Viral video trend shakes VCU

Michael Todd
Assistant Spectrum Editor

From videos of cats, to people twerking, to Gangnam Style flash mobs and Call Me Maybe covers, video trends constantly come in and out of style. These fads gain and lose popularity so rapidly, in fact, that there is little time to appreciate how and why they become popular.

Daniel Chen, an advertising graduate student and copywriter for the Brandcenter, saw potential in the currently trending YouTube Harlem Shake videos.

Chen sent out an email on Feb. 8 to Brandcenter students proposing they create their own version of the video. On Feb. 9, approximately 60 Brandcenter participants had the video shot, edited and uploaded within 30 minutes.

“When we did (our video), there was only a few videos out but I knew it was only a matter of time before it took off,” Chen said.  “I think the Harlem Shake was destined for Internet fame because it’s so easy to do and everyone loves getting buck wild.”

Three days later, videos shot in student dorms appeared on YouTube. The fad soon spread from these smaller groups to larger crowds such as the VCU Wizengamot Quidditch team, and entire fraternities such as the VCU chapter of Phi Kappa Psi. On Feb. 18, the Compass became the site of the largest VCU Harlem Shake demonstration yet.

When VCU-specific Harlem Shake videos began appearing online, kinetic imaging and art foundation professor Nia Burks utilized the trend in her next lesson.

On Feb. 15, Burks’ AFO Time Studio class investigated how and why trends become popular. To do this, they consulted the Know Your Meme and Google Trends websites, and watched a TED Talk by Kevin Allocca, the trend manager for YouTube, on why videos go viral.

Using these sources, the class deconstructed the numerous Harlem Shake videos into basic yet specific criteria, and then worked to replicate the trend.

Harlem Shake videos begin with a room full of people, none of whom acknowledge the stationary filming camera. Unnoticed by the rest of the group, a single figure, masked in some manner, dances to steadily escalating music. At around 16 seconds, the video’s music drops, and suddenly all the people in the room are dancing wildly, most adorned in weird costumes and masks. Videos typically end in slow motion at around the 30 second mark.

As discussed in Allocca’s video, the Harlem Shake trend, both on a large scale and specifically to VCU, followed a basic three-part formula.

Most trending videos are introduced by “tastemakers,” either an individual or group that adopts an interesting idea and spreads it to a wider audience. The Brandcenter plays this part in the VCU Harlem Shake scenario.

The second element, community participation, allows viewers to advance beyond mere spectator enjoyment to contributing to the trend. While the Brandcenter did not introduce the Harlem Shake to the Internet, they were the first group of VCU students to create their own video, and thus opened the floodgates for VCU students to make their own videos.

Finally, an element of spontaneity—something the viewer doesn’t see coming—allows the video to thrive and stand out in the sea of other videos that clutter the Internet.

After shooting their own highly coordinated version of the Harlem Shake, Burks’ class worked as a team to edit the video. In the context of Burks’ class, this exercise was intended not only to raise students’ awareness of video editing decisions, but also increase awareness of how social media is constructed and functions.

“Viral video (and) social media… are actually very well calculated,” Burks said. “This isn’t something that just happens. There is somebody, or some group of people, that is behind the screen making all of this happen. …I wanted to make (my students) aware of that in order to… promote being a critical user of the web.”

As of Feb. 24, Burks’ class’ video was viewed 9,752 times, the highest view number of all VCU Harlem Shake videos and just short of their goal of 10,000 views in one week. The original by the Brandcenter followed at a close second with 9,441 views.

In an age where technology is easily accessible, the Internet allows users to communicate, quickly and conveniently, with limitless amounts of people. Burks says that viral media, such as the Harlem Shake, surpasses cultural, social, economic and language barriers.

“The ability to communicate through images I think is really important, and I think we’re returning to a time when we can do that,” she said.

According to Burks and in agreement with Allocca, viral and trending videos may actually play a larger and significant role in the way that the Internet and social media continue to evolve, and the role they will one day play in global life.

“Being a part of the Harlem Shake trend… I don’t think it’s silly anymore,” Burks said. “I think people are laughing at it, as they should, because it’s funny… (But) what it means is so vital to what the Internet will develop into in the future.”