If anyone tells you they know what will go “viral,” they’re lying. We all know the general rules: short, comedic, shocking, funny, sexy. But even those of us immersed in this space are surprised about what we think will go viral (like “Filthy Little Lemon” or “YouTube is My Wife“) and what viewers actually like.

Yesterday I took my camera to the New Orleans Aquarium, but decided I didn’t need another home movie of a field trip. My mom noticed I wasn’t shooting, and pointed out the sting rays that swam above our heads. I was charmed by the sting ray’s funny face, since we don’t usually see the bottom of a sting ray. So I began to collect footage of fishes moving their mouths. I thought it would be fun to have them all singing.

As I looked over the footage, I was memorized. And since I’m on vacation, I don’t have the time or equipment to make a song for the fish. So I opted to compress the video to two minutes, and play it aside Kevin MacLeod‘s soothing piano music. I really liked it, but was pretty sure viewers — who expect comedy or kids in my video — would be turned off.

Then I checked the vital signs today, and was rather surprised. See “more” below for the list to date.

So what’s the lesson? My marketing professor used to say “cows sell,” and I’d augment that with “so do fish.” But it’s also a reminder to create for yourself and not for the audience.

But lest I end on a meaningful note, let me remind you editors of other sites fed by TubeMogul (Revver, Metacafe, Yahoo Video, Viddler, Veoh, Brightcove, AOL Video) that the fish video is on your site as well! Just search “Nalts and Cool Fish.” 🙂

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