美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Videocracy' Looks At What Makes A Video Go Viral

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

For some of us, watching online videos provides a break from work. For Kevin Allocca, it is his work. Allocca is the head of YouTube's culture and trends division. He spends his days contemplating¹, say, cat videos and what makes them go viral. NPR's Neda Ulaby spoke² with Allocca about his new book "Videocracy."

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE³: Yes, it's a book about surfing the Internet. Kevin Allocca admits this project was partly an excuse to go back and interview the creators of some of his favorite viral videos.

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ULABY: From the Nyan Cat, a sensation in 2011, to Hitler ranting⁴, to that stoned-sounding guy who saw a double rainbow.

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PAUL VASQUEZ: Whoa, oh, my God. Oh, my God.

ULABY: And others whose videos Kevin Allocca especially loved.

KEVIN ALLOCCA: I talked to this guy in upstate New York who puts a red, hot nickel ball on things.

ULABY: A red, hot metal ball that melts through things like a massive block of Velveeta. It got millions of views. So many of these super successful videos raise the question, why?

ALLOCCA: I think that's kind of the story of why I wanted to write this book in the first place is that I think so many things we see, we're like, why?

ULABY: Allocca breaks down the human condition, as performed on YouTube, into a comprehensive taxonomy - reaction videos, remixes, supercuts, pranks⁵, fails and a kind of video Allocca dubs⁶ oddly satisfying.

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ULABY: It turns out there are multiple genres⁷ of YouTube videos that are just ears getting cleaned. Millions of people find these videos soothing⁸. And they make no sense in terms of conventional media or advertising⁹. Allocca says if what's trending on YouTube tells us something about society, consider one of last year's biggest sensations.

ALLOCCA: Slime.

ULABY: Do-it-yourself make your own slime videos.

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UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I'm going to make black slime before I add my powder.

ALLOCCA: And it was the biggest do-it-yourself trend of last year, I would say, in terms of the things that people were creating online - billions of views on these videos.

ULABY: They even created a national shortage of glue. Allocca says we're living in the least predictable, most confounding era in the history of human expression. Viral videos, he says, have become less accidental, more commercialized and YouTube is struggling with how to deal with unsavory, even hateful videos. Allocca says he did not write this book specifically to promote his employer.

But, he says, viral videos serve a valuable social function in a fractured media universe. They give us something to share.

ALLOCCA: We want to be connected to each other and to moments through content. And I think that's sort of what's at the heart of why so many people are successful online is that they create experiences that build community or that build a sense of belonging like, you know, the elevator videos.

ULABY: Elevator videos?

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Ten is as high as you can go in any of these elevators.

ULABY: An online community of elevator aficionados¹⁰ give each other's videos hundreds of thousands, if not millions of views.

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UNIDENTIFIED MAN: It's a very nice elevator.

ULABY: Kevin Allocca says videos like these provide unconventional cognitive¹¹ thrills and can help infer more information about the workings of people's brains. Our future may be one where entertainment follows less traditional logic¹² but might be bizarrely more gratifying. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

1 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 ranting   

v.夸夸其谈( rant的现在分词 )；大叫大嚷地以…说教；气愤地)大叫大嚷；不停地大声抱怨

参考例句：

• Mrs. Sakagawa stopped her ranting. 坂川太太戛然中断悲声。 来自辞典例句
• He was ranting about the murder of his dad. 他大叫她就是杀死他父亲的凶手。 来自电影对白

5 pranks   

n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Frank's errancy consisted mostly of pranks. 法兰克错在老喜欢恶作剧。 来自辞典例句
• He always leads in pranks and capers. 他老是带头胡闹和开玩笑。 来自辞典例句

6 dubs   

v.给…起绰号( dub的第三人称单数 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

7 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

8 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 aficionados   

n.酷爱…者，…迷( aficionado的名词复数 )； 爱看斗牛的人

参考例句：

• West Coast aficionados of postwar coffee-shop architecture(Karal Ann Marling) 西海岸战后咖啡店式建筑的狂热追随者（卡拉尔安马林） 来自互联网
• Clay developed a radical style which appalled boxing aficionados. 克莱发展出一种震惊拳击迷的全新风格。 来自互联网

11 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

12 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。