We take a look at some of the most-viewed and most-shared videos on the web. This week features a New Zealand road safety ad that would definitely make you think, another extraordinary achievement by Messi and some frightening facts about the pranks in Home Alone 1 and 2.
About 100 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, 500 years of video watched on Facebook every day, and more than 700 YouTube videos shared on Twitter each minute, ensuring there is always video trending on the web.
With so much video available for viewing, we take a look at some of the viral videos that have caught our eye this week.
New Zealand road safety ad
Road safety ads are designed to make you think about your behaviour on the road and this ad from New Zealand is probably one of the most effective we’ve ever seen. The ad shows two drivers who are about to collide at a junction and suddenly time stands still. It shows the drivers talking about what’s about to happen, emphasizing the real human cost of careless driving. More than 4m people watched the video at the time of writing.
Messi scores goal from behind the goals
Is there anything Lionel Messi can’t do? The champion Barcelona goal scorer wowed more than 2m viewers on YouTube this week with his ability to score a goal from an impossible angle – from behind the goals. Yes, seriously. This happened. See it for yourselves!
Honest Action – Home alone
Dr Adam Friedlander’s analysis of action movies zoned in on Home Alone 1 and 2. We all love those great laugh out loud moments when the two burglars Harry and Marv fall victim to wee Kevin McAllister’s booby traps, but do we realise that in real-life Harry and Marv would be killed nine and 14 times over respectively from everything from fractures, punctures and burns to avian blood infections. See who’s laughing now!
Ski flying
GoPro cameras are all the rage and have been used to capture all kinds of stunts and escapades. In this video professional ski jumper Anders Jacobsen captures his exploit at Lillehammer in Norway from a very unusual angle. Watch for the satisfied smirk when he touches down. The one thing we can’t figure out is this – where’s the camera?
Guitar hero
There is talent. Then there’s sheer talent. In this video 11 year-old Aidan Fisher shocks old hand heavy metal group Steel Panther with his guitar-playing ability. The crowd is stunned and so are some 2m YouTube viewers.
