December in Review: The Month in Trends
December 31, 2010
- Our biggest undertaking was a twelve-day 2010 countdown of top 10 lists covering every major category and genre on YouTube. (Plus a bonus Most Shared of 2010 list.)
- Looked at how "Baby" became the most-watched music video of the year, how "Double Rainbow" got big, and how young Keenan Cahill became a lip-syncing star.
- Wondered if Minecraft was the biggest underground trend of the year.
- Examined the "Cats vs. Dogs" rivalry.
- followed the biggest trend of the holiday season: "Hallelujah" flash-mobs in malls across America.
- Studied how CGI from Taiwan became so popular.
- Tracked the development of the "It Gets Better" Project.
- Highlighted how users were documenting the northeastern holiday blizzard.
- And saw protests in London, floods in Australia, and unrest in Moscow airports.
Check back in 2011 as we continue to bring you YouTube's biggest videos, trends, and phenomenon every day!
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4 in the Afternoon: Here Comes 2011
| Happy New Year | 43 Languages | Snow Pile-Up | Remote Beer Cannon |
- As the U.S. prepares to ring in the New Year, celebrations have already begun across the world. Here's the fireworks display in Auckland, New Zealand.
- A "Happy New Year" message in 43 different languages to start things off for 2011. As seen on High Definite.
- The winter weather continues to wreak havoc with this footage coming in of a 20-car pile-up in Colorado Springs. (Contains some profanity.) As seen on Reddit.
- A demonstration of an iPhone controlled beer cannon/mini fridge. As seen on Gizmodo.
Tag! New Year's Resolutions
In the last week, there's been an influx of New Year's resolution videos as people prepare to begin 2011 on the right foot. But we've also noticed an interesting trend utilizing the popular "tagging" device on YouTube, in which one YouTube user will virtually "tag" another user (or group of users) in his or her video and request that those tagged respond via video. For example, in this case, Glamourista16 created this video back on December 18, inviting a number of other popular YouTube users to share their New Year's resolutions:
As more and more people have been tagged, more and more have uploaded videos naming their resolutions for 2011. A quick YouTube search for "tag New Year's resolutions" produces more than 300 results at the time of this post ( you filter the results by uploaded this month, you'll get more than 100 results).
Making your resolutions is one thing, but how about keeping them?
Prepping for New Year's Eve
First, we've seen that makeup, style, and nail tutorials have been very popular in the past 24 hours with more than one hitting our Most Shared list. We've collected this playlist with some of the most popular ones:
(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here)
We're also seeing quite a few clips cropping up offering guides for both hors d'oeuvres and, of course, cocktails:
(Or watch them all here)
Bonus: It may not be a New Year's Eve look, but this is definitely our favorite new make-up tutorial.
4 in the Morning: 7 Billion Memes
| 7 Billion | Leopard Attack | Snow in the Desert | Memes of 2010 |
- National Geographic has released this compelling, stylized promo examining the boom in our global population. As seen on Viral Viral Videos.
- This footage of a leopard attack in India has drawn nearly a million views in less than a week's time. As seen on Storyful.
- Last night, searches spiked for something unusual that appeared Thursday in Phoenix, Arizona...snow.
- As 2011 approaches, RocketBoom's "Know Your Meme" team reveal the most notable internet phenomenon of the year.
Around the World: International Sports Highlights
December 30, 2010
However, these videos are almost always highlights from sports that are most popular in the US, such as football and basketball. For today's quick trip around the world we're showcasing the most viewed highlights from sports that are less popular in the US (well, not sure if "paintboarding" is popular anywhere except YouTube actually...).
| United Kingdom: UK's Cricket team does the "Sprinkler" Dance | New Zealand: Paintboarding -- coming to a skate park near you |
4 in the Afternoon: Foam Funnel Dunks
| Blake Griffin Highlights | Beers + Vuvuzela | Banned Zoosk Ad | Foam Weapon Leaguen |
- "Blake Griffin" is the top YouTube search in the last 90 days associated with the word "dunk." Now, the NBA has just put out a highlight reel of the Clipper forward's three months of league play, and it's already made our Most Shared list.
- A second use for the famous vuvuzela captured at a hockey game in Rochester. As seen on BuzzFeed.
- Dating site Zoosk says this ad, which is now appearing among our Most Shared videos, was banned in Europe.
- This promo for the "Foam Weapon League" hit YouTube in November, but is drawing some new attention today. As seen on Fark.
2010: The Year in Review
Active news and political vlogger, DavisFleetwood, ran through the top 10 news stories of the year.
And if you're looking for a more fun way to reminisce about 2010, TheFineBros put together this creative, interactive shooting range video/game.
For a playlist of other 2010 retrospectives, read on.
Airport Chaos in Moscow
One YouTube user posted his two-day experience in a series of very short clips -- titled "Hell in Moscow Airport" -- which can be viewed in the playlist below. According to him, traffic jams were so bad that some cars were driving backward down the highway (first video) and thousands of people were stranded at the airport with little to no train or bus service and price-gouging taxis.
Here's more good video from after the blackout.
On top of that, long delays at a second airport, Sheremetyevo, resulted in passengers starting some sort of angry drum circle. Footage of the "revolt" was posted by some fellow travelers and is currently among the Most Viewed clips in Russia:
Inside YouTube Search
- tyreke evans - The Sacramento Kings guard is one of today's top searches following his incredible buzzer-beater shot against the Memphis Grizzlies last night.
- auld lang syne - Searches are already on the rise for this song as New Year's Eve quickly approaches. (Here's the Mariah Carey version)
- billy taylor - Searches are also up today for this Jazz performer, broadcaster, and educator who passed away this week at age 89.
4 in the Morning: Award-Worthy Clips?
| Man in a Blizzard | Musket Robbery | World of Warcraft Kinect Hack | Kitten Sees Reflection |
- A recent video shot by filmmaker Jamie Stuart is generating a lot of buzz following this statement: "This film deserves to win the Academy Award for best live-action short subject." - Roger Ebert
- The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary in Canada is seeking assistance in their investigation of an armed robbery and posted this footage of the crime, which was committed with a ...musket. As seen on BoingBoing.
- The latest example in the Microsoft Kinect "hack" trend comes in the form of motion-controlled World of Warcraft gameplay. Mashable What's the "Kinect Hack" trend?
- A kitten sees her reflection for the first time. As seen on The Daily Wh.at.
Around the US: What Are Old & Young Viewers Watching?
December 29, 2010
The two videos posted below (and yesterday's 4 @ 4s) are very popular amongst YouTube viewers on the opposite ends of the age spectrum. AT&Ts 10 minute-long documentary warning against the perils of texting while driving is very popular amongst viewers age 55+. The second video below, 9 year-old skater Starr Andrews performing to Willow Smith's popular song "Whip my Hair", is fittingly popular amongst YouTube viewers between 13 and 17 (the same viewers that drove Willow's song to YouTube stardom).
Check out the dashboard for yourself to see how other groups differ in their YouTube viewing patterns.
| AT&T Don't Text While Driving: AT&T's video warning against texting while driving | Whip my Hair Skating: 9 year-old Starr Andrews skating to "Whip my Hair" |
4 in the Afternoon: Baby Cricket Apocalypse
| The Day After | The Baby Who Doesn't Like Anything | The Cricket Sprinkler | Some Facts About Women |
- This seemingly apocalyptic footage was captured in Coney Island the day after the snowstorm in the northeast. As seen on BuzzFeed. See lots more on-the-scene videos from the storm here.
- This cute bathtub baby likes no people, holidays, or activities. As seen on Reddit.
- English cricketers one way to celebrate their big win with a unique victory dance: the Sprinkler. As seen on Deadspin.
- This video -- which delivers some advice for men about their female partners -- may have been posted in July, but it's just getting attention this week. As seen on HuffPost.
How Keenan Cahill Became a Lip-Sync Star
Cahill, a high school sophomore with a rare disorder, had been posting videos of himself singing and lip-syncing pop songs since last October with some notice. But it wasn't until his version of "Teenage Dream" -- which has been viewed over 24 million times, was acknowledged by Katy Perry herself, and became one of our most heavily shared videos -- that Cahill began to take off and started averaging millions of views per week.
Between last October and this August, Cahill's videos were viewed 2.6 million times, which may seem like a lot. But compare that to the 125.7 million views he's drawn since. In addition to creating several popular new lip-syncs, Cahill has also done cameo videos with 50 Cent and WGN's morning show team.
As you can see in this chart showing views from this Fall, that 50 Cent cameo created a big spike for Cahill in November (mouse over the dots for more info):
More of Cahill's most popular videos:
• See also - Top 10 Most Shared Videos of 2010
Queensland Residents Post Flood Footage
(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here)
Inside YouTube Search
