Having a tough time coming to terms with a number that large? Consider it this way: The population of the world stands at about 6.6 billion; therefore, Americans watched 15 times more online videos than there are people in the world. Just over 93 million people watched the 2007 Super Bowl — an event that would have to be repeated over a thousand times to equal 100 billion.
Paul Potts wowed millions when his inspiring opera performance on "Britain's Got Talent" hit the Web.
Of all the videos we watched this year, which were the most memorable? With the proliferation of video sharing sites, it's not an easy question to answer or even to quantify.
Certainly there were the obvious big hits, from Will Ferrell's comedy smash "The Landlord" to Paul Potts' inspiring opera performance on the TV show "Britain's Got Talent." And there were plenty of videos we'd rather forget, like Michael Richards' racist rant in a Los Angeles comedy club.
Good or bad, the videos we watch and post online are the historical archives of our time, a constantly changing reflection of our society.
"If you look at the most popular videos, it would seem to indicate some negative things about our society, our short attention span — the easy and the quick, the sensational," says Yahoo! Video editorial manager Bethany del Lima. "But dig below the surface a little bit and you can discover some amazing talent out there."
With that, here are links to a few of the most memorable videos of the year — showcasing a bit of the easy and the quick, the sensational, the weird and, of course, the talented. This is by no means a complete list; indeed, these are merely a few stars in the universe.
- Will Ferrell's "The Landlord"
- Paul Potts' opera triumph on "Britain's Got Talent"
- "Influence" by Phil Hansen
- Miss Teen South Carolina's Q&A gaffe
- Inmates in the Philippines reenact Michael Jackson's "Thriller"
- Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain"
- Haitian UFO Sighting (was it real?)
Finally, no list would be complete without a few of our favorite animal videos:
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-Producers: Jon Brick, Robert Padavick
-Video editor: Jon Brick
-Special thanks: Bethany del Lima, Yahoo! Video
-Paul Potts still photographs in video package courtesy AP
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