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We chose Psy’s “Gangam Style” as the winner of the Most Viral Video of All Time, but it’s yet to be seen if Psy can hold on to his title.
We graded Justin Bieber and Psy on several criteria: social media exposure, celebrity exposure, and staying power/strength of fandom.
Different people attribute the success of “Gangam Style” to different factors. Some say the dance’s easy silly yet easy to imitate moves are what have set the video apart. Others say that it’s Psy’s unique style and image that sets him apart, and that people like that he isn’t the stereotypical celebrity star.
Justin Bieber has the most Twitter followers.
Psy has 1.2 million Twitter followers.
Justin Bieber has 30.2 million Twitter followers.
Many people attribute the unprecedented virality of “Gangnam Style” to early and enthusiastic celebrity endorsement and attention.
Psy is very popular in Korea for various songs, and was well known even before “Gangnam Style.” Whether the rest of the world will continue to pay tribute to Psy’s future musical endeavors has yet to be seen.
Many celebrities tweet about Justin Bieber, some of which include: Katy Perry, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, and Oprah Winfrey.
Psy’s “Gangnam Style” gotten a lot of attention from celebrity tweeters, such as: T-Pain, Britney Spears, Josh Groban, and Katy Perry.
Celebrity support is important for up and coming artists because just one tweet from a single celebrity with a strong following immediately gets the attention of hundreds and thousands of people on Twitter. One tweet can change a musician’s life!
Justin Bieber has the stronger fan base than Psy ? firstly, because Bieber has been in the lime light significantly longer, and he has a very dedicated following of tweens who follow his every tweet with intense obsession. These fans have no limit on their love of Bieber. On the other hand, the majority of Psy’s supporters love the “Gangnam Style” video, but don’t necessarily have a strong devotion to Psy himself.
Justin Bieber has 60 videos uploaded to YouTube.
Psy has 32 video uploaded to YouTube.
While it’s hard to say for sure what makes a video go viral, in showcasing and discussing the top ten YouTube videos of all time, we discovered that the videos that end up going viral follow a similar structure. Viral videos often are the ones that encourage parodies, are unusually odd/funny, have great music beats (in the case of music videos), and often gain traction with the help of a celebrity tweet.
The recipe for creating a viral video is one that has long been sought after. Unfortunately, there is no one key ingredient that guarantees a viral video – that would be far too easy (and no fun!) However, examining the YouTube videos that go viral shows us that most often, the videos that go viral rely heavily on an element of humor – the usual product introduction won’t cut it.
Another great approach is to create instructional, how-to videos. These videos don’t really “go viral” in that they won’t skyrocket into popularity and then dip back down – instead, how-to videos will reliably bring in a steady amount of traffic for a long period of time (the video equivalent of evergreen content). For more information, check out our guide on Creating Popular Marketing YouTube Videos.
The “Gangnam Style” dance, described by many has the “horse dance,” is popular for a number of reasons. For one, it’s remarkably silly and unusual. The dance is also relatively simple, making it easy for viewers to imitate and enjoy.
Many celebrities have taken their shot at performing the “Gangnam Style” dance. Some of those celebrities include: Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Chelsea Lately, Heidi Klum, MC Hammer, Madonna, Bah Ki-Moon, Eric Schmidt, and Dwight Howard.
It’s hard to say for sure if “Gangnam Style” will continue to grow in popularity or fade out, as viral videos often do. The enormous success of “Gangnam Style” is unprecedented – becoming the #1 YouTube Video Ever in such a short timeframe is the social media equivalent of a solar eclipse! While it’s yet to be seen if “Gangnam Style” will survive the long haul, the song’s steady, ongoing growth has us believing it isn’t ready to throw in the towel quite yet.
We predicted that “Gangnam Style” would hit one billion views on approximately December 11, 2012. It now looks like that date could be pushed back, but it will certainly happen!
The top ten music artists on YouTube are:
Rihanna’s YouTube Channel has the most subscribers, with 3.3 million.
Justin Bieber has the most channel video views, amassing 3.09 billion video views.
Shakira has the most uploaded YouTube videos, with 82 videos on YouTube.
The top five parodies of “Gangnam Style” are:
The top five parodies of Justin Bieber’s “Baby” are:
Justin Bieber’s “Baby” has been on YouTube’s Top Video Chart for 135 weeks. It was uploaded on April 25, 2010.
Psy’s “Gangnam Style” has been on YouTube’s Top Video Chart for 19 weeks. It was uploaded to YouTube on July 15, 2012.
Psy’s “Gangnam Style” is the most viral YouTube video of all time!
Psy’s “Gangnam Style” has accumulated over 805 million views as of November 23, 2012, when this study was conducted.
Justin Bieber’s “Baby” has accumulated 804 million views as of November 23, 2012, when this study was conducted.
Every minute on YouTube, “Gangnam Style” gets 4,062 views.
Every minute on YouTube, “Gangnam Style” gets 29 likes.
Every minute on YouTube, “Gangnam Style” gets 1.7 dislikes.
Every minute on YouTube, “Gangnam Style” gets 16 comments.
Every minute on YouTube, “Baby” gets 550 views.
Every minute on YouTube, “Baby” gets 1 like.
Every minute on YouTube, “Baby” gets 4.3 dislikes.
Every minute on YouTube, “Baby” gets 6 comments.
“Gangnam Style” has more likes, with a total of 2,141,758 likes, making it the most liked video in YouTube history.
“Baby” has the most dislikes with 3,148,766 dislikes, making it the most disliked YouTube video of all time.