Spiritual Connection.
That’s what we do at the ReadTheSpirit project — and, over the past week or so, readers and writers have been exploring the “connection” part of this core commitment in creative new ways.
If you’re among the readers who enjoyed Christine Gloss’ three-day series on “connection” last week, jump over to OurValues.org today to learn how Dr. Wayne Baker is expanding on the connective issues Christine raised.
Today, we’re also bringing back the popular Tuesday Quiz with a clever challenge designed to see just how “connected” you are to the world of new media that’s swirling all around us today.
This week, the instructions are simple — but the challenge may be complex, depending on how much you poke around the Internet. It’s also fun, because the answers today include links to some intriguing videos.
OK, HERE ARE THE RULES:
Today, we’re listing 10 titles. Five of them are names of extremely popular online videos that have spread across various sites online and have racked up more than 20 million views. Even at the 20 million mark, that’s twice the number of subscribers to Reader’s Digest and four-to-five times the number of subscribers to Time Magazine. Or, in the video realm, that’s two to three times the viewers for “60 Minutes” last week. And some of these five videos are waaaay past 20 million views.
So, we’re talking about huuuuge audiences here that spread through hundreds and sometimes thousands of online connections. These are new media communities sprawling through the Web. But how connected are you to these new movements?
Simply choose the 5 titles that really are online videos.
Your odds are pretty good this week, right?
THE TEN TITLES
He Sleeps in the — Clam Chowder
Uhhh … What did she say??
Bubble of Glee Three
Where the Hell is Matt?
Why I Love Yellow
Leave Britney Alone!
Somewhere Over the Golden Arches
Evolution of Dance
Smile Down on My Goldfish, Too
Free Hugs
PICK THE 5 REAL MEGA-HIT TITLES. When you think you’ve got the right 5, in the online version of this quiz, you can click on the “link” below and the answers will pop up.
Ready? Go ahead and click on the link.
THE ANSWERS
Here are the five hit videos on our list as tracked by Unruly Media’s Viral Video Chart. You won’t see these viewership totals on all of the “counters” you’ll find online, because these videos “went viral” and were duplicated across various Web sites — sometimes in multiple copies on the same site. Unruly Media tracks and totals up the viral spread.
Uhhh … What did she say??
More than 42 million people have watched this embarrassing moment in which a beauty-pageant contestant reveals more than she expected about American ignorance of our world today.
Where the Hell is Matt?
More than 21 million watched this bizarre dance video. And there’s a definite pattern emerging here in these first two mega-hit videos. Once again, it’s a video about Americans’ myopic “take” on the world. This guy, Matt, actually travels all over the world, but only to do this bizarre little jig and shoot a few seconds of video. Not exactly immersing ourselves constructively in our neighbors’ cultures.
Leave Britney Alone!
Warning! This is a disturbing video with some foul, R-rated language viewed by more than 30 million people. It’s hard to tell whether this video is an act — or was produced by a truly disturbed young man, deeply upset at the treatment of Britney Spears. Unruly Media thinks it’s a sincere online “rant,” including the young man’s scream: “She’s a human!” This sort of ragged screaming out of someone’s apparent anguish is part of the new online community that’s emerging, too.
Evolution of Dance
From the disturbing to the artfully satirical — “Evolution of Dance” ranks among the Superbowls of online videos. Unruly Media says it’s the second most-watched video on YouTube — ever. More than 105 million people have watched this six-minute movie that has been reposted more than 2,000 times across the Web. The comedy routine demonstrates popular dance moves from Elvis Presley to — well, just watch it if you want to chuckle.
Free Hugs
This video is so relevant to our recent stories — and what readers are discussing over at www.OurValues.org this week — that we’re going to show you this one right here on our Web page. We’re going to help Free Hugs’ virally spread a little further today. If you’re a regular ReadTheSpirit reader, I guarantee you that you’ll be smiling by the end of Juan Mann’s video about the power of random hugs!
WATCH THIS (more than 33 million people have watched it already — and, yes, there is audio — it starts after a few seconds):
COME BACK TOMORROW for a Conversation With Dr. David Myers, a leading scholar of psychology, who is trying to build bridges between widely separated spiritual communities: traditional people of faith and people who are atheists. Dr. Myers has published an intriguing new book that’s great for small-group study, called, “A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists.”
AND, PLEASE, tell us what you think!
Click on the Comment link below, or you always can Email ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm directly.
