This article made me think of the many times in which videos posted online became cultural sensations. Some of these videos were definitely meant to be seen by others – like a music video for a catchy song that we don’t understand – but others seem to be created without that intention, yet they somehow spread across nations or the entire world. What Douglas Wolk is explaining in “The Syncher, Not the Song” is that it’s really not about the content of the song or the video that causes it to become viral, it’s about the people in it and the way they do it. Technology and applications like YouTube that allow users to generate their own content helps people share what they want, and some rare cases have led to fame or new careers. People can use technology to their advantage to grab the world’s attention.
Response to “The Syncher, Not the Song”
Posted by bridghi
February 3, 2013
One of my personal favorites is Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe”. The song itself has almost no substance or meaning, and I absolutely hated it the first time I heard it. And then I saw the Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez homemade video of the song, and I knew why it had become viral so quickly. Because Justin and Selena are cultural icons, everything they do is funny, cool, and interesting to their fans. So when they posted this video, the song became the next big thing, and Carly Rae Jepsen became a household name.
And it worked on me too. The more I heard it, the more I began to love it. And the next thing I knew I was looking up the video on YouTube and singing along to every word with my friends each time it came on the radio. And the parodies and videos that resulted from the song becoming a hit were just as entertaining.
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