Part of the magic of the internet is how the oddest things seem to spread like wildfire, with internet speed. It’s called “going viral”, since we all know how quickly computer viruses can spread, but this tends to be more fun. Case in point: Double Rainbow Guy.
It was just another YouTube video posted by a nature-loving guy, until late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel tweeted the link. Know Your Meme.com says, “A little over an hour later, Bill Simmons retweeted the previous tweet on his own board. On July 4, a short article was posted on The Huffington Post promoting the video. On July 5, the Youtube.com user RayWilliamJohnson posted a video that highlighted the Double Rainbow video. On July 6, the user schmoyoho (popular for “Auto-Tune the News”) created an Auto-Tuned version of this video.”
Jimmy Kimmel said on his show that from only 800 views when he found it, it took less than two weeks for it to have almost 7 million views. That’s viral.
When that happens, people on YouTube begin making their own versions. Know Your Meme.com lists a bunch of items relating to the Double Rainbow Guy’s original video as does Huffington Post. And Fast Company tries to figure out “what it means” (since the Double Guy Rainbow guy asked…) in terms of their Influence Project, which studies the phenomena to try to make it happen on purpose, we suppose. They ask questions like, “Is Vasquez just another popular, soon-to-be-forgotten YouTube star? Will he ride the wave of “success” across the Web, like a unicorn atop a rainbow? Does Vasquez now have influence? Is “influence” even the right term to use?”
Only time will tell if The Double Rainbow guy will continue to influence the world, or fade into obscurity.