The internet is a prime example of the “rich get richer” phenomena, where once websites pull ahead of the competitors a little the site takes off. One obvious example of this type of website is YouTube. Since it is the most popular, whenever someone wants to promote a video of theirs they are going to put it on the most visited site. I was just thinking about what makes one video more popular than the other. YouTube videos are more popular than other site videos, but do the specific videos that attract attention follow this power law? We have already discussed in class the Northeastern State of Mind video that took off in the fall. Most of campus knew about this video within a matter a days, but was that because the video was good or was it because a few liked it and spread it? I think it is the former situation because if the video was not accurate and funny then no one would have started this process in the first place. Unlike websites, these videos are a one time thing and not something like a website that you choose to visit all the time. So the attraction and popularity must come from the quality of the video.
In the margins of the Northeastern State of Mind YouTube link there are Rutgers and UMass Amherst State of Mind videos. These two spoofs were actually created before the Northeastern one, but have significantly lower views. And in this case you cannot argue that Northeastern is a large school and that is why there are so many views because UMass Amherst is a larger school than Northeastern. I think for the continuing things on the internet, like websites and blogs, the rich get richer applies to the popularity, but for one time internet things, like videos or songs, the best options are selected. Since there is such a vast number of videos, if one get popular and quickly it must have been good enough to spark several opinion leaders to pass it on. The long term components that rely on habit unfortunately still get stuck in the power law that does not necessarily mean the best is the most popular.
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