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Social impact of YouTube

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The video-sharing website YouTube has been involved with popularizing Internet trends outside the Internet.

Internet celebrities and breaking boundaries

Main article: List of YouTube celebrities

YouTube's popularity has led to the creation of many YouTube Internet celebrities, popular individuals who have attracted much publicity in their home countries (and sometimes world renown) due to their videos.[1] The most subscribed YouTube member, as of September 2009, is Nigahiga with over 1.9 million subscribers. The most viewed musician as of Summer 2009, is Britney Spears with over 600 million official BritneyTV YouTube music video views. Her song Womanizer alone has 80 million views. In total adding reproductions, Spears has over 1 billion YouTube music video views, the most by any musician.

For some users, Internet fame has led to unexpected results and, in some cases, crossovers into traditional media or entertainment avenues. Former receptionist Brooke Brodack (Brookers) from Connecticut has been signed by NBC's Carson Daly for an 18-month development contract in June 2006; Brodack was among the first individuals to transition into mainstream media through YouTube.[2][3] Another discovery was the uncovered fictitious blog of lonelygirl15, now known to be the creation of New Zealand actress Jessica Rose and some film directors. In 2007, a Dutch vocalist and songwriter named Esmée Denters (esmeedenters) was signed to a recording contract by Billy Mann based on her YouTube performances.[4][5] Another YouTube singer, 15 year-old Savannah Outen, was signed to Levosia Entertainment after posting videos of her singing on the site.

On January 31, 2007, Fox announced that Lisa Donovan (LisaNova) would appear as a cast member during the 12th season of its sketch comedy show MADtv.[6] Terra Naomi (terranaomi) has been signed with Island Records, a division of the Universal Music Group, one of the Big Four record labels. Brandon Hardesty (ArtieTSMITW), known for a popular reenactment series among his work, appeared in a GEICO television commercial[7] running nationally in the U.S. and it consists mostly of a segment taken from his Strange Faces and Noises I Can Make III video. Brandon has also been contracted by an agent and was hired for a role in the independent film, Bart Got a Room.[8]

Ysabella Brave (ysabellabrave and ysabellabravetalk) announced in two videos on June 3, 2007, in connection with a Los Angeles Times feature article[9] about her on the same day, that she has been signed by Cordless Recordings, a division of the Warner Music Group, also one of the four major records labels. TheReceptionist announced in a video on July 9, 2007 that he will be providing content for Comedy Central's website.[10]

Cory Williams (aka Mr. Safety of smpfilms) is the host of the first national television show to spawn from video bloggers. It's a "best of the net" type show called The FIZZ[11] on DirecTV channel 101 in the United States.[12] The show has been on air since September 2006 and features other popular YouTubers such as boh3m3, thewinekone, Kevin Nalty, TheHill88, and many others. Williams has also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, MTV Scarred, as well as a few popular music videos (Bloodhound Gang and Against Me! being two of the bands).

Pat Condell's videos attracted the attention of Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. Subsequently, 35 of his videos were published to DVD, which was sold on Dawkins' website[13] and Amazon.com.[14]

Damien Rice invited Amy Kuney to perform with him at two shows in Iceland after he saw her YouTube cover of his song The Blower's Daughter[15] in July 2008.[16][17]

In May 2007, YouTube invited some of its most viewed users to become "YouTube Partners." This exclusive status, previously only offered to commercial content providers, allows users to earn revenue from advertisements placed next to videos.[18] Participants include Ben Going (boh3m3), Paul Robinett (renetto), Lisa Donovan (LisaNova), Jessica Rose (lonelygirl15), Kevin Nalty (Nalts), Tony Huynh (thewinekone), Brandon Hardesty (ArtieTSMITW), Christine Gambito (HappySlip), Cory Williams (smpfilms), Charlie McDonnell (charlieissocoollike), and Yousef Abu-Taleb (Danielbeast) among the 100 partners.[19]

YouTube gatherings

YouTubers periodically hold public gatherings to celebrate the video sharing community.[20] One of the earliest of such gatherings, the recurrent and international As One, was first held in January 2007 in Los Angeles by Cory Williams of smpfilms. The second As One, also hosted by Cory Williams, was held on February 17, 2007 at Pier 39 in San Francisco, managed to attract many of YouTube's highest viewed individuals.[21] Notable attendees included Caitlin Hill, Ben Going, and Yousef Abu-Taleb, the actor who plays DanielBeast in the YouTube serial lonelygirl15. A third gathering took place on July 7, 2007, at Washington Square Park in New York City. A singing invitation to the event, posted on YouTube by Christine Gambito, YouTube's Happyslip, gained over 2.6 million views.[22] Notable attendees included Brooke Brodack, Caitlin Hill, and Kevin Nalty. Yet another took place in Washington D.C. on September 8, 2007. An As One gathering was held in Melbourne, Australia on December 1, 2007 at Federation Square. Another two gatherings were planned by smpfilms at the beginning of 2008.[23]

George Foster Peabody Award

YouTube was awarded a 2008 George Foster Peabody Award and cited for being "a 'Speakers' Corner,' where Internet users can upload, view and share clips, is an ever-expanding archive/bulletin board that both embodies and promotes democracy."[24][25]

Video rankings

YouTube has a number of ways of ranking its videos, the most popular of which is "most viewed",[26] which is divided into four categories: today, this week, this month, and all time. The current rankings are:

  • Featured
  • Rising Videos
  • Most Discussed
  • Most Viewed
  • Top Favorited
  • Most Popular
  • Most Responded
  • Top Rated

Lady Gaga is the only person to have 2 videos on the chart.

Lady Gaga - Bad Romanceis the current most viewed music video.

Charlie bit my finger - again ! is the current most viewed viral video.

Top 15 most viewed videos in YouTube history

Full Name Total Views Date of Upload Uploader Length Rating
1. Charlie bit my finger - again ! 168,825,245 May 22, 2007 HDCYT 0:56 ☆☆☆☆½
2. Lady Gaga - Bad Romance 148,036,585 November 23, 2009 ladygagavevo 5:08 ☆☆☆☆½
3. Evolution of Dance 138,505,127 April 6, 2006 judsonlaipply 6:00 ☆☆☆☆½
4. Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend 129,742,760 February 27, 2007 RCA Records 3:48 ☆☆☆☆½
5. CANSEI DE SER SEXY Music is My Hot Hot Sex 114,281,553 April 9, 2007 CLARUSBARTEL 3:07 ☆☆☆½
6. XXX PORN XXX 114,346,918 October 19, 2007 AbolishTheSenateOrg 0:45 Ratings disabled
7. Miley Cyrus - 7 Things - Official Music Video (HQ) 112,108,804 June 28, 2008 hollywoodrecords 3.40 ☆☆☆☆½
8. Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music 111,339,691 November 21, 2009 RihannaVEVO 4:00 ☆☆☆☆½
9. Hahaha 109,837,161 November 01, 2006 BlackOleg 1:40 ☆☆☆☆☆
10. Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist 107,901,561 September 29, 2007 krowbatellio 10:47 ☆☆☆☆☆
11. Lezberado: Revenge Fantasies 106,987,414 March 26, 2007 SHOWTIME 3:20 ☆☆½
12. Pitbull- I know you want me (Calle Ocho) 106,856,007 March 09, 2009 ultrarecords 4:06 ☆☆☆☆½
13. Chris Brown - With You 102,177,387 October 24, 2009 chrisbrownvevo 4:15 ☆☆☆☆☆
14. Lady Gaga- Just Dance 101,500,970 June 16, 2009 ladygagavevo 4:07 ☆☆☆☆½☆☆☆
15. Lo que tú Quieras Oír 99,956,043 March 26, 2006 kaejane 10:15
  • "CANSEI DE SER SEXY Music is My Hot Hot Sex" Video was considered to have been hacked or automatically watched, either way it was also the first video in the history of YouTube to reach over 100 million views. Deleted on March 17, 2008 by its uploader.[27][28][29]

Controversies over video rankings

The viewing figures of some YouTube videos have been the subject of controversy, since there have been claims that automated systems have been used to inflate the number of views received, which is forbidden by YouTube's terms of service. In March 2008, an unofficial video of the song "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex" by the Brazilian band Cansei De Ser Sexy briefly held the number one slot for the all-time most viewed video, with around 114 million views. It was temporarily removed from YouTube after allegations of automated viewing or hacking, before being deleted by the uploader.[30] The viewing figures for the video outnumbered the "most favorited" rating by around 21,000 to 1, compared to around 500 to 1 for other top rated YouTube videos.[31] YouTube's terms of service state: "You agree not to use or launch any automated system, including without limitation, "robots," "spiders," or "offline readers," that accesses the Website in a manner that sends more request messages to the YouTube servers in a given period of time than a human can reasonably produce in the same period by using a conventional on-line web browser." A spokesperson for YouTube commented: "We are developing safeguards to secure the statistics on YouTube. Although it is somewhat difficult to track how often this happens, it is not rampant. As soon as it comes to our attention that someone has rigged their numbers to gain placement on the top pages we remove the video or channel from public view."[32] Clarus Bartel from Italy, who had uploaded the video, denied attempting to boost its ranking, stating: "These gimmicks do not belong to me. I've got nothing to do with it. The accusations geared towards me have saddened me greatly."[33]

The YouTube video of the Avril Lavigne song "Girlfriend" was also accused of having an exaggerated number of views due to the use of a web link posted by AvrilBandAids, a fansite devoted to Avril Lavigne.[34] Clicking on the link would automatically reload the YouTube video of Girlfriend every fifteen seconds. Fans of Avril Lavigne were encouraged to: "Keep this page open while you browse the internet, study for exams, or even sleep. For extra viewing power, open up two or more browser windows at this page!"[35] The video of "Girlfriend" overtook "Evolution of Dance" by Judson Laipply as the all-time most viewed video on YouTube in July 2008. "Evolution of Dance" later retook the top slot, currently having around 131 million views, but was overtaken again on mid-2009 by the video of Charlie bit my finger, again! which currently has around 168 million views. The video of "Girlfriend" was removed by its uploader RCA Music around December 2009, ending with 129 million views.

References

  1. ^ Feifer, Jason (June 11, 2006). "Video makers find a vast and eager audience". Worcester Telegram.
  2. ^ Martin, Denise (2006-06-12). "Daly digs YouTube talent". Variety. Retrieved 2007-05-09.
  3. ^ Collins, Scott (2006-07-19). "Now she has their attention" (PDF). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
  4. ^ "YouTube stars don't always welcome record deals". Reuters. 2007-02-25.
  5. ^ "Dutch YouTube star scores U.S. music deal". Reuters. 2007-03-08.
  6. ^ "'MADtv' Uploads YouTube Star". Zap2it TV news. 2007-01-31. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
  7. ^ "Geico - 15 minutes online". YouTube. May 8, 2007.
  8. ^ "Strange Faces and Noises I Can Make III". YouTube. January 1, 2007.
  9. ^ "Wish on a Star". Los Angeles Times. June 3, 2007.
  10. ^ "Dead Tone". YouTube. July 9, 2007.
  11. ^ The FIZZ on DirecTV 101's website
  12. ^ Modesto Bee article
  13. ^ "Pat Condell: Anthology DVD available now!". richarddawkins.net. 2008-04-29. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
  14. ^ "Pat Condell Anthology". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2000-03-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  15. ^ Amy Kuney's "The Blower's Daughter" Cover
  16. ^ Damien Rice and Amy Kuney in Iceland performing "Volcano"
  17. ^ Damien Rice and Amy Kuney in Iceland performing "Cold Water"
  18. ^ YouTube Elevates Most Popular Users to Partners, The YouTube Blog May 3, 2007
  19. ^ YouTube Partners, as of June 23, 2007
  20. ^ Coyle, Jake "YouTube Vloggers Congregate Offline" Associated Press, August 22, 2007
  21. ^ Sandoval, Greg "Top YouTube videographers descend on San Francisco" cnet.com, February 17, 2007
  22. ^ Wilson, Craig "Saturday's date — 07/07/07 — gives birth to fortune frenzy" USA Today, July 6, 2007
  23. ^ Rampell, Catherine (2007-09-10). "YouTubers Try a Different Forum: Real Life". Washington Post. Retrieved 2007-09-14.
  24. ^ "Complete List of 2008 Peabody Award Winners". Peabody Awards, University of Georgia. 2009-04-01. Retrieved 2009-04-01.
  25. ^ Ho, Rodney (20009-04-02). "Peabody honors CNN, TMC". Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved 2009-04-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ YouTube.com. "YouTube's "most viewed" chart". Retrieved June 27, 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  27. ^ http://waxy.org/2008/03/new_video_overt/
  28. ^ http://blogs.smh.com.au/mashup/archives/images/500_alltimeleaderboard.html
  29. ^ [1]
  30. ^ Hutcheon, Stephen. "Mystery over zapped Hot Hot Sex YouTube clip". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  31. ^ Hutcheon, Stephen. "Numbers don't add up for top-rating Hot Hot Sex YouTube clip". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
  32. ^ "YouTube questions Hot Sex video". Metro News. Retrieved 2008-06-25.
  33. ^ Richards, Jonathan. "YouTube chart topper provokes web backlash". The Times. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
  34. ^ Ingram, Matthew. "Avril is an anagram for "viral"". Toronto Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2008-06-25. (Archived page)
  35. ^ "Help Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" Break a YouTube Record!!". Retrieved 2008-07-07.
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