Sorta Famous – The Weird World of Web Fame

I really feel for Chris Albrecht over on NewTeeVee as he tried to understand what the hell makes something like “Fred” happen:

“Sometimes I just feel so…out of touch. Who is “Fred” and why is he so freaking huge on YouTube? Seriously. He has four of the site’s top 20 videos this month, attracting a total of more than 12.7 million plays. Of the 16 videos he’s posted, only three have not cracked the one million-play mark (and one of those three was just added today).”

In fact, this sort of phenomenom drives everybody in the business of trying to be successful with web video content.  Why does some seemingly random kid come out of nowhere and command 7-figure viewcounts while thousands of “professionally” created videos languish in obscurity?

If you’re hoping for an answer from me, sorry.  I truly believe that “viral” video is truly that – viral.  You can’t make it happen.  Why is this kid the flavor of the moment?  Who the hell knows.  It doesn’t really matter.  It’s cool and hard to predict, like hurricanes or tornadoes.  We know they’re going to happen.  We just have know idea where or when.

Oh, here’s Fred:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEqwKNNQBwc&hl=en]

3 Comments

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  By Jesse Cowell, June 20, 2008 @ 5:30 pm

  I think Fred is funny….

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  More than the randomness – Fred is very well edited. It’s pace is like a video twitter on speed. I can see why people like it.

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  By Matt Semel, June 22, 2008 @ 10:25 pm

  Fred is a viral ad for the Zip it. (Be warned, it plays annoying music.) I bet it’s helping sell a lot of devices.

Other Links to this Post

1. Fred is Genuine AND Viral AND Sponsored… « MyMediaMusings — June 28, 2008 @ 11:26 pm

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