Lazy Sunday and amateur video clips like Star Wars Kid, the Numa Numa song, The Dancing Cadet, The Evolution of Dance and web only productions such as I Got a Crush... on Obama or even [Without Warning] (by Wired Comedy on Youtube). Some "eyewitness" events have also been caught on video and have gone viral, including the Battle at Kruger.

With the proliferation of camera phones, many videos are being shot by amateurs on these devices. The availability of cheap video editing and publishing tools allows video shot on mobile phones to be edited and distributed virally both on the web by email or website, and between phones by Bluetooth or MMS. These consumer-shot videos are typically non-commercial videos intended for viewing by friends or family.

Social impact: the case of YouTube

Internet celebrities

A lot of the "Viral Video" concept comes from the popularity of YouTube and other related websites.

YouTube creates Internet celebrities, popular individuals who have attracted significant publicity in their home countries from their videos. [cite news | first=Jason | last=Feifer | title=Video makers find a vast and eager audience | date=June 11, 2006 | publisher=Worcester Telegram | url=http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060611/NEWS/606110552/1011/FEATURES ] These memes have come from many different backgrounds.

Geriatric1927, one of the most subscribed YouTube members, is an 80-year-old pensioner from England who gained widespread recognition within a week of making his debut on the site. [http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=geriatric1927 geriatric1927's YouTube profile] ] For these users, Internet fame has had various unexpected effects. YouTube user and former receptionist Brooke Brodack from Massachusetts has been signed by NBC's Carson Daly for an 18-month development contract. [Collins, Scott, [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-channel19jun19,1,6378015.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews&track=crosspromo "Now she has their attention"] Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2006 (Accessed July 19, 2006)] Another has been the uncovered fictional blog of lonelygirl15, now discovered to be the work of New Zealand actress Jessica Rose and some film directors.

Band and music promotion

YouTube has also become a means of promoting bands and their music. One such example is OK Go which got a huge radio hit and an MTV Video Music Awards performance out of the treadmill video for Here It Goes Again.

In the same light, a video broadcasting the Free Hugs Campaign with accompanying music by the Sick Puppies led to instant fame for both the band and the campaign, with more campaigns taking place in different parts of the world. The main character of the video, Juan Mann, has also achieved fame, being interviewed on Australian news programs and appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Whistleblowing

Viral video has become a way for people to air their grievances in instances of alleged abuses of authority. For example, in 2006, a courtroom video of Utah Third District Court judge Leslie A. Lewis spread rapidly through Utah and was picked up by the news media. [Geoffrey Fattah, [http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,650201851,00.html Hunters Target Judge] , "DeseretNews.com"] The video showed her finding a courtroom spectator in contempt of court and arresting him because he left the courtroom while the judge expressed her displeasure at his brother's hunting activities. The judge recused herself from the case due to her professed bias against deer hunters. Lewis lost her retention vote in the 2007 election.

Notable viral videos (alphabetically)

Afro Ninja

Afro Ninja depicts a man with an afro wielding dual nunchuks. He smiles at the camera and attempts to do a backflip, landing hard on his face. He tries to stand but is clearly impaired by the fall. The other people in the room ask him if he is ok and offer aid. The man in the video is Mark A. Hicks. He is a stunt man that was auditioning for a role. During an interview with radar online he states that he got the part after attempting the stunt again, successfully [http://radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2007/02/prisoners_of_youtube_2.php] . View it here: ' [http://youtube.com/watch?v=BEtIoGQxqQs Afro Ninja] '

Aleksey Vayner, Impossible is Nothing

In October 2006, Yale University student Aleksey Vayner applied for a job with UBS AG. Amused by Vayner's apparent puffery, an unknown member of UBS staff emailed his application materials to other investment banks. They were soon posted on various blogs, then YouTube, from where they became an immense viral Internet phenomenon. [cite news | publisher = Forbes | url = http://www.forbes.com/careers/2006/10/12/leadership-careers-YouTube-lead-careers-cx_ll_1013vayner.html | first = Lisa | last = Lener | title = How Not To Get A Job | accessdate = 2007-07-05 ]

Buffalax

Buffalax (real name Mike Sutton) is a mondegreen director on YouTube who uploaded non-English music videos which were edited to include subtitles of the written English approximation of the video's original language's sound. These include Internet memes such as "Moskau", [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH8gtrD4_C4] "Tunak Tunak Tun", [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fSpI4oZoDc] "Indian Thriller", [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtJRNyPK-lc] , "Boten Anna", [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCRl5vlMk1I] and "Benny Lava", [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA1NoOOoaNw] which have been viewed more than ten million times in total as of May 2008.cite web|author=Monty Phan|title=Buffalax Mines Twisted Translations for YouTube Yuks|url=http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/11/buffalax|publisher="Wired News"|date=2007-11-06|accessdate=2008-05-11]

Bus Uncle

The Bus Uncle is a Cantonese Youtube viral video clip of a quarrel between two men aboard a bus in Hong Kong on 27 April 2006. While the older man (Chan), who came to be nicknamed the Bus Uncle, scolded the man seated behind him (Ho), a nearby passenger used his camera phone to record the entire incident to provide evidence for the police in the event of a fight. The resulting six-minute videocite web
last = Fong
first = Wing Hang
title = X尚義聲線高壓呀叔搭巴士途中問候後生仔 (the original "Bus Uncle" video)
publisher = YouTube
url = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H20dhY01Xjk
language = Cantonese
date = 2006-04-29
accessdate = 2007-06-07 ] was uploaded to the Hong Kong Golden Forum, YouTube, and Google Video. The clip became YouTube's most viewed video in May 2006, [cite news
last = Bray | first = Marianne | title = Irate HK man unlikely Web hero
publisher = CNN | date = 9 June 2006
url = http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/06/07/hk.uncle
accessdate = 2007-05-03 | quote = The encounter … became the most viewed video on YouTube.com in May, with nearly three million people flocking to see the original and its incarnations, like the Karaoke version, the rap remix and the dance and disco take.] cite news
url = http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06158/696371-82.stm
title = 'Bus Uncle' craze in Hong Kong reflects city stress
author = Geoffrey A. Fowler
work = Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (The Wall Street Journal)
date = 2007-06-07
accessdate = 2007-06-08] attracting viewers with its rhetorical outbursts and copious use of profanity by the older man, receiving 1.7 million hits in the first 3 weeks of that month.cite news
last = Lee | first = Min | title = Grumpy Man Is Internet Hit
work = CBS News (AP) |date=25 May 2006
url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/25/ap/strange/mainD8HQSOQ80.shtml Also published by "The Standard" as cite news
title = Video of whinging bus rider a hit on Net
date = 26 May 2006
url = http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=13&art_id=19459&sid=8137616&con_type=1&d_str=20060526&sear_year=2006
accessdate = 2007-05-03 ]

The video became a cultural sensation in Hong Kong, inspiring vigorous debate and discussion on lifestyle, etiquette, civic awareness and media ethics within the city, eventually attracting the attention of the media around the world.

Chocolate Rain

"Chocolate Rain" is an original song sung by Tay Zonday. The song originally was posted on YouTube in Spring of 2007. The song was greatly publicized by various online forums and Tay Zonday was brought onto many shows, including Attack of the Show and Jimmy Kimmel, due to his popularity. The song was written by Zonday about Black history, which he confirmed in a special he did for Dr. Pepper. However, the song became popular because of Tay's low voice and his peculiar facial expressions. As of September 2008, it has been viewed over 28 million times.

Crazy Frog Bros.

The Crazy Frog Bros. (as they are known on the internet) are 2 boys who lip-synced the Crazy Frog version of the song Axel F. The video on Youtube has been viewed over 10 million times [http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=BgoOihBb78w] and has spawned a parody of the video showing them supposedly 15 years later. [http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=elIAMgSulWM]

Don't Tase me Bro

The University of Florida Taser incident, which occurred on September 17th, 2007, involved student Andrew William Myer speaking to Senator John Kerry during a Constitution Day forum held at the UF campus. The video begins shortly before Myer demanded to be allowed to ask a question to Kerry. According to "The Washington Post", Meyer's question turned into "an increasingly agitated three-parter."cite news|last=Hesse|first=Monica|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/18/AR2007091802115.html|title=Aiming to Agitate, Florida Student Got a Shock|publisher="The Washington Post"|date=2007-09-19|accessdate=2007-09-19] He uses the word blowjob at one point and is forcibly removed by police who proceed to tase him as he resisted. During the video, Myer screams "Don't tase me bro!" View it here: ' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bVa6jn4rpE&eurl Don't Tase Me Bro] '

La Caida De Edgar (Edgar's fall)

[http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=b89CnP0Iq30] A video that was particularly popular in Latin America was that about a 6th grade kid who was crossing a river by walking atop of an improvised "bridge" made out of logs, he is being teased by someone and then pushed to the river. It later turned out that the video was shot by his cousin, and all the kids in the video are cousins of him. While a cruel joke, Edgar became a celebrity to the point where people in his school took him out of class to get autographs and pictures.

Little Superstar

"Little Superstar" is a video of Thavakalai, a short Indian actor, break-dancing to MC Miker G & DJ Sven's song "Holiday Rap", in a clip from a 1990 Tamil movie "Adhisaya Piravi", featuring actor Rajnikanth. [cite web|author=Keith Olbermann|title='Countdown with Keith Olbermann' for Sept. 29|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15106585|publisher=msnbc.com|date=Oct. 2, 2006|accessdate=2008-05-12] [cite web|author=Tucker Carlson|title='Tucker' for Sept. 28|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15061731|publisher=msnbc.com|date=Sept. 29, 2006|accessdate=2008-05-12] As of May 2008, the video has been viewed more than ten million times. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx-NLPH8JeM]

Numa Numa

Numa Numa is an Internet phenomenon based on amateur videos, particularly Numa Numa Dance by Gary Brolsma, made for the song "Dragostea din tei" as performed by Moldovan Eurodance band O-Zone.

This Is Sparta! ~Another Techno Remix~

A scene on the movie 300, where King Leonidas (played by Gerard Butler) kicks a Persian into a pit while saying "This is sparta!" was musically remixed by a user by the name of [http://www.youtube.com/KeatonKeaton999 Keaton] . Shortly after, [http://www.youtube.com/townidiot25 TownIdiot25] made a short video using this music, along with several clips of Gerard's head on top of random .gifimages, including scenes from My Name is Earl, Night at the Roxbury, and others. After only a year, this video had over 16 million hits on YouTube alone.This video can be viewed here: ' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZBA0SKmQy8 This is Sparta! ~Another Techno Remix~]

"Thriller" by Filipino Prisoners

1,500 plus CPDRC inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines at practice choreography from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video. The video can be viewed here:' [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o&feature=related Thriller] '

Treadmill Cats

Cats on treadmills, in which a cat or cats on a treadmill walk or do interesting things, have become popular among many YouTube viewers. An example of this type of video is ' [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yVjzd320gew&feature=related Treadmill Kittens] '.

What What (In the Butt)

What What (In the Butt) is a viral music video for an original song sung by Samwell. As of May 2008, the video has been viewed over 12 million times on YouTube alone.

Notable viral video sites

* Albino Blacksheep
* Blip.tv
* Break.com
* Broadcaster.com
* Collegehumor.com
* Dailymotion.com
* Funny or Die
* GodTube
* GoFish
* Google Video
* Heavy.com
* iFilm
* JibJab
* Kewego
* LiveLeak
* Metacafe
* MSN Soapbox
*MySpaceTV
* Newgrounds.com
* Pandora tv
* Putfile
* Revver
* sevenload
* Stage 6
* The REAL Rudy
* Veoh
* Viralvideos.com
* vMix
* Weebl's Stuff
* Youare.tv
* YouTube

See also

*Viral marketing
*List of Internet phenomena
*Shock site

References