You Choose YouTube

What is the world coming to when the most viewed clip on YouTube is Avril Lavigne's video clip Girlfriend? No this is not a hoax, or a joke, or a trick. With 117,549, 807 recorded views at the time of writing YouTube rates this video as the current most viewed of all time.

I feel ripped off for three reasons. First, I can't even view the stupid clip because "this video is not available in your country". Second, I can't embed another version of the clip here because embedding has been "disabled by request". Third, I searched for the most viewed clip on YouTube out of curiousity and this is what I got?

Was it unreasonable to expect something a little less shallow and a little more substantial? What is it with this clip that has made it the most viewed? What does it say about YouTube viewers?

I was introduced to YouTube back at the beginning of 2006, not long after it had officially launched in November 2005. Originally it represented a way for me to access tv and music videos on demand, without the lag of waiting for the Australian release and without the concern of pirating and illegal downloading. Today as the copyright and content restrictions are much more stringent (see here for example), YouTube has simply become a source of random entertainment and amusement. For me anyway.

Beyond my surprise that the most viewed video was in fact a music video, and not some slapstick Jackass-esque stunt, I was appauled that it was Avril Lavigne. I know the little Canadian pop punk princess is one of the highest selling artists in the United States, but I didn't realise her badly painted black nails had dug in to so many avenues. Sorry Avril, but your entertainment factor is not as high as a Charlie the Unicorn. Not that the other music videos in top 10 most viewed clips on YouTube are much better. The four other music entities are Chris Brown, Rihanna, Leona Lewis, and Alicia Keys (all of which have had "embedding disabled by request"), none of which are my cup of tea. In future I think I'll be sticking to the search function in YouTube and going by my own taste, especially when it comes to music.

Although there may be hope for the future of YouTube's most viewed, for the month of March at least. With last weeks most viewed video Extreme Sheep LED Art by BaaStuds:



Or this months most viewed video Fred Rescues the Neighbourhood Squirrels by Fred: