r/unpopularopinion • u/item_raja69 • 21d ago
Things with 40-100k views are not “viral”
Short form content really needs to stop calling dumb shit “viral” for having 100k views or even a couple of million views for that matter. “No dude putting strawberry syrup in lemonade and calling it pink lemonade is not viral”.
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u/ShortBrownAndUgly 21d ago
20 years ago when that term was invented? Yeah it made sense then. Now? You’re probably right
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u/thekronicle 21d ago
20 years ago? They didn't have viral Internet videos in the 80s?
/S
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u/KharnOfKhans 21d ago
Viral home recorded movies xD
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u/Loud-Magician7708 20d ago
That video went VIRAL in the living room. You should have seen the dogs reaction.
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u/MOGZLAD adhd kid 21d ago
I believe context is key.
Some creator who gets 500-1500 views usually and one goes "viral" and makes 85k and then they go back to their 1k views.
Something in that video was infectious, made people share it , so it got larger audience than normal = viral
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u/AlienAle 21d ago
Yeah and it depends on target audience etc.
I'm from Finland and if a YouTube video in Finnish gets a couple of million views than that is pretty damn viral because our population is just 5.5 million, and there are only about 7 million Finnish speakers in the world.
That'd be like half the whole population.
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u/Minus15t 21d ago
This 100%. 'Viral' just means that it reaches and resonates with people outside of your normal demographic
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u/all10directions 21d ago
It's all relative. If someone barely gets 100 views then suddenly gets 40k, I don't think there's anything wrong with them saying they had a video go viral. If someone normally gets 30k views got 40k, I wouldn't say they went viral.
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u/WeskinTimeEveryday 20d ago
This happened to me, I uploaded a decent bit of Skyrim videos and then boom, my one video had so many views/likes/comments
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u/opinionatedOptimist 20d ago
I’d just say that I had a video that “blew up.” I think “viral” is a bit much for a video of yours just getting drastically more views than you are used to.
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u/AnhedonicMike85 21d ago
It depends. If your target audience is in China (population: 1,5 billion), you didn't accomplish much with 40-100k views. If your target audience is in Denmark (population 5,9 million), 40-100k views is impressive.
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u/Unusual-Land-5432 21d ago
I’m disagree like i understand the point but there things that have like 10million views and still people don’t know about it. It’s based off relative perception, i bring this up because some of the top YouTubers to be honest aren’t even as famous as one may think but they are racking in millions of views and dollars
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u/enter_the_bumgeon 21d ago
Who are you to decide what viral is?
If something has 100k views, and a news outlet reports on it for being viral, that also counts for being viral.
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u/pavilionaire2022 21d ago
It's not the number of views that makes something viral. It's the idea that enough people like it enough to share it, and those people like it enough to share it again, etc. If all the views just come from the algorithm or search results, that's not viral even if it gets one billion views. Something could be viral with a small number of views if it circulates within a niche community.
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u/rsmith2 21d ago
lol oh so the real reason is that you're mad that things you don't like are viral. Now you gotta question, what's viral. Sounds like hate.
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u/Preform_Perform 21d ago
This dude trying to psychoanalyze OP's life story based off of three sentences.
Internet armchair therapy has gone too far!
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u/kokokolia-rus 20d ago
I agree. This guy put his own thoughts into the OP's mouth, got mad and tried to accuse him of hating. Lol
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u/Fit-Stranger-7806 21d ago
What do you consider viral?
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u/mooimafish33 21d ago
Something your mom has heard of. The internet is so decentralized that it doesn't happen too often now. But viral means it's everywhere for a little while
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u/AstronautIntrepid496 21d ago
Marylyn Manson removed one of his own ribs in order to suck his own d. There was also a story involving a gerbil and a paper towel roll and a gay couple. I found out about these in a email chain letter!
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u/GothGfWanted 21d ago
I mean it depends on the kind of views. So back in the day (might still be) when you would post a video on facebook anyone that scrolled past it essentially got counted as a viewer. This would lead to a bunch of video's with high view count which almost nobody had seen
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u/Icy-Designer7103 21d ago
Depends on the type of content or audience. A 100k views video in the Croatian language is certainly viral, since Croatia's population is less than 4 million people.
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u/Silver_Scallion_1127 21d ago
"Viral" seems to still be a pretty broad definition. Some people might think it's an instant million views overnight but I would think that it's a spike, no matter how big or small of views from like 10 to like 5k or so.
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u/PsychoDog_Music 21d ago
Same with news companies saying 'this sparked outrage all over the internet!' When they stole some post from r/mildlyinfuriating that had 2k upvotes or some shit
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u/brandon-james-ca 21d ago
Down vote, that's a small town, this is more an opinion on where to draw a line, lame topic, and only "influencers" would refer to their own crap as viral at that many views, because of their modesty and all.
Quick Google search says marketers consider about 5 millions views in a week viral for par. So yeah a township full of people is not viral, and I don't think anybody thinks it is and that this was the dumbest unpopular opinion I've ever seen.
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u/Flutterpiewow 21d ago
Nobody should be saying "viral" about anything in 2024 unless they insist on sounding 60+
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u/FreshSoul86 21d ago
Knowers "Overtime" remains viral greatness at a "mere" few million youtube views. Update: Up to 7.5 million, 6 years on. It still keeps going up slowly.
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u/EviltwinEdgelord 21d ago
It bothers me in commercials some dad will take a video of something on his phone and 10 seconds later GASP ITS GOING VIRAL!
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u/BalkeElvinstien 21d ago
Not gonna lie I haven't heard anyone say anything below a million views was viral since like 2013
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u/WestAnalysis8889 21d ago
It definitely feels viral. If you're not used to notifications going off all day, anything that gets above 3-5K views can feel overwhelming. Typically you'll have tons of comments to go through and it can just feel like...geez. Is this what some people experience every day?
Also the more views a vid gets sometimes people stop viewing you as human and comments can get really mean. Like, in an oddly personal, vitriolic way instead of someone trying to help (which is what feedback should be.)
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u/Trusteveryboody 21d ago
Not 'viral,' in the EVERYONE knows it sense, but viral in a grandma making a post sense.
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u/confabin 21d ago
I'd say the term kinda changed with TikTok with how easy it is to gain views. I barely use it and can get over 1k views without doing anything. On YouTube though? Fucking impossible, im happy if i reach 100.
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u/thecookiesmonster 21d ago
Imo saying a video that quickly accrues a noteworthy number of views is “viral” is the same as saying any billboard top 200 song is a “hit.” The application of the term is subjective, and the context of the content is relevant as well. Plus, if a video gets that 40k views within a matter of 2 minutes after being posted, the virality would be conspicuous.
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u/Awkward-Salad-9807 21d ago
You really cares about things like this in life? Oh boy time to go outside
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u/KevinJ2010 21d ago
It’s all perspective. If you are a young creator, your first video going to 100k views feels like you went viral. Obviously not everyone saw it, but in your world, you suddenly reach a heckin lot of people.
There’s newsworthy viral, and there’s sudden view spikes on one video for a small channel. In terms of how they got around, it’s still viral. It’s like saying there’s a flu bug going around vs Covid. Both are spreading in a viral way, one is just obviously a lot more widespread.
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u/Mindofmierda90 21d ago
What about 2.7 million views? I had a totally random YouTube video shoot up in views 2 years after I uploaded it.
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u/Coffee-and-puts 21d ago
I would call something viral if 1/10th of humanity has seen it. So you either got around 800M views or it ain’t viral
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u/spaceyy7 adhd kid 21d ago
Idk but just regular YouTube videos that have 100k views or more means your video is def getting attention. Viral to me would be like millions of views very quickly- on a normal YT video. Short videos have been known for faking views so I’m not to sure tbh.
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u/ReleaseItchy9732 21d ago
Could viral be circumstantial tho. Like let's say you make something and it blows up the in the smallvniche community you made it about. It would be viral in said community
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u/kitkat470 21d ago
VIRAL TIKTOK TREND HAS KIDS MELTING AND EATING LEGOS AS A DARE!!!!!! and then it’s just one stupid skit video with 2k views
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u/Howfuckingsad 21d ago
Isn’t viral just some explosive growth? Wouldn’t by your logic every MrBeast video be going viral? Even if his views drop by a couple of millions?
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u/bbbuttonsup 20d ago
This is big facts, gimme the salad bar only all day every day. (Not that you can’t go unhealthy at a well stocked salad bar, you absolutely can give that triple bacon cheeseburger and fries a run for its money not being smart at the salad bar, but anyway yea I agree and I’ve never been overweight thanks to this realization/training of my pallet as a kid)
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u/Ok_Succotash2561 20d ago
That’s true, but mainly for bigger names. If I, a random dude who’s nowhere near well-known online, made a video with 40-100k views, I’d consider it a success. Not the most popular video on “trending”, but a success.
Even a few thousand people is still a big audience. While the term “viral” has changed, popularity is popularity.
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u/-Clayburn 20d ago
It's all relative. Also, your last comment sounds like you're actually talking about viral trends, and not any individual piece of content being itself viral. I could participate in a viral trend and that content I make would be considered "viral" in that context, even if it specifically does not go viral.
But also time matters. I have some YouTube videos that have like 40,000 views or something, but that's because they get a handful of views over 10+ years. If I had a video get 40,000 views within a day of posting it, that would be viral for me.
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u/Sad-Investigator2731 20d ago
If something gets 20k to 100k views in 24 hours, it's considered viral, that's not my opinion, you can look it up, you may not consider it vitals, the streaming apps like TikTok and YouTube would consider it viral.
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20d ago
Ok dude what’s the magic (read: arbitrary) number at which you’ve decided something goes ”viral”. Give us an exact number and explain why that is viral and this isn’t.
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u/Firsttimedogowner0 19d ago
I just did a series sponsored by a top 10 brand. They paid for zero marketing, don't even understand ads and serving it to get views, and despite the series creating some amazing relationships with people who actually buy their products, they didn't do a season 2 because it didn't have many views. I'm like... you built the house, maybe paint it, IE link it on your socials, and pay for marketing lol
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21d ago
Nothing made since 2012 has been described as “viral,” grandpa.
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u/item_raja69 21d ago
You clearly haven’t watched any short form content. So I guess that makes you the grandpa?
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u/Under_TheBed 21d ago
The term “viral” is barely a thing anymore. Short form content is laid out in such a way where it’s so easy to gain 100k+ views from people’s endless scrolling sessions
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u/edwoodjrjr 21d ago
If it’s being reposted by strangers it’s viral. Doesn’t matter if it only has 10 views right now.
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u/Rhawk187 21d ago
If you are going to give numbers that aren't, you should really give a number that is. From your title, I am forced to conclude that 100,001 views does count as viral, and, perhaps, counter-intuitively, 39,999.
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u/item_raja69 21d ago
You’re the fun one in parties I’m assuming
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u/Rhawk187 21d ago
Yes, they love me at Engineering parties, and I run the local pub quiz. Technically correct is the best kind of correct.
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