By Amanda Giglio
“Why You Always Lying,” created by Nicholas Fraser, recently became one of the most talked about Vines. It sparked a new meme as well as more videos.
Whether it is live tweets and photos from an award show, movie scene GIFs before the film hits theaters or YouTube videos about cats, we live in a society that is fast-paced and ever-changing in regards to social media and the internet. One of the biggest social media trends is viral videos. When YouTube was founded in 2005, the internet changed drastically. Everything from music and shows to silly videos and how-to’s are uploaded each day and shared with billions of people all around the world. When one video becomes popular in the U.S., it soon finds it way to the rest of the world and vice versa. This phenomenon of sharing videos influenced the way we live our daily lives, as viral videos became a way to communicate with others and share talent or funny pranks. While YouTube continues to grow, it was not until a few years ago that viral videos yet again made an appearance in the way we get information across to one another.
In 2013, an app called Vine was created as a short-form video sharing service where people can share six-second-long looping video clips. This new form of social media blew up and everyone began downloading the app and trying to create more funny videos than the next person. When a funny video gets released on YouTube or Vine, it is then shared on all other social media sites, including Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. What first became one of the most-used video sharing applications on the market within a couple of months has now become an exclusive platform for a select few famous vloggers to post about their daily lives, as well as create laugh-worthy videos that get absorbed into daily activity.
Vine has attracted many different uses, including comedy, music performances and stop-motion animation. Relating to everyday society, Vine has been used for journalistic purposes, like in February of 2013, when a Turkish journalist used Vine to document the aftermath of the United States embassy bombing in Ankara. Companies and celebrities have taken to Vine to promote their work. Daft Punk revealed its album Random Access Memories via Vine, and Dunkin Donuts used a single Vine as its television advertisement. When it comes to music-oriented videos and pranks, Vine dominates in simple videos that turn into international hits. In July 2013 a Vine with a group of women twerking to “Don’t Drop That Thun Thun Thun” went viral and generated tons of response videos, leading to the song reaching number 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Not only have songs been overplayed and remixed to the point where you do not know the original source, but Vine has also influenced the way we speak and the pop culture references we know best. After a Vine of some kids dancing and yelling, “yeet” became a slang word to use to express excitement or psych someone out. The video “Do It for the Vine,” has become the mantra for Vine users, as anything goes when it comes to trying to create the next viral hit. Most recently, a Vine where a man walks up to a police officer who is wearing weird shoes and yells “what are those!?” towards them has become the latest thing to say and do when hanging out with friends. This Vine also warranted many remakes, each funnier than the last. Songs like “Mr. Steal Your Girl,” have led to a bunch of viral videos where kids go around stealing their friends girlfriends. A man named Ryan McHenry even made a series of vines titled “Ryan Gosling Won’t Eat His Cereal,” which caught the attention of Gosling, who contributed to the series.
The strange thing that came out of viral vine videos is the amount of popularity certain people have gotten. Young users such as Nash Grier, Cameron Dallas, Jerome Jarre and Lele Pons have received recognition for their videos and YouTube channels to the point where they are invited to award shows, viral video events and meet-and-greets. Celebrities, including Josh Peck, Page Kennedy and Will Sasso, each garner over a million followers on Vine for videos showing their daily lives and funny outtakes.
Something that started as a simple way to post funny videos turned into a phenomenon that brought about famous video posters. Now, most people do not even own a Vine account, finding it more enjoyable to watch the six-second videos through Facebook pages, YouTube compilations and Twitter. It is more likely for you to watch or hear of a Vine through a friend or on a different form of social media than from Vine itself. This proves that viral videos are taking over as a way to interact with others from around the world and share experiences.
