Because sending and posting videos online have becoming easier and more convenient than ever, many Internet users are currently using this technology to spread entertaining and hilarious materials through blogs, e-mails, and forums. Among these materials are those funny videos that you see everyone online?from personal websites to forums, from Youtube to sites dedicated to funny videos. These funny video clips become so popular that they are widely spread all over the cyberspace. If you spend even just a few minutes online, you are probably familiar with these videos. And once these videos become so popular, it gains popular even beyond the Internet. These funny video clips are usually called viral video, named after the viruses with their ability to replicate. But why and how did these funny videos become an integral part of the Internet? And what are the different types of funny video clips?

Technology

Without a doubt, funny video clips became viral because of the technology available to the people today. Regardless of the nature of the videos, anyone can easily post them online. For instance, thanks to recording devices, television viewers can easily save clips from shows that they find funny. A good example is the ?D-ck in a Box? video of a sketch from Saturday Night Live. Although the clip itself was temporarily available in the official website of NBC, individual television viewers already preserved the video to prosperity by posting it on Youtube. And since Youtube has features that allow members to post videos on their social networking pages and blogs, people have consciously and unconsciously spread the video, catapulting it to viral video status.

Variations

Of course, funny videos or viral videos are not just limited to hilarious television clips from comedy shows. Sometimes, the humor is unintentional?making it more amusing. These would include foreign game shows from other countries, with their bizarre game play and even more bizarre results. An example of this is the Human Tetris game videos from a game show in Japan. Other funny video clips came from homemade short clips, with the definition of ?hilarious? mostly subjective. A popular example of this is the video blog of Chris Crocker. This video?with Crocker defending Britney Spears? Video Music Awards performance?became one of the most watched videos on Youtube. Although not essentially funny, the context and the actual content made it entertaining and, to most of the viewers, hilarious.

Impact

The impact of these funny video clips online is overwhelming. Internet has been relegated as an alternative media?but its content has become so popular that it has influenced the content of mainstream media, particularly on television. For instance, Chris Crocker was an instant Internet celebrity thanks to his video, but the coverage of entertainment news outfits made him an actual Hollywood figure'at least, only for a while. The Human Tetris videos became such big Internet hits that the American noontime talk show Ellen simulated it. Without a doubt, are big not just online?they are now mainstream entertainment too.