Kevin Allocca: Why videos go viral

http://www.ted.com Kevin Allocca is YouTube's trends manager, and he has deep thoughts about silly web video. In this talk from TEDYouth, he shares the 4 reasons a video goes viral. (This is the first talk posted from an amazing TEDYouth event. Many others will come on line next month as part of our TED-Ed launch. We can't wait ...)

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate

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• Category

  Entertainment

[Benjamin Irwin-Gordon]

Black girl with the red coat on at 3:52

"what the fuck is this shit?"

[SupesCoob]

Jesus, if the videos he showed are the sort of "entertainment" that will define tomorrow then when we may as well start launching the nukes now. Mediocrity reigns brothers and sisters and only you can stop it!

[suitov]

This vid came five months before Gangnam Style (released July 2012), but you're right that it's a perfect example. Loads of remixes and parodies around it, and the wacky video fits the "unexpectedness" criterion.

[Shani Drake]

Cats were watching other cats watch this video!!

[Vegard212]

Do you guys remember "The Knife Song" By Rusty Cage?

I did The Knife Song with a knife, but I did it different..it's on my channel if want to see :)

My video got 130 K views and 3K likes, but it got removed for no reason.. But I reuploaded it, so it's still on my channel.. :)

[adrian valenszula]

2:23 best singer ever

[TheShmelinator]

ummm, gangam style? no? ok. just saying

[Ralph Stubbs]

I like to sing and I am Canadian but I am not a Justin Bieber....my videos are merely for fun...and I could never really see myself as anything but that....sometimes I sound okay...sometimes I probably suck...but thats okay. I never said I was the next big name.