Fad in, fad out

Well, results reveal that my YTMND is slowly creeping across the Internet, mostly by seeping through Twitter and forums. I'm betting once the week closes, and "Frodo jumps on it" gets removed from "TOP RATED THIS WEEK" on the main page, viewership will die off, and it will fade into everyone's memory.

And NO, people are NOT downvoting this; it is STILL at 4.7, and is more than likely going to retain its place in the top 2 or 3 pages of top rated YTMNDs of all time. For that reason, I'm going to predict that it's going to not be a fad, ever. Allow me to explain with my unpatented, unproven, and uncopyrighted explanation on how fads work:

Basically, a fad has to inspire people to mimic it. They must revel in it, and want to revel in it; it has to be funny, and be open-ended. Let me unnecessarily expand upon this with a metaphoric model: the Hook, Line, and Sinker model.

1. Hook: This is the level of intrigue and interest. Anything that's funny usually has a hook, being the punch-line, but anything that appeals to an audience can be a hook. For example, it's not expressly stated as a fad, but a lot of sites deal with familiar kid-friendly characters and giving them a lewd slant. The sex is the hook. Indeed, a lot of fads involve sex in some way, even when they're unfunny. That's the hook at work.

2. Line: This is the potential for being expanded upon. If there's a situation that can only be framed in one context, or if there's no possibility of adding to the original, then no one will add anything new -- no one will follow the line. If a fad has no Hook in it, then it's a forced fad; no one was intrigued by it, but the line has been drawn out. If a fad has no Line in it, then it can't even be called a fad; the meat on the Hook will just spread out and dissipate. Literally, a lack of context the fad can wrap around.

3. Sinker: It must be possible to top the original. If the original was awesome or perfect, then no one will want to imitate it, for fear of looking like a wannabe. If the original was just good, but not awesome, than it will feasible for someone to try and top it. They might fail, but there's always the possibility, right?

I may have to revise it a bit, seeing as how the current 4-chan Max fad started with a highly-rated site.

Now, if you landed on this site because you were excitedly looking for more info on frodojumpsonit.ytmnd.com, let me reward you for coming here with these exclusive jumping Frodo avatars:

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What's up, YTMND?

Well, yesterday, I mentioned that I posted something to YTMND.com. Its ranking was around 4.7, and I expected it to drop even lower.

Well, no. It's stayed there. It once got down to 4.6, but now it's recovered. I was not prepared for that. By the end of the day, it's had 4000 views, 237 votes, and 75 favs. It went off the "Up and Coming" list still in second place, and still resides on second place in the Top Rated This Week (first place is a site revealing the "illicit" practices of the website's founder, and is currently the highest-rated site in the history of YTMND; unlucky timing on my part).

Well, a Google search reveals that, no, my blog is NOT one of the search results of "Frodo jump on it" (but it will now! heh heh heh). But so far, the results show that it's popped up on a Twitter account, the signature of a forum user, and Buzzfeed.com.

Now, it's also been something of a goal of mine to make something that reaches a sizeable popularity on the Internet. For the record, yes, it was partly my intention for other people to make spinoffs ("fads" in YTMND lingo) of it. It wasn't that hard for me to make, and it's pretty catchy. Right now, though, I'm a tad concerned. If my site is THIS good, then no one will want to make a spin-off and look like some attention-crazed wannabe. I mean, the both of the original Brian Peppers sites were just a picture with music (and text) on it, both garnering a rating of 4 out of 5, offering (practically inviting) others to beat that score.

But if my site stays at 4.7, then no one will attempt to best it, and it will just die. No fad. No fun.

Well, I'll throw in another update on it tomorrow. I've been spending the past day or two on YTMND, anyway, so I may as well let you in on what I've been doing. Even though I'm not doing anything.

Jump On It

Well, okay. I haven't even touched this blog since Saturday. Hey, at least I have the decency to tell you. Truth is, I've been doing things on other websites. Which websites? Well...

You may remember that on Saturday I posted a GIF of Gandalf rocking his head back and forth. I was going to use it for ytmnd.com. Well, I just made a better one.

So far, it's hovering around 4.7 out of 5. I'm waiting for the downvoters to smash it to bits. But even if it does take a nosedive, it's still the highest voted YTMND I've made so far.