The YouTube Phenomenon

Since the launch of YouTube in 2005, people have posted videos, often with the hope of getting seen or known. After they have posted the video, people watch it, like it or dislike it, and comment on it. People have actually become famous thanks to the video(s) they posted on YouTube. It seems that YouTube and sites like it will eventually be the major way people in pop music get famous instead of having to “get noticed” by playing tons of shows or knowing somebody.

Psy, who is best known for his “Gangnam Style” music video which has accumulated more than 800,000,000 views and more than 5,000,000 likes, was already an artist in South Korea before “Gangnam Style” went viral. This was a single on his sixth album, but it would never have gained the kind of recognition it did if not for being on YouTube. He is very well known in South Korea, making breakthroughs in South Korea’s music industry and also opening it to a much larger and wider audience. “Gangnam Style” is now officially the most “liked” video on YouTube.

But a couple of years ago, Rebecca Black gained a large amount of fame with her “Friday” music video. She had performed publicly and she joined a patriotic group called Celebration USA in 2008. Her experience on YouTube was not as positive as Psy’s. She received negative responses for her music video, including over 3,000,000 “dislikes” and many calling it the “worst song ever.” Black also received death threats shortly after uploading the video, and she withdrew from school because of bullying, but also to focus on making music. “Friday” accumulated around 167,000,000 views before it was removed and re-uploaded to her own channel. Rebecca Black also demonstrates the amount of fame a video could get, but the hateful criticism of “Friday” was very disturbing, especially considering she’s a 15 year old girl.

Other forms of entertainment than pop music are loaded to YouTube, too. Laina Walker, also known as the Overly Attached Girlfriend has also became famous because of YouTube. Her Carly Rae Jepsen parody, has gained nearly 18,000,000 views. She has very positive feedback for her video. But it seems to be the case that the people who are making it big as a result of YouTube are pop musicians.

Though it is tempting to post things on YouTube in an effort to be noticed, it’s a good idea to be very careful and think about the possible consequences of putting yourself out there for millions of people to comment on and criticize.

Tags: general interest, sibleyscribe