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A viral video is a video that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through internet media sharing websites. Viral videos often contain humorous content and include televised comedy sketches such as Saturday Night Live's Lazy Sunday and Dick in a Box; amateur video clips like Star Wars Kid, the Numa Numa videos, The Dancing Cadet, The Evolution of Dance, the "Benny Lava" video, Chocolate Rain on youtube; and web-only productions such as I Got a Crush... on Obama. Some "eyewitness" events have also been caught on video and have "gone viral," including the Battle at Kruger.

Humor is sometimes considered to be a vital component and characteristic of a viral video.^{[citation needed]} But humor is not, in fact, the defining characteristic; a viral video is any video that is passed electronically from person to person, regardless of its content.

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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early examples 2 Social impact 2.1 Internet celebrities 2.2 Band and music promotion 2.3 Advertisement and business 2.4 Whistleblowing 2.5 Education 2.6 Customer relations 3 Legal implications 4 Political implications 5 Notable viral video sites 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] History

Viral Videos began circulation before the major video sharing sites such as YouTube, FunnyorDie, and CollegeHumor, by basic inbox-to-inbox sharing. One of these early videos was "Dancing Baby," surfacing in 1996.^[1] This video was released as samples of 3D character animation software. Ron Lussier, the animator who cleaned up the raw animation, began passing the video around LucasArts (his workplace at the time).^[2] The surge of viral videos seen soon after this video's circulation can be attributed to the creation of sites designated for video sharing, such as YouTube, and the availability of affordable digital cameras.^[3] Due to these sites, many of the traditionally shared videos have been phased out, although some of the early examples have been added to the mainstream sites. Viral videos derived from viral marketing which is also identified as the word-of-the-mouth marketing, buzz marketing and stealth marketing. The history of viral marketing is left for open interpretation. When looking at the history, historians just focus on the specific term, "viral marketing." Since viral marketing is a drastic upgrade from the traditional word-of-the mouth, it can be seen as starting many decades before the internet.^[4] Therefore, because viral videos started as content that people eagerly found imperative to pass around the concept has always been around.

[edit] Early examples

This section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (January 2009)

One of the first known viral videos was "Dancing Baby."^[1] In 1996, Ron Lussier, one of the animators, began passing this video around his workplace (LucasArts) after cleaning up the raw sample of 3D character animation software.^[2] Given the lack of early mass-outlets for viral video, some of the earliest videos to catch on in a similar way (namely, spread by e-mail) have been dwarfed by bigger hits on sites like YouTube and FunnyorDie. Some of these, however, still find lives on YouTube, etc, such as the video for Daler Mehndi's song "Tunak Tunak Tun".

The phrase "All your base are belong to us" was spread as a flash animation. To this day this animation is popular and various versions of it can be found on YouTube converted to video.

[edit] Social impact

[edit] Internet celebrities

Video websites such as YouTube often create Internet celebrities, popular individuals who have attracted significant publicity in their home countries from their videos.^[5] 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.^[6] For these users, Internet fame has had various unexpected effects. YouTube user and former receptionist Brooke Brodack has been signed by NBC's Carson Daly for an 18-month development contract.^[7] Another example is the uncovered fictional blog of lonelygirl15^[8], which was discovered to be the work of some film directors, starring New Zealand actress Jessica Rose.^[9]

[edit] Band and music promotion

YouTube has also become a means of promoting bands and their music. Many musicians, and larger companies such as Universal Music Group use YouTube to promote videos.^[10]

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,^{[citation needed]} with more campaigns taking place in different parts of the world. The main character of the video, Juan Mann, has also achieved recognition, being interviewed on Australian news programs and appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

[edit] Advertisement and business

When looking at advertisements, viral advertisements are primarily compared to regular television advertisements.^[11] Viral videos not only provide important information but they also give much needed humor to any viewer. Businesses are very much acknowledge that humor plays a huge role in entertaining and capturing the desired audience. In a 2008 Office Max advertisement campaign, entitled "Penny Pranks," a man was sent around NYC trying to purchase things with only pennies. The videos were successful and highlighted the chain's back-to school-message.^[12]

[edit] 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.^[13] 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Education

Viral videos are continuing to grow popular as teaching and instructive aids. In March 2007, an elementary school teacher, Jason Smith, created TeacherTube, a website catered to sharing creative, educational videos with other teachers. The site now features over 54,000 videos^[14] Some college curriculums have begun embracing viral videos in the classroom as well. Northwestern University provides a course called YouTubing 101 . The course invites students to produce their own videos and have them go viral, focusing on marketing techniques and successful advertising strategies.^[15]

[edit] Customer relations

Viral videos such as the "United Breaks Guitars" video by the Canadian folk rock music group Sons of Maxwell are examples of how viral videos can be used by consumers to force companies to react to complaints.^[16] During the introduction of viral videos people seemed to be more confused than irritated.^{[citation needed]} This new form of technology was not drastically from previous forms but, unlike traditional advertisements, viral videos hold information that has been through many circuits voluntarily.^{[clarification needed]}

[edit] Legal implications

Oftentimes, viral videos that do not feature original content violate copyright laws. Users upload television, movie and music clips onto popular viral websites, like YouTube, frequently. The use of this copyrighted material has caused several problems in the entertainment industry. The most notable incident occurred with the release of "Lazy Sunday", the popular digital short that appeared on NBC's Saturday Night Live. Within hours of its release, fans posted the video onto YouTube, where it received substantial hits. NBC then released an order to remove all reproductions of Lazy Sunday on various websites. They claimed that the sites committed copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.^[17]

As viral videos have grown more popular, the entertainment industry is looking for more ways to profit from the phenomenon. Recently on YouTube, a couple posted a video of their wedding procession to Chris Brown's song "Forever". Sony, the rights holder to the song, were able to capitalize off of the success of the video by offering "Click-to-Buy" advertising which allows users to purchase the song by clicking on a black bar that appears during the video. According to Youtube, although the song was a year old, the video renewed the songs popularity and it reached #4 on ITunes and #3 on Amazon's music list.^[18] The recent success of the Click-to-Buy method can allow companies to think about how they can capitalize off of the success of viral videos. Other media companies have decided to form a partnership with viral video sites, hoping that increased traffic will lead users to their sites. MTV2 provided clips of the The Andy Milonakis Show with links that led back to the original content. Advertisers, such as Nike, seed Youtube with clips of their products hoping to lure consumers.^[19]

[edit] Political implications

The 2008 United States presidential election showcased the impact of political viral videos. For the first time, YouTube hosted the CNN-YouTube presidential debates, calling on YouTube users to pose the questions. With this debate, the opinions of viral video creators and users were taken seriously. There were several memorable viral videos that appeared during the campaign. In June 2007, "I Got a Crush...on Obama", a music video featuring a girl claiming to have a crush on presidential candidate Barack Obama, appeared. Unlike previous popular political videos, this did not feature any celebrities, but was purely user-generated content. The video garnered many followers and gained attention in the mainstream media.^[20] Another popular^[21] video was "Barack Rolled"^[22], in which someone compiled words from Obama’s speeches to make it seem like he was singing the lyrics from Rick Astley’s song "Never Gonna Give You Up". This video sprung from the concept of Rickrolling, which involves providing links to users that unknowingly lead them to Astley's 1987 video.

The proliferation of viral videos in the 2008 campaign only serves to highlight the fact that people increasingly turned to the internet to receive their news. In a study for the Pew Research Center in 2008, about 2% of the people sampled mentioned that they received their news from non-traditional sources such as MySpace or YouTube.^[23] The campaign was widely seen as an example of the growing influence of the internet in United States politics, as evidenced by the founding of viral video producers like Brave New Films.^[24]

[edit] Notable viral video sites

Albino Blacksheep Break.com Collegehumor.com Fail Blog Funny or Die Google Video JibJab

LiveLeak Metacafe Newgrounds.com Pandora tv Veoh.com YouTube ebaumsworld

[edit] See also

• Viral marketing
• List of Internet phenomena
• Shock site

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The most-watched viral videos of all time, Sydney Morning Herald, May 6, 2009.