1. Harlem Shake Youtube Video
and Why Things Go Viral
Adam Acar
Associate Professor of Communication at KCUFS

2. FAST FACTS
Over 44 million
hits and 12,000
copycats in 12
days (click)

3. FAST FACTS
The original video
has fewer views
than copycats
(click) 5.3 million views
(Uploaded on 2/2/2013)
7.5 million views
(Uploaded on 2/2/2013)
7.3 million views
(Uploaded on 2/2/2013)
According to knowyourmeme.com the original video did not go viral, the second
version by PHL_on_NAN (the one on the right) went viral by getting 300K views
on February 5th. (source)

4. FAST FACTS
The original video
is different…
It doesn’t have a character with a helmet.
All of the characters are dancing during the first half
of the video. It doesn’t have normal characters doing
nothing without a mask or a costume.
The ending is not in slow motion

5. FAST FACTS
Down sides
The video is sexist and a little bit offensive to women
(in some cultures)
The video requires some editing to produce

6. A FEW
THINGS
The early versions of the video have a lot of NAKED college kids
(We subconsciously pay more attention to naked people unless they are offensive, disgusting or immoral)
Just like many other viral videos, the video is about a group of
people dancing to the same music in a different way.
It is about surprising the viewers by using CREATIVITY. It builds
up expectation during the fist half. Even though the first half is
boring people still watch it because it is not long and it makes
the second half more enjoyable (e.g. from super slow to super
fast)

7. A FEW
THINGS
It requires teamwork and foster group spirit. Getting more views
Youtube is an endorsement and social proof of group success and
group creativity. It is also an opportunity for the “creative types” to
establish their image in the group.
For a workplace it is the best way to do something crazy that can bring
employees together and show an American way of thinking: life
shouldn’t be taken that seriously and our workplace is a fun place to be
It’s a form of escapism, escaping from the stress of daily problems by
doing simple, stupid or crazy things.
It’s like Halloween. You can do crazy and stupid things but its OK because
everyone else is doing it or you can cover it by wearing a mask or
costume. At the same time you can somewhat show your real identity…

8. IS THIS THE
PERFECT
FORMULA?
1. Naked people
2. Group of people dancing to the same music in a
different way
3. First half of the video builds up expectations then
funny ending
4. A lot of masks and costumes
5. Groups, classes, workplaces can make it very easily
during a lunch break
6. Allowing expression of identity and uniqueness in
every video/ending (Chinese people can do it in a
Chinese way, dog lovers can do it in a dog lover way)
7. Creativity needed but just a little bit (something
anyone can think of)
8. Crazy and silly but just a little bit NO
because we can never
know what can go viral.

9. WHAT
GOES
VIRAL???
1. Tastemakers/Influencers share it
2. Communities get involved and each
community or a member of a
community makes a new parody or a
new version of the video
3. Unexpectedness (click on the image to
watch)

10. WHAT
GOES
VIRAL???
1. Focus on ordinary people (user geenrated videos are more likely to
go viral)
2. Flawed masculinity (males that don’t meet the expectations)
3. Humor & incongruity
4. Simplicity (no editing or less editing, 1 simple message or 1 simple
action, focus on 1 person)
5. Repetitiveness (some parts of the video repeats, this makes it easier
for others to re-make the same video)
6. Whimsical content (things related with popular culture, no
controversial topics (e.g. sex, politics religion)
7. (source)

11. WHAT
GOES
VIRAL???
1. Laugh-outloud funny
2. Edgy
3. Gripping
4. Sexy
(source: Nealon,
2007 cited here)

12. WHAT
GOES
VIRAL???
1. It must have a SURPRISE
2. Surprise should be bundled with another emotion (most of
the time JOY)
3. Emotional roller-coaster is the best: emotional ups and
downs in a video
4. Usually extrovert and egocentric people forward videos
(Egoist people forward videos to show their own taste, their
connectedness and their media savviness)
5. Young and female viewers are more likely to infleucne
others and get influenced
6. Videos that are shared among the members of
heterogenous groups (various interestes) are more likely to
go viral than homogenous groups (e.g. niche interests)
source

13. WHAT
GOES
VIRAL???
1. It must be shared by a celebrity
(click on images to go to the source)

14. WHAT
GOES
VIRAL???
Branded Viral Movie Predictor
source

15. Lastly
• In Japan usually nerds & geeks hugely impact the popular
culture (example AKB 48).
• This may also be the case for the rest of the world as in
the Harlem Shake video cases , the characters in the
original video seem to be strange anime fans doing stupid
things.
Since techy, geeky types tend to
• spend more time on the internet
• have better video and tech skills
• have more involved homophily
networks
they may determine the future memes all around the world…

16. Some News Stories about the Harlem
Shake
• http://mashable.com/2013/02/12/youtube-harlem-shake/
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/21461038
• http://abcnews.go.com/ABC_Univision/Entertainment/harlem-
shake-thing/story?id=18488615
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-
blog/wp/2013/02/14/is-it-any-wonder-the-harlem-shake-went-
viral/
• http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/harlem-shake-shakes-
across-youtube-over-44-million-204623892--abc-news-tech.html
• http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2013/02/harlem_shak
e_youtube_pope_pistorius.html
• http://www.fastcompany.com/3005900/fast-feed/do-you-harlem-
shake-then-get-harlem-shake-roulette-and-waste-some-time

17. Note
• I don’t own any of these images.
• Video images courtesy of Youtube
• Most of the other images are MS Powerpoint
Cliparts.