HEDAYAT: Famous but not rich. For Release Wed Sep. 5, 2007

Famous but not rich, America’s obsession with viral videos

By Sherif Hedayat — Your Youtube video has been viewed one million times and you still live in your mom’s basement. Are viral video sites the cure for low self-esteem? Every day we see videos that make a no one some one. They are thrilled that the world sees them and the viral videos sites are thrilled with the traffic that makes them millions of dollars. Why do we allow this? We prostitute ourselves to make others money and we’re ok with it. America is more concerned with being famous than we are about making money. Why are we allowing viral videos sites to pimp us out? There are a few things that come to mind. First, the cost of hosting a video on our own website. Second, the price of bandwidth to show the video to millions of people. Last but not least, the free advertising provided by these websites.

How about a compromise? Why don’t these websites offer money per click or a percentage of the revenue generated from views of the video? Well, probably because no one has asked them. The bottom line, fame is worth more to Americans than fortune.

After reviewing several survey websites that ask the question “Would you rather be rich or famous?” I realized the overwhelming opinion was rich. So if that is the case, then why are we so obsessed with being rich? Maybe it’s because people associate fame with money.

If I am famous I will eventually be rich. The problem is we fail to realize that people will only pay us if they have to. Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?

Now that we’ve established that Youtube can make a star out of someone that may have never had that opportunity otherwise, let’s look at the opposite side of this double edged sword. Thousands of people have American Idol syndrome. By this I mean people think they are much more talented than they really are.

Unfortunately, you have to take the good with the bad. But shouldn’t people get paid if they have to suffer through a horrifying video? At least make the ratings count.

If someone publishes a video that gets the worst possible rating and has only been viewed seven times and six of those were by the guy who posted the video trying to see if anyone watched it. The video should be removed after only so much suffering.

Overall, viral videos aren’t that bad. It’s nice to see highlights of all the dumb things President Bush says on TV. Unfortunately, other countries don’t have the same sense of humor.

Many countries have banned Youtube because it makes their fearless leaders look like idiots. Fearless leaders who declare war and commit unspeakable crimes against humanity are getting their feelings hurt by their own people.

It’s such a sad situation. Maybe these leaders should make their own Youtube videos and get a few people to watch and raise their self-esteem. Then the world would be a much happier place.

(Sherif Hedayat is an widely acclaimed standup comedian and satirist. He can be reached at sherif@funnysherif.com. Copyright Arab Writers Group Syndicate.)

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