NewTeeVee.com have published an interview with TubeMogul’s Brett Wilson. One of the things he takes exception with is the expression ‘viral video.’
Brett Wilson:
There are a few buzzwords that irk me. First is “viral video.” A viral video is a rare and beautiful thing, but we know that only about .33 percent of videos on YouTube have over a million views, and there are a lot that are effective that have far fewer views (53 percent of videos on YouTube have less than 500 views). People throw around this term carelessly to describe any video made for the web. Let’s just use the term web video. I was cheering when Rob Davis from Ogilvy said the same thing on stage this week at the Brightcove Video Monetization Summit in NY.
I’ve noticed this particularly on television where every online video mentioned is considered a ‘viral’ video.
None of my videos have gone ‘viral.’ But you could be forgiven for thinking they had the plague since no one goes near any of them…
