15 Real Life Videos that Went Viral
 In the age of the Internet, the viral video phenomenon is one that most
people are more than a little familiar with. The popularity and emergence of
viral videos continues to gain momentum as recording software on smart phones
and other pocket-sized devices gets more and more complex, allowing people to
capture moments that otherwise they would have to share via word of mouth –
sometimes you just have to see it for yourself to understand, and current
technology allows that with increasing frequency.
But what constitutes a "viral" video? More recently the term has been tossed
around in describing any video a person or specific group particularly likes,
but the real definition is a video that is proliferated online through various
sharing methods, including social media, email, and sharing websites designed
for that specific purpose. In general, a video is considered "viral" when it
crests over 10,000 views in under 24 hours, but some definitions refer to more
than ten times that number.
The most interesting viral videos by far, however, are the ones that weren't
produced to be viral. The ones that weren't designed with the idea of picking up
more popularity than seems possible in a ludicrously short amount of time. We've
all seen PSY's "Gangnam Style" and most of us have heard Rebecca Black's
"Friday" (whether we wanted to or not) but the best viral videos are the ones
that come from the last place you would expect: Real life. From news reports to
home video, there's nothing quite like seeing normal situations turn into
something the whole Internet will stop and watch.
15) Student Schools Teacher
When a high school student in Duncaville, Texas
snapped on his teacher, he didn't know the camera was rolling – but that didn't
stop him from standing up for the education and enrichment of his fellow
students. The young man, identified as eighteen-year-old Jeff Bliss, delivers
words of wisdom to his teacher detailing why her apparent hands-off method of
teaching isn't working, likely leading to the emergence of "difficult" students
such as himself. "Can't expect a kid to change if all you do is just tell 'em,"
he says on his way out the door for being a disruption. The teacher continues to
nod and give short, noncommittal responses, including a repeated "bye" when he
refuses to leave without saying his peace, further driving Bliss' point home.
The video was first posted on YouTube in April of 2013, and really took off
when it was picked up by Upworthy, a site dedicated to sharing infographics,
articles and videos the users believe will change or strengthen a person's
worldview. Numerous reposts of the video make getting an exact view count
difficult, and the original video was taken down some point after the local news
picked up the story. The top-rated upload of the video had over one million
views in May of 2013. Here is the video:
14) Catch the Ice Dude
This video, clocking in at a whopping 25 million views
in the early months of 2013, is 79 seconds of schadenfreude, particularly
appropriate since it's apparently German. It likely reached viral status
strictly because watching other people hurt themselves is – to a point –
hilarious. In this one, a German man has apparently agreed to jump into a frozen
pool while a friend looks on through his camera. After preparing a towel and
stating that he'll be pulling himself out of the water immediately, the man
makes a bold declaration, in English no less, of "Mother f---er, f--- the
f---ing world, and my new band is called Syskyo!"
While there's no explanation of what his new band has to do with the stunt,
the man makes the jump, pulling into a cannon ball in preparation for the
freezing plunge ... and then bounces right off the ice, slides to the far end of
the pool, and ends up laying on his front on the solid frozen sheet. After
taking a minute to recover – with a fair amount of whimpering and lamenting that
the ice didn't break – he looks up at the camera and says "Perfect, wasn't it?"
Perfect enough to get the Internet's attention for a little while, at least.
Here is the video:
13) Hitchhiker Gives Psycho the Ax
An ordinary news report with a
not-so-ordinary story, KMPH Fox 26 out of Fresno broadcast this report in early
2013, detailing how a hitchhiker with an axe turned the tables on the urban
legends and managed to save the day. Kai, who identifies as being "homefree"
rather than homeless, explains that he was picked up by a man who eventually
claimed to be Jesus Christ and crashed into a PG&E worker on the road, pinning
him to his truck. Two women working at a roadside stand assumed it was an
accident and rushed to help, only for the elder of the two to be attacked by the
driver.
In Kai's telling of the story, he ran back to the car to grab his hatchet
from his bag and, in his words, "Smash, smash, smash!" This video gained
particular momentum when it was posted on Tumblr, where the original post has
60,000 notes and counting. While the original video upload on YouTube never
crested one million hits, in a matter of days there were reposts, extended
reports, and charity funds set up for Kai. An "auto tuned" song made from the
interview's audio track, making this one viral in ways that numbers can't
measure. Here is the full video:
12) Is This the Real Life
Robert Wilkinson was arrested for public
intoxication at some point in late 2011. In March of 2012, his arrest video hit
the Internet, and exploded with popularity. While people are arrested for this
exact offense on a daily, or at least nightly basis, Wilkinson's arrest is
particularly noteworthy due to his response to not being released after
disputing the claims of public drunkenness. Roughly thirty seconds into the
video, when it's obvious that the arresting officer isn't going to let him go,
Wilkinson does the only thing a perfectly sober – no, really! He says he's
sober! Really! – man can do: He bursts into song. Specifically one of Queen's
mega hits, "Bohemian Rhapsody." Wilkinson misses only a handful of words through
the course of the video, starting at "Is this the real life ..." and revealing
his location when he ends with "Nothing really matters, anyone can see, no
nothing really matters ... even the RCMP," in what appears to be a musical jab
at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. While it's presumable that he was sober
enough to realize that he wasn't taken to the station on a horse, he was drunk
enough to net close to 10 million views since the video went online. Here
is the video:
11) Heckler's Coat, Hecklers' Coke
Comedian Adam Newman has been in the
industry long enough to be used to the occasional heckler. In this case, a
couple watching stand-up comedy at the Laughing Skull Lounge refused to be
amused, and disappeared to the bathroom just prior to Newman's set. Upon
noticing that the couple left their jackets at their seats, and feeling vengeful
in the way that only a comedian can, Newman asked the remaining audience, "You
guys wanna go through their s---?" While the suggestion elicited a round of
laughter, the return of the woman led to Newman putting the man's jacket on, and
bringing something a little distressing to light. Namely, the baggie of cocaine
in the jacket's right pocket.
The video, posted in late November 2012, had reached more than 3 million hits
by May of 2013, primarily due to unlikelihood of the event – it was the man's
own wife that handed the jacket over. This left many to speculate that the
so-called hecklers had it planned somehow. Regardless, setup or not, the video
definitely got its fifteen seconds of Internet glory.
10) Barking Cat
On the topic of viral videos, like Internet culture as a
whole, cats are a staple. This cat, however, seems to be having a bit of an
identity crisis – or maybe leading a double life. The video starts with someone
filming through a camcorder or smart phone as they come into the room, looking
at a large black house cat standing in the window, leaning out and over the
sill. Barking can be heard, presumably from below, where there are likely dogs
the cat is taunting. However, when the owner gets close enough for the cat to
notice their presence, it's shown that the cat is in fact the one barking! Even
more hilarious, upon realizing that it's been found out, the cat instead begins
meowing, seemingly trying to cover up the slip in character.
Although not alone in the ranks of barking cats (a YouTube search brings up
several similar videos, and the comments section of this particular video
features several cat owners with stories along the same lines), this one has
almost 16 million views, making it one of the most viral house cat videos out
there. Here is the video:
9) Double Talk
People say that twins have special ways of communicating with
each other, everything from their own special code to psychic links. In the case
of this video, the subjects are a little too young to be fluent in either
communication form, but that doesn't stop them from holding what seems to be a
full-fledged conversation in nothing but baby gibberish and giggles. The topic
looks like it ranges from one sibling's missing sock to something sitting on the
floor off-screen, but regardless of subject the babies gesture fervently, laugh
at one another's jokes – assuming that's what they are – and look for all the
world like a couple people gathered around the water cooler. You know, with
diapers and three socks between the two of them instead of three-piece suits for
each. With over 85 million views on one of the two videos by 2013, these boys
wound up famous before they could even introduce themselves; at least before
they could do it in a language anyone only their twin could understand.
8) David After Dentist
One of the best known viral videos to date, this one
features a young boy named David DeVore Jr., aged eight at the time of filming,
recovering from anesthesia following oral surgery. Since his mother couldn't be
there for his surgery, his father agreed to do some filming before and after, so
she could see how he acted and reacted. The result was one of the most
laugh-worthy videos on the Internet, showcasing David's erratic behavior as he
comes back in touch with reality through the lens of his anesthetic. He claims
"I feel funny" several times, is very interested in the fact that he has two
fingers, sit up in his seat and screams, tells his father he has four eyes, and
then finally asks, with no little concern, "Is this going to be forever?"
119 million hits later and David is still an Internet phenomenon, although no
subsequent video has reached quite the same level of online fame as his first.
Still, there will have to be some perks to being the only person in the world
who can put "I am David After Dentist" on his resume when he gets old enough for
his first job.
7) Frog On A Cold Wood Bench
This video clocks in with close to 11 million
views for under a minute of footage, featuring nothing more than a large bull
frog on a bench. The hook that made these 40-odd seconds go viral? The frog is
sitting upright, long legs hanging over the side, forelegs in its "lap," and
appears perfectly comfortable. Everybody loves seeing animals doing human
things, so this video was an instant hit. Although the person behind the camera
continues to reassure people that he found the frog in that position and did
nothing to hurt it or hold it there – and there are numerous reports of such
things happening with other frogs, due to the structure of a bull frog's spine –
the video's comment section still comes under considerable flak for being a
possible fake. Regardless of whether the frog is posed or not, he certainly
looks comfortable, if a bit bored. Maybe the bus he appears to be waiting for is
running late.
6) Double Rainbow
When this YouTube video hit the trails around Yosemite, in
spite of his years working the park and living alongside it, he clearly wasn't
prepared for the glory of mother nature. Following what was likely a decent
amount of rainfall, Paul Vasquez discovered the rare phenomenon of the "double
rainbow," which occurs when light is refracted in such a way as to show two
arches in place of the more common single arch recognized as a rainbow.
Vasquez's reaction is over the top to say the least, and he's best quoted as
asking "What does it mean?" throughout the course of the video.
This one sits at over 37 million views, primarily thanks to talk show host
Jimmy Kimmel posting a link to the video on his Twitter feed. After this point
the video took off like wildfire. It went on to be retweeted by other famous
voices, received an article on the Huffington Post, hit just about everyone's
Facebook feed, and Vasquez himself eventually received an interview from CBS
News. During the interview he explains that he sees double rainbows fairly often
from his plot of land near Yosemite, but at that point he felt particularly
touched by the spectacle. He just had to share his excitement with the world.
Considering the regular traffic the video still receives, and continued
references throughout online culture, the Internet is happy that he did.
5) Cat Gone
Originally posted under the title translated to "Cat Gone" in
English, this video is short, sweet, and tickles the funny bone like only a cat
on the Internet can. Feeling threatened by some action of its owners off-camera,
a large orange tabby cat lurches to its feet, puffs up like a Halloween
decoration, but stiffens its back and front legs so completely that when it
walks off the screen. It does so on its hind legs only, reminiscent of something
from Victor Hugo's "Hunchback of Notre Dame." The number of cats in viral videos
is astronomical, but with 17 million views, this one definitely belongs in the
ranks with Maru and Nyan Cat.
4) Sweet Brown
Kimberly Wilkins is an Oklahoma City resident better known by
the pseudonym "Sweet Brown," which was used when she offered an interview
following a fire in her apartment complex in April of 2012. Her quirky behavior
and matter of fact explanation of the event made her an Internet sensation in a
matter of days. The interview, under a minute in length, gained over a million
views in two days, and to date stands closer to 13 million. Wilkins' interview
was reposted on Tosh.0, Hypervocal, Buzzfeed, Hip Hop Wired and a number of
other news outlets, leading to a follow up interview with Wilkins and her son
from MSNBC. The same candid attitude about the situation that led Wilkins to
becoming an Internet phenomenon also left her stunned by the amount of attention
she got for the short clip, originally recorded for her local news station. But
the reactions have been positive enough that Wilkins' catch phrase – ain't
nobody got time for that! – doesn't apply to this shocking turn of events.
The remix video made from it actually became even more popular (with over 42
million views):
3) Fluffy Kitten is Confused
This video is under 30 seconds long, has more
than 26 million hits to date, and serves as proof that cuteness really can
conquer all. The entire video consists of what appears to be a mixed-breed
munchkin kitten being absolutely bewildered by a sparkly plastic teaser toy
flailed around in the kitten's vicinity. Being so young, the cat doesn't seem to
know how to react to this new game, and responds by looking around with wide,
confused eyes in an attempt to understand; rather than playing and attacking the
toy like an older cat would. While there were no news reports on this one, and
the cat's behavior probably isn't the source of the video's popularity, the look
of it definitely could be. With long extremely fluffy hair, short stocky legs,
enormous black eyes and a huge puffy tail, this is the impossibly cute kitten
every kid wants growing up. At least one person was lucky enough to find.
2) Asians in the Library
Unfortunately, not all viral videos show the better
side of humanity. In 2011, following the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent
tsunami in Sendai, Japan, UCLA student Alexandra Wallace thought it would be a
good idea to take to the Internet to vent her frustration about Asian students
using cell phones in the UCLA library. She starts out with "We know I'm not the
most politically correct person, so don't take this offensively. I don't mean
this towards any of my friends," and then launches into one of the most
ignorantly racist monologues on YouTube. Complaining about "hordes of Asian
people" accepted into the university, ordering these students to use "American
manners," and impersonating East Asian languages with the gibberish "ching chong
ling long ting tong," Wallace manages to stereotype two thirds of the world's
population in under three minutes.
Within a week the video was picked up by the Huffington Post, the Daily Mail,
LA Now, and even the New York Times. Jimmy Wong created a parody song based on
the video, offering a comical translation of the gibberish Wallace provided as
her estimation of East Asian language, which reached over a million views and
generated $6,500 via the iTunes store. He then donated it to charity with thanks
to Alexandra Wallace. UCLA's administration apologized for Wallace's speech, and
Wallace herself made two formal apologies before leaving UCLA at the end of that
year, citing harassment of herself and her family as reason for the withdrawal.
The original video was taken down before long, but several duplicate uploads
remain online, with combined hit counts totaling in the millions. Here is
one of the duplicate uploads:
Here is a funny Asian response video:
1) Father Goes Into Baby Crib
Videographer Nunzio Raso had a camera set up
in his young daughter's room to help him keep an eye on her even when he wasn't
in the room. It resulted in snagging some of the best footage of his career. For
several months his daughter, Michela, would wake up every 1 - 2 hours to cry
until someone came to take her out of her crib. When Raso refused to take her
out, knowing that his daughter needed to sleep, but likewise couldn't bring
himself to leave her crying. The result was a four minute slice of life that
currently sits at more than 7 million hits. About thirty seconds in, seeing no
alternative, Raso climbs into his daughter's crib, intending to help her get to
sleep and then climb back out – what he wasn't counting on was Michela's refusal
to let him go. Even going so far as to drape her body over his chest to keep him
from trying to leave. Raso mentions on his front page that his back is doing
fine, but that he spent several hours in that crib, keeping his daughter happy
and sleeping. There's nothing quite like parenthood to bring out the most
ridiculously sweet actions in people.
Final Words
Viral videos are a piece of online culture that is only getting stronger and
more well-known, with social networks and media sharing sites on the rise the
likelihood of someone's simple home video making them Internet famous grows
every day. It's true that most so-called "real life" viral videos have a hard
time measuring up to commercially produced viral giants – PSY's "Gangnam Style"
was the first online video to get more than a billion hits, come in at 1.6
billion in May of 2013, and the Invisible Children's "Kony 2012" became the most
viral video in history when it reached more than 30 million views within 24
hours of uploading. The fact of the matter is that they don't have to. At the
end of the day, as much as we love music we might not be able to understand and
as moved as we might be by a cause outside our own borders. Everyone is drawn to
things like off-the-cuff news reports, babies being babies and animals being
ridiculous.
The list of videos that could be classified as viral is too long to possibly
write out, with more videos cresting that coveted million hit mark every day.
With so many easy ways to share videos with friends via social media, it seems
that everyone is looking for that next hilarious video to post and share. Things
can quickly escalate, and thousands if not millions of people can see your
antics, whether or not you really want them to. Who knows, maybe that video blog
you've always wanted to start could turn into the next big thing, at least for a
couple days. In Internet time, a couple days is pretty close to forever, isn't
it?
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