Web Wonder Vs. Time Waster: Double Rainbow
Posted by meredith on 07-23-2010
Today we have another installment of Web Wonders vs. Time Wasters, our occasional Youth Advisory Board feature spotlighting a sample of the memes, games, videos, etc. that go viral with teens and twenty-somethings for good reason.. or no reason at all. I’ve left it up to them to make the case.
In this installment, our go-to meme guy Chase demystifies the viral “double rainbows” phenomenon spawned from a home video (see below) recorded more than six months ago.
I’ll let Chase take it from here, but remember you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com…or just leave a comment below.
Web Wonders Vs. Time Wasters: Double Rainbow
Sum it up
In January, Yosemite National Park resident Paul “Yosemite Bear” Vasquez wandered out of his mountain home to discover a double rainbow, all the way across the sky. With his camcorder in hand, Vasquez went on to have a complete euphoric meltdown over the occurrence, even falling down sobbing sweet tears of joy. On July 3rd, Jimmy Kimmel tweeted the link to his YouTube video and history was made. The “double rainbow” took the internet by storm, gaining millions of views in just a few days and placed Vasquez in the hallowed halls of meme history. Unlike other memes, a web savvy media seized upon this video and interviews on ABC and CBS soon followed. For a few days, at least ,the double rainbow was impossible to escape. It was just too intense.
Where you found it
Twitter, where else?
How much time have you spent on it?
Probably more time than I’d like to admit! There is something endlessly entertaining about this video. Internet dwellers are using double rainbow catch phrases the same way frat boys quote lines from Wedding Crashers. Not only that, but a meme of this magnitude was bound to spawn a legion of spoofs and autotuned remixes. Most of them are pretty lame but the “Double Rainbow Song” from the same people who do “Autotune the News” and the Kermit the Frog mashup are epic.
Web Wonder or Time Waster?
Without a doubt, the double rainbow has become a bonafide web wonder. Memes are nothing new, but I think this is the first full fledged meme to spring into the mainstream right out of Web 2.0. It’s silly, sure, but the genuine glee and overwhelming joy shared in this video is something all of us can marvel at. In a world where everyone is so concerned about day to day, 3 minutes of pure rainbow bliss is an attitude I think we wish we all had.
About Chase
Chase works for a online community management and moderation company. He recently moved to Dallas, TX and serves as Head of Community for an online virtual world for kids. A former journalism major at the University of Utah, he wrote feature articles and album reviews for a music and art magazine. He is fascinated and constantly amazed with how children create and interact online. Aside from his work, Chase is an avid gamer, blogger, live music lover and audiophile who is obsessed with discovering new music and building his already extensive collection. Oh, and he really likes pandas. (You can also find him blogging about virtual worlds on his company’s blog at metaversemodsquad.com/blog)
Categorized under: Web, Youth Advisory Board