The best of YouTube
YouTube has compiled a list of top 10 online videos of 2012. Six of them are music videos, led by Psy of the Gangnam fame, who has clocked an earth shattering one billion views on YouTube. The list also features fellow social media sensation Justin Bieber, an Obama Vs Mitney rap, another indecipherable rap, a number from a Canadian band and a fiddler playing electronic dance music.
The non-music list has a TNT commercial, a father who shot his rebellious daughter's laptop on camera, campaign against Ugandan warlord Kony and Felix Baumgartner's space jump.
Over 800 million users watch four billion hours of video on YouTube every month. So, what took these 10 videos to the top of the heap? The artistic talent on display is not in danger of getting into any immortal hall of fame. After he retires, Psy has a brighter future as a fitness instructor. It is unlikely that Bieber will leave you panting unless you are a 13-year-old school girl. More than anything, these stars may prove that fame is transitory. Come 2013 most will be gone, anyone humming Kolaveri Di, still!
What makes them popular is not a puritan-pleasing performance; it is a high-decibel, adrenaline-pumping antics' show that will render you immobile for three minutes. The five-member Canadian band plays a guitar, that is all five of them play the same guitar at the same time. It is speed scoring over substance for an overwhelmingly teen-like audience with an aptitude for burp and fart jokes.
But not anyone becomes a YouTube phenomenon. There is calculated creativity in packaging an appeal that has to be as refreshing as entertaining. And not all of them are amateurish.
The TNT video, in which pranksters invade a small Belgian town, is a brilliantly executed commercial venture. The stakes are high, Psy's one billion views have fetched him 10 million dollars in advertisements. More importantly, the fate of a growing list of companies depends on how well they manage social media.
YouTube has compiled a list of top 10 online videos of 2012. Six of them are music videos, led by Psy of the Gangnam fame, who has clocked an earth shattering one billion views on YouTube. The list also features fellow social media sensation Justin Bieber, an Obama Vs Mitney rap, another indecipherable rap, a number from a Canadian band and a fiddler playing electronic dance music.
The non-music list has a TNT commercial, a father who shot his rebellious daughter's laptop on camera, campaign against Ugandan warlord Kony and Felix Baumgartner's space jump.
Over 800 million users watch four billion hours of video on YouTube every month. So, what took these 10 videos to the top of the heap? The artistic talent on display is not in danger of getting into any immortal hall of fame. After he retires, Psy has a brighter future as a fitness instructor. It is unlikely that Bieber will leave you panting unless you are a 13-year-old school girl. More than anything, these stars may prove that fame is transitory. Come 2013 most will be gone, anyone humming Kolaveri Di, still!
What makes them popular is not a puritan-pleasing performance; it is a high-decibel, adrenaline-pumping antics' show that will render you immobile for three minutes. The five-member Canadian band plays a guitar, that is all five of them play the same guitar at the same time. It is speed scoring over substance for an overwhelmingly teen-like audience with an aptitude for burp and fart jokes.
But not anyone becomes a YouTube phenomenon. There is calculated creativity in packaging an appeal that has to be as refreshing as entertaining. And not all of them are amateurish.
The TNT video, in which pranksters invade a small Belgian town, is a brilliantly executed commercial venture. The stakes are high, Psy's one billion views have fetched him 10 million dollars in advertisements. More importantly, the fate of a growing list of companies depends on how well they manage social media.