This post was authored by Will Goodman, managing editor of CBSNews.com’s The Feed, for a YouTube Trends series exploring viral video phenomena.
Action sports are booming. BASE Jumpers can make national headlines and snowboarders can become Olympic gold-medalists.It’s fair to say we are in a golden-age of extreme sports. And with the rise of the Go Pro sports cameras and others like them, the action has never felt more real on YouTube.
Much like the title, do not try to emulate these videos at home. Or outside. Or in any context whatsoever. But do make sure to have a lot of fun engaging in the experiences vicariously. That’s the whole point.
While the above video is a clear example of a professional, Marcelo Gutierrez, showing us what he sees and does while engaging in an urban biking competition, the great part of this growing trend is that it’s not just limited to the pros. Everyone is starting to share their first-person perspective experiences and the range of action you can find on YouTube seems to know no bounds.
A simple bicycle ride through the mountains doesn’t look so simple when you’re strapped to the helmet. Okay, so this bike ride isn’t so simple no matter where you’re standing. But in first-person we get the rush of the ride without the whole worry of getting injured, maimed or killed. And in high-definition too!
Wasn’t that refreshing? Short, simple, but compelling all the same. Being able to share in the experiences of travel and adventure has never been so available at any other time. Want to know what it’s like to go cliff diving? It’s out there. How about riding a motorbike on a snow-covered mountain top? Yup, it’s there, too. Okay, what about doing a luge along the Great Wall of China?Guess what.
Which leads me full-circle to the point I cannot emphasize enough: while these kinds of videos are amazing to behold, they’re best left to the pros (or at least advanced practitioners.) There’s always the chance that something will go wrong. And the more extreme the sport, the bigger that chance gets. So for our final example, let’s all vicariously engage in a very close call to get a feel for what can go wrong, even when done by people who know what they’re doing.
One of 2009′s most famous viral videos — and a clip that you’ve certainly seen — was the “JK Wedding Dance.” The marital entrance, which was set to Chris Brown’s “Forever” and captured at Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz’s nuptials at a Minnesotta church, was a massive hit that’s now been seen over 70 millian times.
Now, this week, one of the most-viewed and most-shared videos in India is some footage captured at a wedding in Singapore. Rather than Chris Brown, this wedding march, which took place at the Sree MahaMariamman Temple on February 12th, appears to be set to music from some Tamil-language Indian action-comedy films.
Either way, the reaction is essentially the same for the audience.
At this point, most of us have seen the controversial and most-discussed video of the past week: “Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen.” But not everyone may realize the speed in which it took off.
The clip, which first spread last Thursday, hit 11 million views at its peak last Friday alone. For reference, that’s almost double the spike last year’s most viewed video, Rebecca Black’s “Friday,” saw when it first spiked with 6 million views in a single day.
The video picked up over 215,000 comments in one week and it remains one of our Most Shared videos.
The video caused such a stir that over 1,000 videos tagged “facebook parenting” have been posted this week, some serious and some… a bit more humorous.
This post was authored by Bailey Johnson of CBSNews.com’s The Feed for a YouTube Trends series exploring viral video phenomena.
It’s always fun when the big boys in old media notice the Internet. When Hollywood executives deign to notice the little people here online, someone always goes home happy. Or if not happy, at least with a little more padding in their wallet. Today, that someone is Andrew Grantham, creator of his own Talking Animals channel and producer of the second most-watched clip of 2011 (after Rebecca Black’s “Friday”): “Ultimate Dog Tease.”
You’ve seen it haven’t you? So have over 94 million other people.
Oh man, it’s so great. I’ve watched this video many, many times (I’m not the only one, right? Right?) So it’s thrilling to hear that “Ultimate Dog Tease” is currently being developed into a feature film by Paramount Studios. How exactly they plan on turning an 80-second long clip into a full length movie is anyone’s guess. But it got us thinking: what other talking animals should get the Hollywood treatment?
Mishka the Talking Husky, of course! This popular pooch has been in the game for a while now. She became a break-out star back in 2008 by howling something that sounded an awful lot like, “I love you.” Can Miska: The Movie be far behind? She even has her comedic sidekick ready in Laika, the other dog in the above video.
But what if Hollywood is looking for more than just talking dogs?
Meet Teddy Bear, the future star of “Ultimate Dog Tease 2: More Than Just Talking Dogs.” Teddy is already a star at Zooniversity, a Texas-based wildlife education company. Why not take the next step? Maybe he’s waiting for his moment. When it’s 2017 and we’re all jaded about the release of yet another talking dog movie, Teddy will pop back up to save us from the tedium. It’s only a matter of time.
But is there another breed of animal destined for stardom? Perhaps another common domestic pet, beloved by millions and ready or the silver screen?
The world’s third-largest mobile phone maker has seen some recent success, posting their first profit in mobile for the first time in seven quarters. Now, they’re hoping to bank on the momentum by trying to partner with Google as a future provider of the Nexus phone.
There’s a certain prestige that comes with having the Nexus name. Google’s own version of a handset that features Android has not had a ton of success with other phone makers, but it’s good for the companies that carry the name because it means the latest and greatest in Android technology.
“We’re heavily in discussions,” Ramchan Woo, head of LG’s smartphone division, told CNET. “We’re working on it.”
They should be working very hard to make it happen as this is a make-or-break time for the company. Google’s purchase of Motorola has other handset makers worried, but most agree that as long as Google continues to partner with them that they won’t have to pull their lines and head towards Windows 8 territory completely.
It makes sense for Google to partner with LG and just about everyone else with the Nexus name as it gives them the purity of the software that is often lost with maker-specific interfaces, but does it make sense for LG? Phones without the Nexus name have proven to sell at higher volumes and be more profitable per phone sold as Samsung and HTC have demonstrated over the last couple of years.
Being a distant third in this sort of race is not necessarily a bad place to be. The mobile industry is growing dramatically worldwide and so far Nexus as a brand has done little more than boost some egos. Still, it’s a statement when Google partners with a company. LG might not be as relevant today as they were before the smartphone revolution, but can the do just fine without the investment or time, energy, and marketing resources?
Is Nexus worth it for them?
No
LG’s strategy has been working in recent months as they push for more intelligent UIs than native Android. This is their strength and a partnership with Google won’t make them stronger.
They would do better to step out of talks with Google and focus on innovating.
“We know the customer data better than Google,” Woo said.
It’s in the truth of this statement that LG can position itself as having better products than their competitors. Many have complained that the stock Android is too geek-oriented to be as easy to use as an iPhone or Windows phone, so LG and others have had success with their own custom interfaces. The biggest challenge is in the roll out of updates. There’s a gap from the time Google releases its Android updates and when custom UIs can make the adjustment. For LG, this gap has been about 3 months.
If they continue to learn from consumers and produce a better UI than native Android, they’ll have only the update issue with which to contend. This is where they’ll make the biggest splash in the market. People are wanting simpler, more intuitive smartphones.
Some would say that they could have their cake and eat it to, that partnering with Google on a Nexus phone would not take away from their core. This is untrue. Non-geeks, which account for most of us, prefer a stronger interface than native Android. Having the LG name on a Nexus phone can actually hurt the brand because most are fairly unaware of the difference between a custom UI and native Android. So far, native has not received a great response from the public.
Geeks love it. Tech bloggers prefer it. Consumers don’t.
If LG separates themselves by remaining Nexus-agnostic and creating the best UI for the consumer with the wealth of data they have, they will be better-positioned in the future.
Climate change has been a hot topic on land and in the air for some time now. We have data that tells us what’s happening. We have images of polar bears stuck on drifting ice that melted to a nub. We can feel the heat (and cold), smell the quality of the air, and see the statistics that show us something is going awry in nature.
We have only been able to skim the surface for the most part when it comes to the seas. The Catlin Seaview Survey seeks to change that.
With the help of Google, the organizations wants to establish a 360 degree panoramic vision of the full 2400km stretch of the Great Barrier Reff and Coral Sea to a depth of 100 meters. The survey will have three major components and will attempt to shed light on the health of one of the richest beds of life the world knows.
“The Catlin Seaview Survey comprises a series of studies, which will reveal to the public one of the last frontiers on Earth: the oceans,” chief scientist for the project Ove Hoegh-Guldberg said. “For the first time in history, we have the technology available to broadcast the findings and expedition through Google.”
There won’t be any Street View Cars going into the deep. A specially-designed SVII Camera (pictured above) is being designed to start filming in September, 2012. There have been challenges with the fluid dynamics of the camera, but these problems have been addressed by utilizing the natural design of sharks to work properly in the extreme conditions that exist that deep in the ocean.
For most, Facebook is an internet tool for keeping up with our friends and family while broadcasting the “interesting” things that are happening in our own lives. For businesses, it’s a relatively-untapped marketing tool that has a world of potential but that often doesn’t offer the results that are promised. People don’t want Facebook to be a marketing tool and Facebook is obligated to them more than businesses (for now).
The key to success with Facebook is EdgeRank, the algorithm that Facebook uses to determine how high on a user’s feed your posts will appear. Chronology has a little to do with it, but the real factors are based upon engagement. Your business page can have thousands of “likes” but if your EdgeRank is low, nobody’s going to see your posts.
This infographic by Post Planner offers 8 tips to help get your business Facebook page ranked higher. Click to enlarge.
