The thing about the "0 Views" Tumblr

12.8.10: The above video was found on the O Views Tumblr, it currently has 14 views on YouTube. While the idea of the 'unviral' video is intriguing in a lot of ways, most of the videos posted on this blog seem to be plagued by a lack of opportunity rather than the lack of interest one would usually associate with, as the 0 Views slogan goes, "The best of the bottom of the barrel." That is to say, this blog doesn't work if you're only plucking videos that were uploaded in the past 1-7 days. There needs to be a gestation period to seriously determine the 'unviral' nature of a given vid (peep my channel for instance). In fact, user SuppJAKEY, creator of the above, has garnered over 1,000 views for several of his videos (this one even topped 10K). And then there's the following (uploaded yesterday as well):

This is a video of an old man awkwardly singing very fragmented versions of 2 well-known Christmas songs. In many ways, it is exactly the sort of stupid, uncomfortable performance that defines a certain segment of viral videos. When he (almost embarrassedly) stops the first song and starts the other: that is a perfect 'internet moment'. On top of all this, user bartlett888888 seems to be actively trying to go viral. The description reads, "Need comments trying to make it BIG TIME!!!!!! Thanks the 'King.'" He even uploaded 2 versions of the exact same vid, one titled "Elvis Christmas by Chuck swank" and the other called, simply "Boobs" (apparently 'bait' to get more hits*).

My point here is that every video starts out with 0 views. It seems stupid to just 'cherry-pick' fresh videos that seem 'unviral'. Obviously, even the lowliest clips are going to, eventually, have more than 0 views, even if it's just the uploader who's doing the watching. I guess "Under 20 Views" was not as catchy a name for a Tumblr. But by the very act of sharing these videos, you're already upping the view count, so who cares? It should be about the 'spirit' of the unviral video, not the number it's sitting on within 48 hours of upload.

Mr. Boobs Elvis Suspender Guy? He's the antithesis of O Views. He deserves to be blogged about and not because of 0 or 4 or 5 or 15 views.

*I will say there is something weird about his page. His only other video is low quality live-shot one of Jason Whitten scoring against the Colts (also uploaded 12/7). I guess it's not impossible that an older man who roots for the Dallas Cowboys, lives in Indianapolis and loves Elvis, suddenly got a camera with video capabilities and decided to try out YouTube, but there is something here that's making me suspicious. I guess you could say I have a "Suspicious Mind."


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