Three words: Rebecca Black, Friday.
As the actual YouTube video was taken off but then put up again as I write this entry, I will link up the original version (hopefully it won't be taken down again, if so you, the reader, should have seen it already as it is so widely know now). When I first watched this video a couple weeks ago it had a mere 9million views but when it was taken off the site it had reached 62million views. The wide spread reaction to this 13 year old girls attempt at a music video turned viral for all the wrong reasons, as many viral videos tend to, with poor quality props and settings, bad edits and incomprehensible lyrics. The person who wrote the lyrics for this song was either a lyrical genius or a dim-witted adult who thought that’s what all teenagers do on a Friday. If it’s the latter then I understand why there were so many dislikes towards the video, if it was the former then this person created a song that many people got stuck in their head whether they permitted it or not.
The thing that makes this video viral is that people in the millions watched it, talked about it and posted it on social network sites, it is a perfect example of the power the internet can have. If this video hadn’t received so much attention, would Rebecca Black have gotten so many interviews and have articles written about her? It reminds me of the Christmas number 1 for 2009, people who were sick of the X Factor decided to rebel and through social network groups were able to make Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’ number 1 in the charts. Bearing in mind the song was released in 1992 and originally reached number 25 in the UK charts it shows how one thing can be propelled into the spotlight with the right marketing and reasons. The couple who started the rebellion were doing it for charity purposes but also the group represented what many people thought, that X Factor were taking over a Christmas tradition.
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(the link to the Facebook Group) |
In my opinion these crazes are not completely negative; in fact they make the internet a more entertaining place. Giving the feeling of unity that a group of people are able to overthrow the higher powers with sheer numbers and that the public are not all ignorant followers of what we’re told to believe. On the other hand the reaction and comments towards Rebecca Black can be harsh for a 13 year old to listen to, with comments telling her to die (a little extreme) and others complaining of their bleeding ears, it’s the personal level these comments go to that ruin the viral trends and force videos to be removed. As history is showing us the internet is growing power outside of the computer and with the majority of people on a global level has access to the internet, there is no telling how dominant these trivial things like a teen’s music video or Christmas Number 1 will become.
Here it is, that song I was talking about....
Here it is, that song I was talking about....
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