‘Viral Video’ Is So 2010. What’s Next?

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July 14, 2011
By Patrick Pho
10 Comments

This is part of Brazen Life’s Crystal Ball series where young professional rock stars make predictions about industry trends. Got a thought that’s gonna disrupt your field and get people talking? Get in touch with the editor now and contribute.

Viral videos have jumped the shark.

I had a feeling it happened when corporations started to film advertisements with “viral video” elements, like T-Mobile’s Flash Mob. In fact, T-Mobile has tried to bank on viral videos for much of their current campaigns with videos featuring YouTube celebrities and parodies of popular YouTube hits.

The phenomenon of viral videos has made people like Paul “Bear” Vasquez into a corporate spokesperson and brought the phrase “let’s make a viral video” into boardrooms across the country.

I hate that phrase.

It is impossible to ensure with 100% certainty that something will go viral. Now that YouTube has become a mainstream media channel, the bar is even higher for something to truly go viral.

Rap videos, flash mobs, remixes, and parody vids have become the old standby of viral content. When done right they are still entertaining but, like Eiffel 65, Baha Men, and Terror Squad, the viral video is becoming the flavor of the month; a one-hit wonder doomed to be pushed aside by the next funny cat video.

So what will the next wave of viral videos look like? I think humor and comedy will continue to be a big part of the online video landscape. However, I think there’s an opportunity to create content that will make an impact by thinking outside the newly established viral video box.

New point of views

Webcams, Flipcams, and iPhones turned the average person into an amateur filmmaker. Video has never been easier to create and upload. Now GoPro, Contour, and other wearable/mountable cameras will give viewers a new point of view. Whether it is viewing what it’s like to fly like a bird or zoom up and explode like fireworks, we’ll be captivated by seeing the world in a different light.

Platform innovation

While many try and find new, creative videos to make — few are thinking of new ways to stretch the platform. One of my favorite creative executions for YouTube is Tippex’s Hunter Shoots a Bear video, which truly puts the entertainment experience into the viewer hands. Another example is the rise of “Choose Your Own Adventure” format videos like those done by Totally Sketch. I think more and more videos will not just focus on the content, but the implementation within the platform.

Insight & criticism

YouTube is already flooded with the talking heads of vloggers, offering their take on anything and everything. Those who know not only know how to create, but how to tell a more compelling story, will get noticed by the masses. It could be a clip that examines a blockbuster’s secret music cue, or a mash-up that drives home a comparison between two movies, YouTube will not only be an entertainment platform, but a channel for driving home your message.

Patrick Pho is a self-professed videophile and quarter life crisis enthusiast. He has been experimenting on the Web for more than 10 years and works in social media in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit his blog.

Brazen powers real-time, online events for leading organizations around the world. Our lifestyle and career blog, Brazen Life, offers fun and edgy ideas for ambitious professionals navigating the changing world of work.

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Category: Social Media

Tags: Crystal Ball series, viral video, YouTube

http://entryleveldilemma.blogspot.com Edward – Entry Level Dilemma

Please, let’s remove video and audio from the table of “standard” and “must-have.” I’ve enjoyed very few viral videos. Most seem to fall under the category of “stupid human tricks” or just show the producer to have the IQ of a turnip. I don’t like America’s Funniest Home Videos either.

Aside from the complaint that most videos are just plain bad, I dislike when content is locked inside them. It’s one thing to make the format an optional way of consuming information, but if the only way to access the information, you are selfishly dictating the rate I can consume the information. When at a computer, I typically am working on five or more tasks at a time. Maybe I will read a paragraph of a blog post, then write an email, work on crafting a customized cover letter, check social media postings, work on my blog, or search for a solution to some issue before returning to the blog post to read some more. And alternate throughout all of those throughout the hour or two I’m online. If something is in a video format, first of all, I’m likely to skip it in favor of written content. And second, now I’m stuck consuming information at the rate in which the creator speaks instead of skimming and speed-reading
- Anonymous
  
  Edward, that’s a good counter-point to the difference of print vs. video. When it comes to video it does demand attention which is fine for those that are bored/have the time to watch- so I always say that shorter is indeed better. It’s an attention fight out there.
http://parisianfeline.wordpress.com Tatiana

Viral videos are really, really pop culture. If you’re not plugged in, it’s hard to really catch any new trends or memes that are floating around. Like myself for example. There are a lot of popular videos I haven’t seen – unless they’re cat related (because those are my favorites!). But otherwise, aside from the cute monkey cat video, I couldn’t tell you what viral videos came out this year, last year or any other year. It’s not my forte.

But this is because I don’t spend any real time on youtube/internet unless I’m trying to watch pirated shows from days of old, or music videos from Asian countries. When it comes to trendy anything, I’m almost always the last person to know. Assuming I find out in the first place.

But in terms of getting access to information through video – I actually prefer to read something than watch it. Sometimes my internet connection is slow, and the video skips a lot. Other times I’m easily bored or the information is of no relevance to me. So even though vlogging is really interesting, it takes a lot to be entertaining. So even though there are a lot of people who I find entirely boring to watch, I find those same people much more interesting to read.
- Anonymous
  
  You say it’s hard to remember Viral Videos from the past- can we say that because of the amount of media that’s now being produced that this form of media has become as expendable as tweets and newspapers?
  - http://parisianfeline.wordpress.com Tatiana
    
    I definitely think part of the issue is the sheer amount of consumption. There’s so much information, a lot of it just waves over me. But I also think it’s about trends and the things that define our culture/era. Like, certain things were a huge part of the 90s internet scene: being rick roll’d, that dancing baby. Viral videos are becoming our staples of the 2000s: cat videos, anything about angry birds.
    
    But I’m not a trendy person, and I don’t/can’t/refuse to keep up. A lot of pop culture memes (which often include viral videos) go over my head. And I feel a strong disconnect from my peers when they’re going around using viral video language in everyday speech. Or mimicking the things that are seen – like the whole Charlie the Unicorn pandemic.
Anonymous

@Tatiana–I’m with you 100% (and the points in this article too). I tend to take information in better when I read it vs. watch it, so I’ve also missed a lot of the great viral videos that had everyone talking. I like the points made here, though — that future videos will need to be better at depth, story telling, irony, and other elements that make them stand out from the 8 million remixes of Rebecca Black’s “Friday.” (Which, I’m sad to say, is one I actually did see.)
- Anonymous
  
  It’s really interesting to see the conversation here about video vs. print- I’ve never thought about it in that way but it shows that both mediums will have a value in the future.
http://twitter.com/leonachan Leona Chan

I have some friends who surf YouTube like it’s their job, so I usually rely on my close friends and social media network to share what’s the latest viral video. In general, I prefer reading because I can skim information quickly. Also, I don’t always have the patience for videos. On corporate or professional YouTube channels, the annoying 10-20 second ads can sometimes be the sole detractor which keep me from wanting to watch the video. I give most videos 10-30 seconds to pique my interest (aka a good story, witty and engaging dialogue) or I start checking out.
- Anonymous
  
  I was listening to a sports podcast that suggested that we have all become too ADD to put up with the traditional 30 second format for ads. It maybe time for the 8-10 second ad to become the norm.
http://profiles.google.com/seonotdofollow Williams Hood

Decent video, I like it!

‘Viral Video’ Is So 2010. What’s Next?

New point of views

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‘Viral Video’ Is So 2010. What’s Next?

New point of views

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