Examples: “Extremely Scary Ghost Elevator Prank in Brazil,” “Drive Thru Invisible Driver Prank. " Viral Tip: Use common sense and stay safe when you’re shooting your prank. Don’t try to shoot anything that could conceivably leave anyone hurt or in jail. See our article on simple pranks for a few ideas to get you started.

Examples: “Leave Britney Alone” Viral Tip: The biggest difficulty with monologue videos is that there’s not much for your audience to look at besides your face and whatever is right behind you. This means you’ll have to be creative to keep your viewers’ attention — use humor or an emotional performance to separate yourself from the pack.

Examples: “Numa Numa Song,” countless Let It Go lip syncs. Viral Tip: Remember that you don’t have to lip sync for the entire song — a thirty-second lip sync of the funniest part of the song can be hilarious, but a four-minute video of the entire thing can be a little much.

Examples: “Charlie Bit My Finger,” “David After Dentist,” etc. Viral Tip: If you have young children in your family, you may be sitting on a comedy goldmine. Kids often aren’t afraid to act silly, stupid, cute, and earnest the way that adults can be, so keep your camera rolling on any young ones.

Examples: Countless “Harlem Shake” videos, Downfall spoofs, “Keyboard Cat” mashups, and many, many more. Viral Tip: If you want to get popular off of an existing meme, your best bet is to put your video out as soon as possible. The popularity of video memes usually burns bright, but short. For example, the “Harlem Shake” video craze of early 2013 peaked in mid-February with millions upon millions of daily views. However, by as early as the start of March, viewership had fallen drastically. [3] X Research source

Examples: “The Evolution of Dance,” “Chocolate Rain,” etc. Viral Tip: For the best chance at success, try to limit yourself to things that people can’t see from anyone else. For example, being able to dunk on a regulation hoop is pretty amazing, but it’s something people anyone who watches basketball has seen before. Being able to dunk over a friend’s head, on the other hand, is a lot rarer and more impressive.

Examples: YouTube channels like Markiplier, PewDiePie, etc. Viral Tip: If you gain popularity with a Let’s Play channel, convert your viral success into cash! For example, some Let’s Play-ers make revenue-sharing deals with advertisers, others get sponsored by established video content providers, and still others use digital payment systems like Patreon to take donations from their viewers. [4] X Research source

Examples: “Sneezing Panda,” “Otters Holding Hands. " Viral Tip: Recording a funny or cute animal video often requires a little more luck and patience than it would take to capture a young relative doing something funny, for instance. It’s difficult to predict exactly how animals will behave, even when they’re well-behaved, so be patient and keep your camera running!

Examples: “Life Hack” videos, “WonderHowTo” videos, etc. Viral Tip: For maximum popularity, you’ll want to address problems that lots of people have a hard time dealing with. For example, common computer performance issues like slow loading times, bad Wi-Fi connections, and so on are among the very most common customer support issues. [6] X Research source

Examples: “Rickroll” videos, “Super Bowl Shuffle” clips, “Everything Is Terrible,” etc. Viral Tip: Though every decade has its fair share of cheese, for many, the neon-soaked 1980s take the cake. Try watching forgotten 80s junk-cinema classics like Miami Connection for a taste of just how corny the Reagan years seem today.

Examples: Five Second Films, SNL Digital shorts, etc. [7] X Research source Viral Tip: Sometimes, the key to achieving viral success with a short film is to make it a really short film. For example, the “Five Second Films” YouTube channel, which makes humorous clips that run just five seconds in length, has millions of subscribers.

Examples: “Autotune the News” videos, “Here it Goes Again” by OKGO, etc. Viral Tip: While you don’t necessarily have to make a music video for your own original music to go viral, be prepared for difficulties if you make one for someone else’s music — song copyright holders are quick to issue takedown notices for content they believe uses their material unfairly.

Examples: “Guinness World Record: Most Shirts Worn at One Time,” “Tightest Parallel Park Record Broken,” etc. Viral Tip: You don’t necessarily have to break a record on your own — records like “Biggest Sock Hop,” for instance, recognize community organizing rather than one person’s individual skill.

Examples: Potter Puppet Pals, Charlie the Unicorn, etc. Viral Tip: Don’t know how to animate? See our Adobe Flash articles to start learning about one of the most popular animation programs in use today.

You don’t necessarily have to break the bank to get great-quality footage. For instance, a good-quality voice recorder and an HD camcorder, which is all you’ll need for basic videos, will run you about $500.

If you’re interested mainly in making very short clips, consider joining Vine, a video sharing app meant for videos up to about six seconds long. Vine has its own active user base, so it’s possible to become a viral Vine sensation entirely outside of YouTube (though you’ll ultimately be able to reach fewer people. )

A look at the top 10 most-viewed YouTube videos of all time seems to confirm this: the only one that isn’t a music video is “Charlie Bit My Finger,” which is certainly lighthearted and funny. Of the music videos, about six or seven would generally be classified as lighthearted, depending on your personal tastes. [10] X Research source