WARNING: DO NOT read if you have something better to do !!

I was reading TIME Magazines May 31, 2010 issue which covered various online and social media. The cover story was about Facebook and how it's redefining privacy. Which was a pretty interesting article if you wanna check it out. But what I found more interesting ... and time consuming..... was the article on YouTube. YouTube is turning five years old! (Ya I couldn't believe that it's only been five years either.)

How many hours have been wasted since then watching videos online? Well ....

• YouTube gets more then 2 billion views each day.
• Twenty four hours of video is uploaded every minute.
• More video is uploaded to YouTube in 60 days then all three major U.S television networks have created in 60 years.

That seems like a lot of hours.

Luckily, to narrow down my search for the best, the article had a link to TIME's 50 best YouTube videos. (This is where hours of your life can be lost.) I had to check it out. Some I had seen before, others I had not. I managed to waste over an hour watching the videos remembering favourites, seeing new ones. (Of course I have other papers and more productive things that I could be doing, but that's usually when most of us spend our time on You Tube).

With so many videos it's interesting to wonder people become YouTube celebrities, end up with millions of views and sometimes even a spot on Ellen. Justin Bieber of course being the most famous getting noticed by record exec's to become a 'tween sensation. But all of the other videos, how do they get from being something that you record and want to show your friends to being posted on Facebook, passed through e-mails and shared all over the world? I am sure companies everywhere are asking the same question.

These videos seemingly don't have much in common, besides the fact that they are cute, funny, embarrassing, touching, and all are entertaining . Now companies more and more are turning viral and hoping that their video will become the next "must see" YouTube clip. Though some of them have had minor success none have even come close to Susan Boyle or the J & K 's Wedding Entrance.

Click on the title if you'd like to see the video.

Kate Parkes' Ranked List "YouTube's 50 Best Videos"

1. 1. Susan Boyle's Debut
2. 2. Jill and Kevin's Big Day
3. 3. David After Dentist
4. 4. Evolution of Dance
5. 5. Sneezing Panda
6. 6. Charlie Bit My Finger
7. 7. Miss Teen South Carolina
8. 8. Baby Bobbing to "Single Ladies"
9. 9. Grape Lady Falls!
10. 10.Christian the Lion

With YouTube being just five years old, maybe companies haven't figured out the right formula, with a splash hilariousness and a dash cuteness maybe they could get this type of coverage. Maybe in five years one of them will get it right? Or maybe they could buy that Sneezing Panda??