I have never created a “viral” video. In fact, most videos I’ve posted to YouTube have been for work and have either been set to “private” or were “unlisted.” With that being said, I’ve certainly watched my share of viral media. It’s pretty easy to get lost in one after another after another and before you know it, you’ve just wasted your Saturday morning or lunch hour watching YouTube videos.
Relevance -
First, your viral video needs to be relevant to what is going on in the world
around you. Some good examples of
relevant viral videos are Suli Breaks, a spoken word poet whose videos about
changing education have gone viral worldwide. Or, the “Bad Lip Syncing” videos that dubbed
over some film of NFL players and coaches around the time of the Super Bowl.
Entertainment - Whether
it’s funny, sad, informative or just plain odd, I want to be entertained by it.
This will keep a viewer watching it over and over as well as showing as many
people as I can.
Simplicity - Keep
it simple. Your video is a way to spread your message and if it is simple,
people will share due to its value.
Uniqueness - In
the same vein, people will perceive a video’s value by how unique it is. Again,
if a video is perceived as valuable people will share it.
Unexpectedness
(Edginess)- “In a world where over
two days of video get uploaded every minute, only that which is truly unique
and unexpected can stand out the way that viral videos have,” Kevin Alloca,
Trends Manager at YouTube.com. People do not want to see the same thing over
and over again; they want something unexpected and edgy. That is why Suli Breaks has success with his videos;
education reform is such a hot button issue at the moment and he takes it right
to the edge.
Dan - the fact that you bring up a viral video needing to be entertaining makes me think about how often we may overlook this simple fact. The reason that so many videos are as successful as they are, is that they are entertaining - if they weren't, we probably would have never seen them! This makes me think of the most recent Dollar Shave Club (DSC) video that hit YouTube just a few days ago...their first video released last year already has close to 10.5 million views!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/user/DollarShaveClub?v=3FOae1V1-Xg
Brendan, thanks for posting this video as it was quite entertaining!
ReplyDeleteI am the same way! I could get caught up for hours watching YouTube videos without even realizing how long I've been on the computer, smart phone or iPad. All of the videos I usually get sucked into watching have the elements that you have mentioned. Some are hilarious (and I'll watch them numerous times just to get a good laugh). Some are unique and out of the ordinary which make them interesting to watch and it will make me want to share it with others on all my social media platforms!
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