@Mapu: there are hundreds of videoclips with the same properties, they don't make daiy 10-20 million views though. It's very likely this is going to be the most watched video ever on youtube before the end of the yeas. So while your reasoning is true, I think it's far from adequate to explain the phenomenon.

http://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_allocca_why_videos_go_viral.html Here's a guy who works YouTube with his thoughts on why some videos go viral... as for this video, I couldn't really offer an explanation.

I would say it is kind of a lottery which videos/memes/articles go viral.

@Stackelberg: thanks this is a good video ...

I actually liked his video Right Now better. Catcher tune, but it doesn't have a catchy dance like Gangnam does.

It was in anticipation of the cover by Pentatonix posted yesterday.

It was in a musical language everyone can understand (Kpop), delivered by a funny and gifted guy, with a ridiculous video to boot.

Outside of Korea it was interesting that it was from Korea. Many/most of the people who have seen this video did not have any/much exposure to Korean pop culture before. So it was novel.

By the way, I think I watched Gangnam Style four times yesterday. Over the course of the day the view count for the particular one I watched went from 347M to 350M. Gangnam Style has a good mix of catchy and whacky and fresh/different. It is accessible and alien at the same time. The video reminds me of LMFAO's Sexy and I Know It.

Yeah except that one is too vulgar to get so many views.

Here's what I call the Pikachu version of Gangnam style: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcLNteez3c4&feature=relmfu

The song is characterized by its strongly addictive beats and lyrics, and is thus certain to penetrate the foundations of modern philosophy.

"It's very likely this is going to be the most watched video ever on youtube before the end of the yeas."

I was wondering what the most viewed video was when I saw how many views this was getting. It must have been a bad day yesterday. Only 8M views? That shit is weak.

And by 8, I mean 9.7. Fuck my math.

He's like the Korean Lou Bega.

@Joker: justin bieber is the first :)
784 million :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kffacxfA7G4

Ok gotta help Gangnam style beat that then.

I could easily watch this video 4 times a day lol

Also, I love how the Bieber video has 784 million views, yet it has a 2:1 dislike to like ratio.

It seems the guy know how to make a huge concert. Sooo many people :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVi2iimv8J8

My introduction to Gangnam Style was !@#$% CNN this August.

I like this one from one of his live concerts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX372ZwXOEM&feature=related

hilarious! amazing! impressive! thanks! ;)

Who is jok3r is he new

I would argue that You can't understand why it went viral by just looking at the qualities of the song itself.

Going viral is a feature of the social sharing, which requires the study of humans not merely of the music video.

So points made about kpop being unusual, and foreign for most audiences are just about the only ones which start to answer this question.

Other things make an audience receptive - pointing out the beat/style/catchy-ness mere highlights some necessary qualities of the song - other songs with these qualities may not go viral, but other songs without can not go viral.

However pointing these out in the context of what other people already k ow - accessible but alien - or contrasted with other musical genres which are already 'in the wild', will give some extra information.

However what is already out there is changed by this one video; it is comparable to an avalanche, one it happens the shape of the mountain side has been altered; another avalanche will happen, and it may be sooner (because the new shape is unstable) or later, Also it ma be bigger or smaller (again depending on the new landscape)

In term of the musical landscape, overplaying some music does make it go stale, and if some people keep hearing it (because it is everywhere) this will disincline them to share/listen to another similar piece, just like an avalanche can create a more stable system - this person is less likely to share that new piece.

So it was well timed, like sowing seeds on freshly tilled soil. The fertile minds were ready to pick up this meme and spread it.

Personally i think it is crap, can't stand the cheese.

Notice, 50 shades of grey and the london riots (2011) followed a similar pattern. The ground was ready for a big event.

This kind of behaviour is called self-organised criticality.

The other example doesn't seem the same, the 2012 London Olympics spread excitememt/happiness like a virus, but it was designed, constructed to be the event it became... We seem more impressed when things happen by accident; it would far more impressive to orchestrate such an accident!

This is a pretty good spin-off by some army cadets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aa4RLoG9234