Because this is the first time, I'm going to give you some insight into how I pick my top five. I obviously consider the number of hits received in a week, but that's not enough (if it were, my number one this week would be J Bieb's vid for Somebody To Love). I also have to consider its lasting implications (as in, will it make it past the level of a skateboarding dog?) and the demographics (sometimes I'll include one that everyone under the age of 12 adores, even if it doesn't make any sense to me). I will rarely rank the five videos I show, but I will provide some commentary.
Normally, I would not shamelessly urge you to watch promotional material, but as someone who once dreamed of having my own Ken, I (along with more than 1.5 million other people) couldn't help but appreciate Ken's advice that "you need to love yourself before someone can love you." Dating Tips #31 and #48 are also worthy of commendation, but missed the cut to be considered viral.
The American inability to care about soccer continually astounds me. Actual clips of goalie Robert Green have, at most, hits numbering around 300,000, while a Lego re-enactment of the two goals scored in the game has garnered approximately four times as many views in the space of a week. But I won't lie and say that the toys devalue the video; I think Legos make everything better. Over time, you will find out that I LOVE Lego re-enactments, like this one.
I fear that we might next see this child in an E-Trade commercial, or maybe Dancing With The Stars. With more than 2 million views in a week, he could certainly bring in the votes.
I don't get it. Apparently 2.6 million people know something that I don't. Maybe if I watched the other 110 videos this guy has posted? Episodes of his twice-weekly videos have gotten as many as 10 million views, but I just don't understand. Crass can be funny, but this just makes "Ray" and =3 look stupid. Maybe a reader can explain it to me.
I know that this video didn't make YouTube's most popular for the week, but that might be because Kurt Schneider (guitar) and Sam Tsui (that angelic voice) only posted it on June 23. In that space of time, it has had nearly 6,000 favorites on the site. I discovered these adorable Elis in February and the replicating MJ sensation has been a personal favorite since then. I couldn't not include Sam's most recent medley when I saw it for the first time.
Next week, I'll have five fresh videos for you to enjoy, but for now, here's one video I think should go viral. Can we make it happen?
[Editor's Note: Hannah Walk, a CL college intern, is obsessed with YouTube. We're enabling her addiction, weekly.]
Since it's summertime, I clearly have nothing better to do than watch clips on YouTube. It begins harmlessly with the thought, "Maybe just one episode of What the Buck?" Then, following the "Betcha can't eat just one" rule (aka the Lay's Potato Chip Theory), one episode with the speed-talking Michael Buckley leads me to an episode of Potter Puppet Pals, then to Chinese inmates dancing to Thriller, until that one video has turned into an endless parade of the funny, sweet and obscure. And you're all doing it, too. How else would videos go viral? Thusly, I present to you my top five viral videos of the week.
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