Q: It’s really tough for me to guess which videos will be trending up… almost all the ones I pick end up trending down…

A: When you pick a video to trade in VideoSlush, you need to think, “How and Why is this video going to get clicked on and get viewed?”

It usually boils down to 4 things:

1) People actively search for a video because the event just happened! (Marie Osmond fainted on TV, find it on YouTube!!)

2) The video is created by a known author. (Like WHATTHEBUCKSHOW.)

3) The video is featured somewhere prominent where people click a lot. (An ad on YouTube front page, a video featured on a prominent blog, etc.).

4) Something “magical” and chaotic happens, and the video just starts getting passed around like wildfire! (Witness Chris Crocker’s classic, “Leave Britney Alone!”) This is usually due to a super emotional response by viewers and is the most challenging to predict.

Old videos (ie: Usually more the 2 days old!) don’t do that well in VideoSlush, unless they suddenly appear somewhere prominent that make people click on them or look them up.

Have fun hunting for viral videos!