Viral Videos Re-Done

Not only are viral videos popular but they inspire people to copy them or remix them. There are several videos posted on YouTube that have people of all ages mimicking Charlie Bit My Finger. They are followed along with several videos that remix the video into something musical or even more comical. I want to know what makes people want to copy these videos. Do they copy these videos or remix these videos simply because they are popular? What makes the videos so cool that people would want to copy it? I think these questions bring me back to my main idea of what is a viral video and how do videos go viral? I hope by looking at this reproductions of Charlie Bit My Finger that I will get some insight into why these videos became viral in the first place. Does the reproduction such as a copy or remix of a "viral" video really what makes it viral, or is it simply considered a viral video based on the amount of views it receives?

Abstract

What is a viral video and how do they become viral? Viral videos are videos posted on the internet that are passed around until they are extremely popular. These videos are normally home-made and are made popular by word-of-mouth. They are called viral because they spread almost like an epidemic or disease. I will be looking at the definition of a viral video. When viral videos became known and took the name viral.   I will look at the all time most viral videos. I want to research the progression of some top viral videos. I want to see where viral videos are headed. Are the first viral videos more interesting than viral videos today? How to make a video that will go viral! Lastly, I will be looking at profits of viral videos and the owners of YouTube. I think that viral videos have a huge impact on society especially since with everyday technology advances and more people are becoming technologically savvy. As technological use increases things like viral videos become more and more popular due to increase usage of sites like YouTube. Overall, I want to see the progression of online videos to viral videos with the progression of the internet use and word-of-mouth. When did the internet and viral videos become so popular to the point there are shows on television (The Soup and Tosh.0) that are dedicated to viral videos.

EDIT: I need to look more into the start of YouTube and how it got started. The start of Youtube is really when people started posting videos online and that's when videos started going "viral". My favorite part so far is being able to see the videos and comments made by viewers. Some of the websites that I have found give a little background detail into the video and then almost an update on where the video maker is today. Most "viral" videos that are extremely popular have made some of the movie makers money too.

Key Questions and Lessig

1. The key questions that my project asks are "Is art collaboration legal?" and "How do videos become so popular while others get lost on the worldwide web?" The evidence I have for the first question is sites like creative commons and hitrecord, even YouTube to a point. They all allow videos to be broadcasted, creative commons and hitrecord encourage collaboration while YouTube not so much. There is still remixing on YouTube though, but my main focus for YouTube is why some of the videos posted have millions of views while others have not even ten views. I want to study some videos and see there rise to popularity or make a video and test different methods to make it popular.


2. Lessig says, "If the twentieth century made culture generally accessible, the twenty- first will make it universally accessible". I think this relates to my project because now that everything is accessible to everyone it makes people more likely to use each others material. Lessig's whole article is about people making copies of other peoples material whether it be a song or movie or whatever. My project is about talking what you now have access to and making it into something completely unique in itself. I also am asking how videos and things posted online become more popular than others and I think this kind of gives the idea that anything can be found if you are looking for it.


Lessig also says, "In the twenty- first century, television and movies will be bookified. Or again, our expectations about how we should be able to access video content will be the same as the expectations we have today about access to books. The idea that you would conform your schedule to a distributor’s will seem increasingly ridiculous. The idea that you would have to wait till “prime time” to watch prime television will seem just fascist. Freedom will mean freedom to choose to watch what you want when you want, just as freedom to read means the freedom to read what you want when you want. In both cases, not necessarily for free. But in both cases, according to your schedule, not the schedule of someone else". Here again, Lessig is talking about the idea that of accessing information when you want it. He thinks people will watch what they want when they want it. I think that this fit with youtube. You can type almost anything into youtube now a days and you can get instantly anything you typed into the search box. Whether it be a specific clip from the grammys or what have you. I think its interesting to see what people want to see. What can they not wait to watch?

Preview/Trailer

Redone, new editing and music!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYBP8ev6UdI

Three Prompts

1. My title is "Art Collaboration and Popularity".

2. Is remixing legal? How do videos become "viral"?

3. I think he would support my idea because he believed in there is no more original thought like myself.