Originally Posted by
anonamoose
The viral video depends on being able to be discovered though. Without being able to easily browse random videos it's going to be a lot more difficult for those blogs and RWJ to even find the videos.
Discovery doesn't begin at the charts. Videos end up there after they've already been noticed by lots and lots of people. Nor does discovery begin at the "recommended videos" sidebar. Many of videos you see there already have lots of views, as that is part of the algorithm. I'm not sure what you mean by browsing random videos. Was there some sort of timeline that automatically updated the newest uploads?
A video brimming with potential is a cloud of flammable gas. All it takes is a small spark; just a handful of people to notice it. Sometimes just one person. Sometimes it takes a long time for that spark to come along, like Rebecca Black's Friday. But that spark is rarely provided by any section of YouTube. It takes crowdsourcing. One person tweets it, then a handful of others retweet it or post it to FB or Reddit, and it grows exponentially. Truly viral videos build momentum organically. They get passed around by the masses outside of YouTube. It's a true meritocracy.
The videos on YouTube's charts and sidebars work differently. Take a guy like RWJ. I think he has 6 million subscribers now. Even when he had half that many, he was all over YouTube's charts and constantly appeared as a recommended channel by YouTube's algorithm. He keeps sucking in more views and subscribers like gravity, due to his enormous mass. A video that tops the charts will pick up lots of subs and views for a few days, then quietly disappear. A viral video keeps going because it continues to be shared.
The recommended video sidebar is no longer on the front page, but fortunately it's still there when viewing videos. This won't help anything go viral, but it still helps decent videos steadily pick up more views. That sidebar is the reason Messageboard Grinder has so many views.