Photos
Last night, some friends of mine were talking about the “I Like Turtles” YouTube video. I’m sure you remember that video, it is apparently a very popular one. I, on the other hand, did not remember that video and in fact somehow I think I had never actually seen it. If you can even imagine!!! And my friend said, “You work at Videogum and you haven’t seen the ‘I LIKE TURTLES’ video?” And I was like, SHUT UP MAYBE NO ONE EVER EVEN WROTE ABOUT IT ON VIDEOGUM. So I searched for it on Videogum and did find it here. Oops! Oh well. Then we started watching every single video on that top ten list in the post I just linked to and, guys, a bunch of those hold up, specifically “Boom Goes the Dynamite.” Go to that link and watch that one again, hahah, oh man, it is so good. But looking at this list made me ask this question to myself and then now to you: Did very good viral videos arise more frequently in the years before, say, maybe 2009? Or does it just seem that way to me only? There are certainly lots of GREAT viral videos these days too, specifically THIS ONE and also THIS ONE, but it seems like they are fewer and farer between. Right? Or no? Maybe not. Maybe it’s just because that “Boom Goes the Dynamite” video is so good that it threw me into a weird viral video depression because you can only experience that video as if it were new once every few years — once you forget. Someone write a poem about this for me please I’m in a bad place.
Oh yeah anyway what I’m getting to is this video, “DON’T JUMP, EDWARD!” It’s got lots of classic Internet video components like English accents, kids hurting themselves a little, and parents filming it when maybe they shouldn’t be. Great, let’s check it out. After you go back to this post and watch “Boom Goes the Dynamite.”
BOOM GOES THE DYNAMITE! (Via Abroath.)
 |
 |
You Might Also Like
 This Is The Internet |  Hey, What’s Up With The “Charlie Bit My Finger” Kids? | Gabe And Max Like The Internet: Episode 12 | Gabe And Max Like The Internet: Episode 9 |
Leave a Reply
Sign inSign in with FacebookYou must be logged in to post, reply to, or rate a comment.
Viral videos were better pre-2009 because Skynet was not yet self-aware at that point, so people weren’t TRYING to be viral. Then Weezer went and ruined it for everybody.
Yeah, the “accidentally caught something funny” ones will always trump the “leave Britney alone” ones.
In fact, I would almost say that something that was made intentionally to be viral is in fact, not viral. It’s just a short film. A Weezer video or an SNL digital short is not a viral video, they’re written and have marketing and were intentionally created to entertain strangers.
To me, saying something “went viral” implies that it was just someones home video or whatever and it accidentally caught the Internet’s attention.
Luckily his last name is Cullen and he’s immortal
Someone get that kid a trampoline!
Someone get that trampoline a cat!
Someone get that cat a turtle to be friends with!
Someone get that Turtle a guy in a scooter to chase around!
Someone get Tom Cochrane to play while the guy on a Scooter rides down a highway.
Posting in an epic thread. The joke stops here guys because it is perfect as is.
Here’s a haiku for you Kelly:
Viral videos
Oh to forget and rewatch
The circle of life
There once was a blogger named Kelly
She hadn’t seen I Love Turtles since she’s smelly
I’m just kidding girl
Don’t downvote me world
If I get Associate Editor’s Choice you’ll be jelly
I don’t think I’m ready for that jelly.
I was with you until the last line.
Don’t worry, soon TeenNick will start airing old viral videos on their midnight block. It’ll be just like being back on ebaumsworld.
I’m pretty sure John Titor predicted that’s how it would happen.
Man, I hadn’t seen boom goes the dynamite in forever. I think my favorite part is, right before the famous “boom” moment is the lead up of, “He passes it to the guy…” Just amazing.
Still better than Tim McCarver.
“If the runner steals second base, then he’ll be in scoring position.”
@obviousmccarverstatements
Fun Fact: that video is from Newslink, the student broadcasting show from Ball State University, where I also work. It is where David Letterman went to school. Something something, Jim Davis, Garfield.
You are all so welcome for all of the fun facts.
Yeah I had never seen it before and that was the best, when he just gives up and starts narrating while clearly not knowing what he’s watching:
“Reggie Miller is looking good… he passes to the man…”
I can’t figure out if that guy’s teleprompter was fucking up and throwing him off (seems kind of like he’s getting flustered while trying to read it and it doesn’t really seem to line up with what clips are being shown) or if he’s just illiterate. Probably both?
I have a theory that might explain the excellence of older viral videos, assuming that they actually were better a few years back.
YouTube is really pretty new, when you think about it. And before it existed, there wasn’t a universal depository for digitized videos on the internet. So until fairly recently, there were still a shitload of people digitizing and uploading their old videos. Now we live in a world where many of the most amusing videos from those pre-YouTube years have been discovered and enjoyed, and this leaves us with the comparatively small pool of new videos from which to derive our ya-yas. Hence, fewer solid gold viral videos.
Yeah, that is more what I was thinking. I didn’t mean to seem NOSTALGIC about the golden few years of viral videos. Just that there are probably a number of contributing factors to why there seem to be fewer of them popping up now.
It’s the same reason The Real World was better than Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Once something gets big, there comes a wave of imitators, but they seldom capture the magic of what made the original so intriguing.
Kelly, last week we found out that you did not eat an alarming amount of vegetables until you were in college. Today, we find out about your lack of awareness of “I Love Turtles.”
Kelly, I’m sorry to say this, but I think you may be a replicant.
“The best way to raise a child is to tell them not to do something, but never intervene — after all, someone’s got to hold the camera steady.” -Dr. Spock, 2011
Yeah, that sounds like Dr. Spock, always thinking logically.
When did that dude get his PhD? Congraduation, Spock.
Are you guys kidding? I cannot tell. I believe y’all are thinking of MR. Spock.
Ha I knew what you meant and was trying to respond to facetaco ><
Fuck. I just ordered a gross of English slides for the local kindergarten. It’s going to be a bloodbath.
Grab a camera, don’t help them, and you’ll be a star.
BIG DOG FOREVER. NEVER FORGET!