How memes are orchestrated by companies for profit (Harlem Shake made it to mefi on Feb 7, eight days after its origin. Another related post.)
posted by desjardins on Mar 28, 2013 - 109 comments

The video for "Gangnam Style" is the first to reach one billion views (short scale) on YouTube. [more inside]
posted by Wordshore on Dec 21, 2012 - 143 comments

Meet Monty, your designated driver. Don't be alarmed, GOOD BOY! he's trained. [more inside]
posted by MuffinMan on Dec 6, 2012 - 25 comments

Summarized on Storify: "A shocking video of middle schoolers verbally abusing a poorly-paid, hearing-impaired grandmother of eight hired to keep them safe on the school bus went viral on Wednesday. " Sympathy and donations have come in from around the world, and Reddit users have complained to the school district and started a thread that's helped to raise $150,000+ so far.
posted by deern the headlice on Jun 21, 2012 - 279 comments

Next Time, On Lonny [A reality webseries where nothing much really happens during the show] [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Dec 3, 2011 - 42 comments

Global British Columbia Sports Anchor Barry Deley wins lotto home draw, live on his own TV channel. But it turns out he's got an even more personal connection to the lottery.
posted by Potomac Avenue on Nov 3, 2011 - 78 comments

David Blaine is a Demon From Space Part 4 Since the first video in 2006 there have been a Part 2 and Part 3. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Oct 28, 2011 - 17 comments

After starring in a giant hit youtube video singing Nicki Minaj's Super Bass, 8 year old Sophia Grace Brownlee (and her somewhat less talented sidekick) came on Ellen Degeneres's show yesterday to perform, and meet/upstage their idol. [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Oct 13, 2011 - 65 comments

I am NOT gettting out of this car because I am SCARED of that TURKEY!
posted by Potomac Avenue on Oct 9, 2011 - 57 comments

Victoria Looseleaf's mesmerizingly WTF facial-stretch video set to Placido Domingo has been making the rounds this weekend. But who is Victoria Looseleaf? [more inside]
posted by BeerFilter on Apr 24, 2011 - 45 comments

"I Hope This Gets To You" is a "digital love letter" by Walter C. May of The Daylights. He hopes it gets to her "organically—through tweets, links passed between friends, and blog posts."
posted by Avenger50 on Dec 1, 2010 - 8 comments

A fourth music video clip has appeared on iamamiwhoami, a YouTube channel set up in December, complete with cryptic title and enigmatic imagery. The quality of the music as well as the apparent high budget of the videos has people guessing as to who's behind it. Is it Poe? The Knife? Goldfrapp? Is it Margaret Berger? Lady Gaga? It's not Christina Aguilera, is it?
posted by creeky on Feb 10, 2010 - 71 comments

Corey Arcangel is perhaps the internet's most infamous hack, masher-upper, digi/net artist. His work stands for a growing culture of artists who run wildly through animated GIF landscapes populated with corrupted data-compressed bunny rabbits and tinny, MIDI renditions of Savage Garden ballads. As the Lisson Gallery, London, opens its archives to Arcangel's curatorial eye, could digi/net art be set to infect the real, fleshy world, like a rampant Conficker Worm? Has YouTube become the truest reflection of our anthropological selves? Are we destined to roam the int3erw£bs like the mythic beasts of yore, hoping, in time, that digi art can free us from the confines of this fleshy void? [...previously]
posted by 0bvious on Dec 8, 2009 - 20 comments

This YouTube video seems to break my browser. Does it play alright for anyone else?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Nov 6, 2009 - 45 comments

A nice stop motion video with sticky notes.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Jun 11, 2009 - 10 comments

Top 60 Ghetto Black Names (MLYT) [more inside]
posted by Potomac Avenue on Jun 4, 2009 - 292 comments

YouTube on YouTube . . .
posted by huckhound on May 20, 2008 - 11 comments

John.He.Is turns John McCain quotes into a beautiful song. Two suburban women sit around discussing whether or not America is ready for a smart President. Filmmakers get ready to release Barackula: The Musical. Rap musician BigHitBuda drops Elect Obama. [more inside]
posted by billysumday on Feb 11, 2008 - 35 comments

So you remember that 'dumb, totally fake' video of a bird pooping in a reporter's mouth that was posted and deleted a week ago? It's meta-fake. Maybe even pata-fake.
posted by blasdelf on Feb 1, 2008 - 40 comments

Parody is... also a sincere form of flattery, in the advertising biz. Sonic's ad agency, after a couple of dud trys at viral marketing to complement their popular campaign, decides instead to jump on all the parodies that people are posting on YouTube, then recognize some of the better ones, also on YouTube.
posted by dammitjim on Jul 26, 2007 - 55 comments

Viral Marketing Suggestions. At one time, when YouTube was new, ordinary people filled it with interesting content. But only 3 years later, after television content producers have forced them to remove millions of copyrighted video clips, we are starting to see an even more insidious phenomenon: the posting of "phony" videos on YouTube, for marketing purposes. NBC has just been caught posting a bogus parody of their show "Heroes". Not to mention Agency.com's pathetic attempt to get an ad contract with Subway, lonelygirl15, and many more that have yet to be discovered. Best of all, you can now find how-to instructions on marketing websites showing how to use YouTube for viral marketing. People are starting to notice....yet it is becoming more and more commonplace. (And I won't even mention how many MySpace and Facebook pages are viral in nature.)
posted by metasonix on Mar 11, 2007 - 36 comments