This is a partial list of viral videos, including those that are music videos, that have gained rapid attention on the Internet. Like Internet memes, viewership of such videos tend to grow rapidly and become more widespread because of instant communication facilitates and word of mouth.
This list documents videos known to have become viral; additional videos that have become Internet phenomena for other categories can be found at list of Internet phenomena.
General videos
2 Girls 1 Cup – A video of two girls engaging in coprophilia. This video has also originated a series of amateur videos showing the reactions of people seeing the original video. 2 Hours Doing Nothing – Video of Indonesian YouTuber Muhammad Didit staring in his camera and doing nothing for two hours, published on 10 July 2020. It achieved 1.7 million views on the day of release, and 3 million in one month. After receiving positive comments by the media and politician Sandiaga Uno, it was later adapted to a mobile game.
300-page iPhone bill – A 300-page iPhone bill from AT&T Mobility mailed in a box was the subject of a viral video made by YouTube personality Justine Ezarik, best known as iJustine, which became an Internet meme in August 2007. Ezarik's video focused on the unnecessary waste of paper, as the detailed bill itemized all data transfers made during the billing period, including every email and text message. Stories of unexpected billing issues began to circulate in blogs and the technical press after the Apple iPhone's heavily advertised and anticipated release, but this video clip brought the voluminous bills to the attention of the mass media. Ten days later, after the video had been viewed more than 3 million times on the Internet and had received international news coverage, AT&T sent iPhone users a text message outlining changes in its billing practices. The information technology magazine Computerworld included this incident in its list of "Technology's 10 Most Mortifying Moments".
11B-X-1371 – An unsettling video filmed in an abandoned Polish sanatorium, in which someone wearing a plague doctor costume gesticulates toward coded messages making threats against the U.S. President. Further less specific threats and disturbing images were found hidden in the spectrogram of the video's soundtrack.
2007 Miss Teen USA Pageant – A video of Caitlin Upton's response to a question at the Miss Teen USA 2007 received over 3.5 million views on YouTube in three days.
Ain't Nobody Got Time for That – A news interview with Kimberly "Sweet Brown" Wilkins, of Oklahoma City, in April 2012. Wilkins was asked about her escape from her burning apartment complex; she concluded the conversation by remarking "I got bronchitis! Ain't nobody got time for that!" The phrase has been reprinted on various forms of merchandise, while Wilkins appeared on television programs. Jimmy Kimmel later made a parody starring Queen Latifah as Wilkins inspiring people across history with phrases from the video. Wilkins herself appears in a cameo.
Angry German Kid – A video of a German teenager trying to play Unreal Tournament on his PC, but he faces problems with it which causes him to get enraged and shout, as well as smashing his keyboard in some scenes.
Arrest of Vladimir Putin – The mock video shows Russian President (then Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin facing a courtroom trial. The footage was taken from the real-life trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and then digitally altered to make a faux news report. As of November 2024, the viral video has over 13 million views.
Asians in the Library – A racist rant by Alexandra Wallace, an undergraduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles, in March 2011.
Baby saying the N word — Far-right, white influencers Isabella and Josiah Moody posted a video on X/Twitter showing their baby babbling something that sounded like the word nigger. The video received nearly 6 million views while it was online, and Isabella captioned it "My daughter literally said the n-word...I'm so proud of her!" Josiah suggested that teaching a baby to say the slur was a way to get "insane Twitter growth". However, the backlash from other commenters was severe, and eventually both Moodys deleted their accounts.
Bill O'Reilly Freaks Out – An outtake from Bill O'Reilly's tenure on Inside Edition, which depicted O'Reilly cursing at his co-workers while having issues with the closing lines on his teleprompter. After the video went viral in May 2008, O'Reilly acknowledged the video's existence, claiming that he was amusing his co-workers and said "I have plenty of much newer stuff...If you want to buy the tapes that I have, I'm happy to sell them to you." The rant was later parodied by Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report as well as Family Guy and by Trevor Noah on The Daily Show, and was named one of Time's "Top 10 Celebrity Meltdowns".
Bitchy Resting Face – a parody comedy public service announcement video by the Funny Or Die comedy team that has since gone on to become a popular internet meme, and to become more commonly known as resting bitch face (RBF).I'm Not Mad. That's Just My RBF Jessica Bennett, New York Times, 1 Aug 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015
Boom goes the dynamite – Brian Collins, a nervous sports anchor, fumbles highlights, concluding with this infamous catchphrase. It's become commonly used in many things, including an episode of Family Guy and being quoted by Will Smith when he flubbed a line on stage during the 81st Academy Awards telecast. As of March 2009, Collins was a reporter for KXXV, a television station in Waco, Texas.
Bitconnect – A keynote speech by Carlos Matos. The video features Matos screaming "Bitconnect" and "I Love Bitconnect". Due to the nature of the speech and Matos consistently promoting a fraud, the speech has been remixed and edited by various people.
Bus Uncle – A recording of a verbal altercation aboard a Hong Kong bus, where a middle-aged man berates a younger passenger for interrupting his phone call after the younger man had asked him to keep his voice down during his call. The video became the second-most viewed video of May 2006 on YouTube and inspired several spoofs such as a karaoke version and a rap song.
Charlie Bit My Finger – A YouTube video featuring two young brothers from England, where the younger brother bites the finger of the older brother.
Chewbacca Mask Lady – A video of an enthusiastic woman, named Candace Payne, wearing a Chewbacca mask. Posted on 19 May 2016, it has become the most-viewed Facebook Live video of all time with over 140 million views. Chopped Chin – A 2023 clip of former WNBA player Renee Montgomery and her adopted son Angel Wiley (who came to be known as "Chopped Chin" from the video) dancing in their seats at a Atlanta Dream game went viral in January 2025 on Instagram and TikTok. It is considered to be the first meme of 2025.
The Crazy Nastyass Honey Badger – A YouTube video posted by the user Randall in 2011 featuring a comedic narration dubbed over pre-existing National Geographic footage.A Chat With Randall: On Nasty Honey Badgers, Bernie Madoff And Fame Forbes
Damn Daniel – A series of Snapchat videos depicting Joshua Holz complementing his friend Daniel Lara's Vans. In 2016, Time magazine listed Lara as one of "The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet".
David After Dentist – A video of 7-year old David DeVore Jr's reaction to anesthesia.
Dancing Matt – Video game designer Matt Harding filmed himself in 2003, dancing in front of various world landmarks. Eventually, a chewing gum company sent him off to dance on seven continents, and by October 2006 the video had over 5 million views. Harding compiled two similar videos in 2008 and 2012.
Democracy Manifest - An October 1991 news segment of Jack Karlson being arrested outside a Chinese restaurant in Brisbane for using a stolen credit card. While being arrested, Karlson makes various remarks such as referring to his situation as "democracy manifest" and asking if he's being charged for eating "a succulent Chinese meal". The news segment was uploaded in 2009 and became viral. Karlson died in 2024, with a documentary about him set to be released the following year.
Diet Coke and Mentos – Geysers of carbonated drink mixed with Mentos.
Double Rainbow – a video posted to YouTube by Paul Vasquez of him filming a double rainbow at Yosemite National Park. Vasquez's amazed and overwhelmed response includes philosophical questions about the rainbows, such as "what do they mean?" Subsequently, the video went viral, and an auto-tuned remix named the "Double Rainbow Song" using the video's audio track was later released by the Gregory Brothers, receiving more than 30 million views and becoming another meme.
Dramatic Chipmunk – A video featuring a prairie dog (almost always inaccurately called a chipmunk) turning its head suddenly toward the camera, with a zoom-in on its face while suspenseful music plays.
Drinking Out of Cups – A video of Dan Deacon's 2003 spoken-word song of the same name. The video features an anthropomorphized lizard describing various scenes in an exaggerated Long Island accent.
Edgar's fall – A video in which a Mexican boy tries to cross a stream using a branch, which gets lifted by his cousin causing him to fall into the stream. Egg Crack Challenge – A TikTok trend that gained attention in 2023 in which parents filmed themselves cracking eggs on their children's foreheads while appearing to cook or bake with them. The trend drew criticism from child-development experts over questions of consent and trust.
eHarmony Video Bio – Video of a woman calling herself "Debbie" in an online dating video who ends up getting very emotional over her affection for cats. The staged video was uploaded to the YouTube channel of Cara Hartmann, a resident of Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. In 2013, she was featured in a Volkswagen commercial for the Super Bowl XLVII.
Epic Beard Man – Video of a bus fight in Oakland, California in which 67-year-old Thomas Bruso physically defends himself against an African-American man after being accused of racial prejudice then punched by him.
Evolution of Dance – A video of a six-minute live performance of motivational speaker Judson Laipply's routine consisting of several recognizable dance movies to respective songs. The video was one of the earliest examples of a viral video posted on YouTube, having received 23 million hits within 2 weeks of posting in mid-2006, and was marked as an example of low budget, user-generated content achieving broadcast television-sized audiences.
Ela Giorgi – A video of a 2008 traffic accident which gained popularity on YouTube and Greek social media in 2019.
Everyday – An art project by American photographer Noah Kalina in which Kalina takes a photograph of himself every day and then compiles the photographs into a timelapse. Kalina started the project in 2000 when he was 19 and the first video was uploaded in 2006. The second and third videos in the art project were uploaded in 2012 and 2020 respectively.
From the Doctor to My Son Thomas - A recording of Scottish actor and director Peter Capaldi, in-character as the Twelfth Doctor, to Thomas Goodall, an autistic nine-year-old English boy, consoling him over the death of his grandmother.
Gallon smashing – The act of smashing a gallon of liquid in a manner that appears to be accidental. The prank often involves throwing a gallon of milk onto a grocery store aisle, then falling and sometimes having difficulty returning to a standing position.