The astonishing popularity of Rebecca Black’s “Friday” video — which became the YouTube meme of all memes in the course of a wild six weeks — has mystified many critics.
Was it shared and watched so wildly because it was so bad? Certainly the overwhelming judgment on the part of viewers is that it is atrocious — and yet it is hard to know what that means, since 85 million people not only watched the video but also downloaded the song, bought the ring tone, and devoured every available bit of news about the singer and the song.
Using the principle of “demonstrated preference,” this music video ranks as the most popular in human history.