From my Comedy YouTube channel
Draw My Life
A white board drawing of my personal journey»Learning from the past – what went viral last year
written by JoshRimer.com on February 15th, 2011
I found a list of the top ten most shared videos of 2010 and thought I’d take a look at them to see what lessons can be learned moving forward…
1. Keenan Cahill’s Teenage Dream
YouTube’s latest lip-synching star Keenan Cahill, had a battle with MPS-VI since he was born, but that didn’t stop him from making YouTube videos. The 15-year-old YouTube sensation has now over 18,000,000 views on his channel and got his “big break” when Katy Perry tweeted a link to his lip sync of one of her songs.
There are three things that a lot of YouTube viewers seem to look for: funny, heartwarming and cute; and this video of an angry baby that turns strangely calm upon hearing a Bob Marley song hit the bullseye of those three traits. The original was removed for some sort of copyright issue, but the video has since been re-posted and is racking up the views again.
3. How to Trick People Into Thinking You’re Good Looking
This video of up-and-coming comedian Jenna Marbles where she enumerated various ways on how to “beautify” oneself despite being “ugly” hits everyone’s funny bones. Her excessive swearing didn’t seem to faze her audience, with a growing channel view of 1,736,029. She’s a stripper, by the way so ya… hot chicks who are funny are win-win online.
Auto-Tune the News made a hilarious cover song of Antoine Dodson who was interviewed on the local news about his sister’s bed intruder. 69,000,000 plus views prove that taking a news clip with a funny character and making a catchy song out of it can be a great way to get views.
Produced by DC Shoes, professional racer Ken Block does his best in a Ford Fiesta that runs on a French racing stadium with complex routes and mean obstacles. Crazy stunts have always been popular on YouTube… hard to replicate if you don’t want to put your life in danger.
6. Driscoll Middle School Trick Play
This video of middle school footballers laying-out a perfectly planned trick-play calls to mind a triumphant scene straight out of Adam Sandler’s film The Waterboy. Hilarious and easily something you’d want to share around, even if you aren’t a football fan. “Real” video footage like this (similar to what you’d see on America’s Funniest Home Videos) also does well on YouTube.
7. Keenan Cahill’s Down on Me (With 50 Cent)
Cahill got an opportunity to make a home video with famous rapper 50 cent after a string of his successful lip-syncing videos. Adding a celebrity to your video definitely helps with its viral potential.
8. Cebu Pacific Dancing Flight Attendants
These groovy flight attendants from an airline based in the Philippines sure know how to get their passengers safe and in their seats. It’s one of those things that you watch and wonder if it’s actually real, and then want to find out where they fly so you can book a ticket!
9. Yosemite Bear Mountain Double Rainbow
This video was shot by Paul “Yosemite Bear” Vasque and shows a spectacular view of a double rainbow above the Yosemite National Park. It became a viral hit with 23 million views not just because of the uncommon phenomenon caught on camera, but mostly because of Vasquez’s commentary (and the way he delivered it). The [personality in front of (or behind) the camera is usually crucial to the video’s success on YouTube.
10. Christmas Food Court Flash Mob
A large group of unsuspecting people on their lunch break got an extra treat from a choir who sprang out of nowhere to sing them Hallelujah. Flash mobs make us feel great to see a community of people come together, have fun, and bring smiles to the faces of strangers in the area. The timliness of the video being during the holiday season definitely worked to it’s advantage.
What’s common among these videos are their entertainment value, quirky characters, and the perfect timing they had when they created their hits. They mostly appear DIY too, which I think, plays a very big role on why audiences connect more to the people in this video. Proving again that it’s not the quality of the equipment that you have that matters – it’s the quality of the content.
What was your favorite YouTube video from 2010?
Facebook Comments:
Hey Josh
It always amazes me to find out what kind of videos go viral.
Some of them are cool but quite frankly a lot of them are garbage.
Some of the vloggers are ranting on and on and I fail to see what’s so interesting about them.
On the other hand there are some really beautiful videos whether music, inspiration or the wonders of nature that are undervalued judging by the number of views they get compared to the senseless stuff.
What is your view on that?
Hi Vance,
I suppose it’s like music – a lot of people hate pop songs, think they’re trash, and feel the artists don’t have nearly the talent some classical singers have for example… but classical singers don’t have the mass appeal that pop music does. So I think it’s the same for videos – it’s not about what’s best really, as much as what appeals to the average person the most.
By the way, I’ve added KeywordLuv now… CommentLuv is next.
Thanks,
Josh
Truly amazing what goes viral, I echo the sentiments of many others. It reminds me of the Jib-Jab skit called “what we call the news”
I think I’ve seen the “Bed Intruder” remix at least 10 times.
I’ve dabbled a bit in studying YouTube marketing, but have this “thing” about camera. I am not comfortable in front of one. My stepson is though – his mother got him a video camera for Christmas and he’s taking off with his Vlogging efforts. I’ll be sure to point him to your blog for further research. Great resource! Thanks!
Hi Gayla, I hear that quite a bit – the more you get in front of the camera though, the more comfortable you get with it. Glad your stepson is off an running with it anyway!
This is a really nice post! a definite resource of entertainment and perfect for my free time!! thanks for this one!!
the post it so amazing and very entertainment.. I love watching videos in youtube.. thanks for a fun thoughts.. really wonderful what goes viral..
Videos are really funny, I enjoy watching it! This is such a very nice entertainment, it is really wonderful and amazing viral. Thanks much for sharing this funny videos, this could be my great laughter day LOL.
Great and funny viral videos! I enjoy watching it, it is really funny and awesome. You made a great and funny video as well, I’m looking forward for your another viral videos, thanks for making me laugh I appreciate it very much!
The Cebu Pacific Dancing Attendant has made some sensation last year and It really makes me proud to be Pinoy. Thank you for adding it in your list.
One of the better lists that I have not seen (yeah I am in a cave LOL). If I may add, the dancing inmates of Cebu from the Philippines is very nice too plus the lion story. I guess viral videos go a long way, providing fame (and notoriety if applicable). Imagine if you have a marketing video that has traits to go viral, that will be awesome!
Hey Josh,
Trying to continue our conversation from months back by clicking on reply under your comment doesn’t seem to help in posting my comment under it.
We’ll see where it’s going to end up.
Catering to the average seems to be the way to success on You Tube and anywhere else. It’s a bit sad I think. Perhaps the average will get better eventually.
It’s good you now have KW Luv and Comment Luv is seemingly on its way as I don’t see it. I think you are now having more comments than before.
Check out my blog again sometimes and see some of my videos too. I still remember what you called my first videos.
See if at least some of my newer videos are getting better and let me know if you have the time. If not, well c’est la vie.
Cheers,
Vance
I like watching funny videos. Some people are just born funny. I wish I were funny.
It all hinges, I think, on whether or not people are activly trying to be funny now. A lot of the clips that make their way to my Facebook wall or email are rubbish because you can just tell that the people running the camera are TRYING to become famous on YouTube.
Judging by what DOES go viral, those people would be better of swallowing their pride and doing something deeply embarassing – something they wish NO ONE will ever see – and then uploading that as that is almost a certainty to reach 1 Million hits
Matt.
Yep! I agree with you admin on this. I have been toying with the idea of making my own YouTube channel and present my own informative videos, but I am unable to gather courage to face the camera, I guess I need to make at least one small video daily and I am sur ein no time, I will also be comfortable in front of a camera too
Getting traffic from youtube is difficult when you are starting, but when you have built enough fanbase and support, Youtube traffic is definitely rewarding!
I actually found that your profile page in Youtube can jump to at least PR 3-6 depending on your popularity, and you can have 1 follow link on your Youtube profile page (the website area). I can really boost not only traffic but PR as well!
Keenan Cahill is an magnificent example of the people I believe SHOULD be getting their breaks from the Internet. He didn’t set out to be seen as cool – he was just having fun and his enjoyment was infectious. I took a risk when I launched my site – bikiniwaxvideo.org – as I’ve been a fairly introverted person my entire life. Like Keenan I was afraid that people would judge my online efforts but I thought, ‘to heck with it,’ and took a chance!
Much like you, Josh, taking the chance to set up this site and look at the success you’ve enjoyed and how many people you’ve helped!
Anita. x
I think, more trending videos last year are funny and very interesting. These, for me, are the reasons why these videos went viral. By the way, thanks for the great insights.
This is a great list! Thank you for the inspiration.