With all the latest buzz surrounding YouTube sensation Rebecca Black and her viral music video "Friday," marketers have been scratching their heads in wonderment as a music video criticized to be the "worst video ever" surpasses even Lady Gaga's new single.
Almost 64 million hits later, Rebecca Black is star, a YouTube star and despite her overwhelming one million dislikes in comparison to her 140,000 likes, it seems that the Internet has put the fate of aspiring singers, actors or whoever into the hands of the people. Whether haters accept it or not, their slander, dislikes and mocking have helped Rebecca skip the usual process of fame and become an over-night sensation.
How did Rebecca's Video go Viral?
With any markting tactics, it's important to let the audience be the advocated. In Rebecca's case, her video was made viral through both negative and positive attention. Here are the sequence of events:
- Rebecca's music video "Friday" is published to YouTube.
- Sites like Buzzfeed and Reddit post the video, driving more traffic to YouTube.
- Haters start hating, likers start liking, driving more traffic and creating more buzz.
- Comedian Michael J. Nelson sends a sarcastic tweet with a link to Rebecca's video.
- RebeccaBlack becomes a national trending topic on Twitter
- Lady Gaga becomes an advocate for Miss Black as she praises her video, mentioning Black is "...nothing less than a genius."
- "Friday" tops the charts on iTunes.
Rebecca's video was advocated by Lady Gaga and backhandedly commented on by a famous comedian. Both helped her video gain momentum and popularity for the public to feed off of. Trending on YouTube was Black's name (#RebeccaBlack) and I don't think one media publication missed out on the viral video that made an 8th grader an over-night star.
"Friday" fell into the right hands and was further advocated through several social media platforms and its users; however in Rebecca's case it seems the negative attention is what really put her on the map.
It just shows that it's not what we're doing that has changed, but how the Internet has opened up a free range for anyone and anything to gain popularity and ultimately make $$. Rebecca Black was not tempting with something new, rather she opened up her possibilities by posting her video to YouTube, a social media front-runner that could make or break a dream, a business or a message.
If you haven't heard it enough already...