2014 appears to be the year that video really took off in South Africa, with people sharing the medium like never before.
This year, users got pranked by a spider dog in Poland, learned what it’s like to walk the street for 10 hours as a woman in NYC, and watched total strangers share a first kiss.
Regarding South African favourites for 2014, politics played a huge part in our collective consciousness with Julius Malema causing a stir in parliament and reacting to the State of the Nation address, the EFF taking on Jacob Zuma and the DA making a statement with their Ayisifani advert. South Africans were also captivated by Oscar Pistorius and what possibly happened the night Reeva died.
Users also found things to smile about – Ramscomics topped the list by debating the theory of evolution, and we were also reminded to Look Up and appreciate our friends and family. Users watched in fascination as a snake devoured a crocodile and overloaded on cuteness with this talented duo on Britian’s Got Talent.
Gaming channel Pew Die Pie once again came in first place in the Top Channels list, after topping the list in 2013 as well. Local hero and international celeb Trevor Noah also made the channels list, as did other funnies CollegeHumour and TheEllenShow. South Africans also danced and sang along to Katy Perry, Beyonce and Eminem who made it into the top 10.
In celebration of the people, memes and moments that made up an epic year, more than 100 YouTube creators gathered together for an annual Rewind video: a giant, global mashup looking back at the best of 2014 on YouTube. With creators from Japan, Germany, Israel, Mexico, France and beyond, it’s the biggest and most international Rewind video yet.
Collectively the top 10 global videos have hundreds of millions of views (more than 667-million), and the channels who make them have more than 21-million subscribers who come back regularly to watch the next video.
The top 10 videos watched in South Africa in 2014, excluding major music labels were:
* Noko vs Izikhothane by Ramscomics
* Oscar Pistorius Animation: The night Oscar killed Reeva Steenkamp by enewschannel;
* Julius Malema speech causes a stir in parliament by News24Video;
* Caught On Camera: Snake Devours Crocodile After 5 Hour Battle by barcroftmedia;
* ANC Ayisafani – DA TV ad by DAParliament;
* Mutant Giant Spider Dog (SA Wardega) by wardegasa;
* EFF takes on Zuma in Parliament by sabcdigitalnews;
* Julius Malema reacts to SONA 2014 in parliament by sabcdigitalnews;
* Bars & Melody – Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer act | Britain’s Got Talent 2014 by BritainsGotTalent09; and
* Look Up by __gu76sZyWzDHosK2G__
The Top 10 channels in South Africa were:
* PewDiePie;
* Trevor Noah;
* CollegeHumor;
* beyonceVEVO;
* EminemVEVO;
* eNCAnews;
* TheEllenShow;
* KatyPerryVEVO; and
Top 10 music videos watched by South Africans were:
* Nicki Minaj – Anaconda;
* Chris Brown – Loyal (Explicit) ft. Lil Wayne, Tyga
* Katy Perry – Dark Horse (Official) ft. Juicy J;
* Mxit South Africa – Happy South Africa brought to you by Sunlight and Mxit #ShareTheHappy;
* Jason Derulo – “Wiggle” feat. Snoop Dogg (Official HD Music Video);
* K.O (Feat. Kid X) – Caracara (Official Music Video);
* Iggy Azalea – Fancy (Explicit) ft. Charli XCX;
* Shakira – Can’t Remember to Forget You ft. Rihanna;
* Chris Brown feat. Usher & Rick Ross – New Flame (Explicit Version); and
* Taylor Swift – Shake It Off
