Before the age of the internet the term “viral” was often with concern and a trip to the doctors office. Since the dawn of YouTube, viral videos have become a defining characteristic of our culture.
The SNL digital short “Lazy Sunday” is credited as one of the first videos to go viral. It premiered on Dec 17, 2005 and subsequently put YouTube on the map when it inspired several video parodies.
On November 15, 2008 SNL was also responsible for the first video parody of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies.” This moment marked the two viral worlds colliding since the hit song is considered “the first major dance craze of both the new millennium and the Internet.”
By definition, viral videos are those that have gained popularity through internet sharing. Be it Facebook, YouTube, or as these videos originally came packaged, emails, it seems as though our society has a knack for finding that gem of a video hidden within all the internet rubble.
Another game changing video entered the YouTube scene on May 22, 2007, entitled “Charlie Bit My Finger.” The video is relatively self-explanatory as 1 year old Charlie bites the finger of his 3 year old brother.
At face value the video doesn’t sound terribly riveting, but a combination of the young boys’ charming British accents coupled with the raw, home-video-like feel resulted in the video to spread like wildfire. As of March 1 it has 513,874,839 views and holds the title of most watched video on YouTube that is not a professional music video.
Viral videos have done more than provide us with a new forum of entertainment; in one of the most famous cases they have been able to bring light to a particular cause. Kony 2012 was released March 5, 2012 and by October 17 it had garnered over 94 million views on YouTube. “Time” magazine even ranked it as the most viral video of all time. However the cause lost steam when the organization’s validity was brought into question and, like all viral videos, it made a quick exit from our stream of consciousness.
Another aspect of the viral video that has contributed to its longevity is that any viewer can be involved in the craze. This has most recently been exemplified by “The Harlem Shake,” but perhaps a more enduring viral-participant video is The Cinnamon Challenge.
The purpose of The Cinnamon Challenge is to swallow a tablespoon of cinnamon in less than a minute without drinking—although most don’t make it past five seconds due to the gagging, inability to breath, and pneumonia risks. While The Cinnamon Challenge was created in 2001, it surged in popularity when people began uploading their video reactions to the internet in 2010.
Finally, one does not simply bring up viral videos without mentioning the profanity-laced blonde bombshell, Jenna Marbles. She’s currently the most subscribed female on YouTube and broke into the scene due to her viral video “How To Trick People Into Thinking You’re Good Looking” which garnered 5.3 million views in just its first week. As of March 3, 2013 she has achieved over a billion views on YouTube.
Whether we’re watching “The Evolution of Dance” or attempting to down a tablespoon of cinnamon, viral videos have kept us entertained for most of our generation and will continue to do so in the future.