Wednesday, June 27, 2012

When a Video Goes Viral - Epilogue


Two weeks have passed and I regret that I ever uploaded the video to my YouTube account. We are no longer responding to media requests to use it and, despite multiple offers, my son and daughter-in-law have decided not to sell the rights to the video -- I decision I totally agree with.

The knee-jerk reaction against zoos could have been predicted, I suppose, but the pure vitriol of so many of the comments posted on YouTube and other websites caught us totally off-guard -- some even wishing the chimp would break through the glass and tear the baby apart. My daughter-in-law asked me to take the video down and I did, then my son asked me to put it back up and I did, with moderated comments.

But I'm tired of being the gatekeeper; it's adding stress to my life that I just don't need. I wish my son would transfer the video from my account to his own, if he still wants it to be public. I'm feeling a little bit traumatized, to be honest, and I just want my quiet, uneventful life back.

The moral of the story is: when your video goes viral, it's not necessarily a good thing.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

When a Video Goes Viral...


It all began with a simple trip to the zoo last Saturday. My daughter-in-law and her sister took the kids to see the animals at the zoo. And then this happened:


My daughter-in-law posted the video to Facebook but hadn't been able to upload it to YouTube, and asked if I could figure it out. I did, and somehow the local news in her city caught wind of the video and interviewed her about it for their Monday evening newscast.

Then local radio stations picked up the story and, just this morning, the video appeared on Good Morning America, the CBS Morning News, and the UK's Sun News website. And those are just the ones I know about! Meanwhile, I've been watching in disbelief as the stats on my YouTube page steadily climb, with viewers from around the world, including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Romania, and Japan.

What to make of all this? Heck if I know. Life in the 21st century, I guess. It's an odd little blip in our otherwise ordinary lives, but it does have me musing over what a small world it's become, thanks to the Internet, and how our sweet little boy and a sweet little chimp and three minutes of video can touch people we will never ever meet.