What Makes a Viral Video?

This post was one that I definitely looked forward to writing about ;) This is going to be a simple look at some of the weekly videos that the social media expert, Mashable, finds a notable watch.

http://mashable.com/2010/04/30/youtube-mashable-staff-picks/

My first thought of the "Cupcake Cannon" was 'who in the world takes the time to plan, coordinate, and film this?!?' And, all for the purpose of pure amusement of people being hit in the face with colorful frosted cupcakes. Nor did I ever think someone would take the energy to produce a video like this, but I never would have thought I would be watching it either.

A recent video passing through the networks is the U.S. soldier's remake to Lady GaGa's Telephone song. Once again, would I have thought that I would see these tough, rugged, expressionless men dressed in their army combat uniforms breaking it down to Lady GaGa with so much enthusiasm. This wasn't done with the intent of making something go viral, but done without thought and interest to share with their friends what they find is fun and silly. The internet is informal, unprofessional, shouldn't be taken so seriously, and no one cares what people think about themselves.

With the easy access to movie producing programs, simply anybody can make a short 2-3 minute tribute to what they enjoy. And, more than likely, someone else will have that same commonality and so it spreads.