Sometimes it's hard not to feel like a rodent in a giant maze, trapped in some sort of impossible-to-fathom science experiment being conducted by alien beings from afar. For example, consider this. Go ahead, I'll wait...
...You're back. Wow, huh? But somehow, it's up to 33.5 million views on YouTube -- 10 million more than the latest Lady Gaga video (for the song that's No. 1 on the charts). Are all of those viewers clicking over to cringe and snicker? Very possibly, to judge from the countless numbers of parodies that have already cropped up. But here is an attempt to explain the phenom.
UPDATE: Six hours later, it's up to more than 35 million views.
SECOND UPDATE (noon on 3/23/11): Less than 24 hours after this post went up, the number of views on YouTube is up above 38 million. I wonder what YouTube's most-viewed clip of all time might be?...
THIRD UPDATE (noon on 3/24): Closing in on 43 million views.
FOURTH (11 p.m. on 3/25): Closing in on 50 million; and wow, here's the orchestral version!
FIFTH (noon on 3/26): Still going, up above 53 million...
SIXTH (11 a.m. on 3/29): 63 million and counting; will this madness never end?
SEVENTH (5 p.m. on 3/30): 66,655,176 -- and I don't think the first three numbers in that figure are a coincidence. But it's still got a ways to go before it becomes the most-watched YouTube video ever.
EIGHTH (8 a.m. on 4/1): No fooling, it's at 72,444,525.
NINTH (7 p.m. on 4/6): Still going, up to 86,390,035.
TENTH (6 a.m. on 5/6): A month later and it's 130,571,877 and counting...
Comments
And yet I STILL don't
Wed, 03/23/2011 - 15:10 — neal7bobAnd yet I STILL do not understand the backlash.