The (De)Evolution of YouTube

Posted by Dave

Hello World.

Evolution of Dance is, as of this writing, the most watched video on YouTube. It has been watched over 36 million times.

The reasons for this video’s success somewhat elude me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s funny, it’s just not that funny. New York Times writer Virginia Heffernan says that this video has gained such popularity because it has no English dialogue:

That’s its secret: It’s a silent movie. With a soundtrack… ‘Evolution’ plays in Asia. Remember Asia? Where 60% of the world’s population lives?

(quoted in the Wall Street Journal Online).

However this cannot be the only factor. The songs in the video are all popular American “hits” from the last few decades, as are the dances that go along with them. Many of the “jokes” would not necessarily translate into other cultures.

There is also the element of self-propelled popularity. Many visitors to YouTube will go straight to the popular videos page and watch whatever comes up first. Consequently, whichever video manages to get to the top spot will most likely stay there.

There is a lot of crap on YouTube, but there are also many videos that are arguably better than this one. Unfortunately on the Internet, as in much of the popular entertainment industry, “popular” does not always translate to “best”.

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