The Harlem Shake: Everyone's a Corporation

The popularity of the Harlem Shake meme truly astounded me for the last couple of months.  There will be no video in this post; I'm sure you've seen the hundreds of 'em that have popped up all over YouTube.  And that really is the point: we've seen a cultural phenomenon that is not the work of media companies or corporations.  It is instead the work of ordinary YouTube users.  They spread the popularity of both the meme and the song itself.

Don't believe me? The popularity of the meme caused Billboard to change its policy for creating the 'Hot 100' list.  Thanks to 'Harlem Shake', Billboard now factors YouTube hits into a song's overall chart success. All because of a meme.

In the age of YouTube comedians and vloggers, we are witnessing the rise of a new kind of celebrity, one from the bottom-up and not the top-down.  The viewers follow suit and spread the word everywhere else.  

Think about this: whenever you are sharing something you see funny on the Internet, you are advertising.  You are literally doing the work of ten copywriters.  The agencies no longer need to seek out their target audiences.  Rather, you are doing it yourself.  

This is important because the Internet is reshaping world economies in addition to communication structures. Stay tuned for what lies ahead.