10 most-watched Youtube videos: Admit it. You spend most of your spare time on social media entertainment platforms such as Youtube.
I’m not judging you! Youtube is an unending stream of content; every minute, 500 hours of video footage are uploaded!
YouTube ranks among some of the most popular social media platforms online.
It has billions of monthly active users, just like Facebook, TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, and others.
Unlike WhatsApp or Facebook, YouTube is more of a video-sharing platform with all kinds of content ranging from educational, recreational, comedic, or just vlogs and random animal videos.
First, let’s go through some compelling YouTube stats together as a fun little appetizer of what’s to come:
- The top four content categories watched by users globally are comedy, music, entertainment/pop culture, and how-to.
- Most often, males watch videos from the following five categories – soccer, strategy games, Xbox, basketball, and shooter games.
- Females favor five categories – makeup, skin and nail care, weight loss, East Asian and pop music.
- 86% of millennial dads rely on educational videos on YouTube as a convenient guide for parenting.
- 94% of American young adults (18—24 years old) use YouTube regularly.
These are the most-watched videos on YouTube at the time of writing:
1. Pinkfong’s Baby Shark
Number of Views: 11 billion; 37 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
The tune is already playing in your head, isn’t it?
A simple song that was meant for children gained explosive popularity due to its highly catchy tune that tends to get stuck in your head.
The song became a part of tons of memes, reaction videos, and other comedic content online for years. It has over 11 billion views (37 million likes) at the moment, which is more than the number of people on earth.
The earworm tune and the cute, easy-to-follow dance movements have propelled “Baby Shark Dance” to fame.
K-pop groups like Red Velvet and Black Pink have also performed their own versions, which gave rise to various dance challenges. A fantastical internet chain reaction example.
2. Luis Fonsi – Despacito ft. Daddy Yankee
Number of Views: 8 billion; 50 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
Despacito needs no introduction. Would you believe me if I told you that I actually felt bone-deep relief when I saw “Despacito” this high on the ranking of most watched YouTube videos?
At this point, I’d take it over any other unsettling kids’ song.
There was a time when this song was being played everywhere you went including shopping malls, shops, car radios, parties, and everywhere else you can think of.
The 2017 clip for this Latin pop colossus became the first video in history to reach seven billion views on YouTube.
The video is all about having a good time. It’s a snapshot of the vibrant La Perla neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The 2006 Miss Universe Zuleyka Rivera also shows up in the video.
3. LooLoo Kids – Johny Johny Yes Papa
Number of views: 6.5 billion; 18 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
The age-old nursery rhyme has a YouTube video with an abnormally large creepy-looking baby who is also able to skateboard and speak.
It was originally uploaded by the YouTube channel LooLoo Kids in 2016.
Sorry, Ed Sheeran, this nursery rhyme that turned into a 2018 meme has more YouTube views than your music video.
Set to the sound of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star,” Johny repeatedly tries to eat sugar behind his papa’s back, only to get caught.
In the end, Johny gets the last laugh. He manages to sneak a whole bunch of sugar cubes right under his snoring father’s nose.
4. Ed Sheeran – Shape of You
Number of views: 5.84 billion; 30 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
“Shape of you” (2017) is one of the most popular songs of all time: it placed ninth on Billboard’s Hot 100 ranking. It also became the most-streamed song of the 2010’s decade on Spotify.
This isn’t your typical sad strummy guitar Sheeran track. It’s an upbeat tropical-house tune about the more physical side of love. The music video perfectly reflects that.
Sheeran and US dancer and model Jennie Pegouskie train together, get something to eat, kiss in a taxi, and fight a 584lb sumo wrestler in an inflatable suit and get destroyed; you know, romance stuff.
5. Wiz Khalifa — See You Again ft. Charlie Puth
Number of views: 5.6 billion; 39 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
The famed Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa song was featured in Fast and Furious 7.
It shows the main character Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, parting ways with his best friend/rival Brian O’Conner played by Paul Walker. That scene has also been subject to hundreds of memes.
The simple and somber music video was the most viewed YouTube video for a short time (from July 10 to August 4, 2017). The song is part of the Furious 7 (2015) soundtrack, a tribute to Paul Walker.
Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth (ft. a lot of cars) let emotions run wild in the accompanying clip. It ends on a bitter-sweet note, with the words “For Paul” appearing and then fading away.
Fans still visit and pay tribute to the deceased actor in the comments section.
READ MORE: List of 20 influential & most followed Kenyans on Twitter in 2022
6. Bath Song – CoComelon Nursery Rhymes & Kids Songs
Number of views: 5.7 million views; 15 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
Yep, that’s three kids-oriented videos on YouTube in a row. Definitely a pattern here. Maybe we should leave Youtube to the kids?
Nursery rhyme clips are a big hit among toddlers and their parents. So, there’s been a noticeable influx of such content on YouTube. That, in turn, provided an easy opportunity for advertisers and content creators.
Things take a decidedly weird turn with channels that only post fully automated infinite iterations of the same popular kids’ videos, boosted with a hefty dose of keywords and hashtags.
Anyway, this 3D animated YouTube clip is about the joys of bathing and getting clean.
As in the previous animations, the models are a bit uncanny. The song is maddeningly catchy, and a near-perfect copy of the “Baby Shark Dance” melody.
Sorry for the earworm, guys.
7. Learning Colors – Colorful Eggs on a Farm
Number of views: 4.7 billion; 13 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
Yes, this fever dream is also among the most viewed video clips. It’s something only three-year-olds and David Lynch would watch.
The title says it all, and yet nothing could have prepared me for what I saw.
Set to the tune of “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” six grinning animated eggs jump around, break (a lot!), and get cut in half. Then they turn into a giant destructive supreme overlord egg.
In the end, I did learn the names of the colors in Russian, so I can’t really complain.
8. Masha and the Bear – Recipe for Disaster
Number of views: 4.5 billion; 7.8 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
This particular episode of Masha and the Bear has the most YouTube views. The Russian animated TV series has children all around the world glued to their screens.
It follows the various (mis)adventures of the mischievous Masha and her bear caretaker.
“Recipe for disaster” is no different: the bear is trying to play checkers while Masha accidentally makes so much porridge that she floods the kitchen with it.
9. Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk ft. Bruno Mars
Number of views: 4.7 billion; 19 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
Another popular YouTube musical giant is the 2014 funky collab between Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.
The retro-styled video closely follows the song’s 80’s boogie-funk sound, with Ronson, Mars, and the backing band dancing and prancing down the street.
At one point, they’re even getting their hair done, perm-style. Truth be told, Mars is doing most of the moves, while Ronson focuses on nodding his head to the beat.
Although it’s not the most original concept (dancing in the street, really?), it’s deemed one of the best music videos of all time. The clip received the award for Best Male Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.
10. PSY – Gangnam Style
Number of views: 4.59 Billion; 25 million likes
Click here to watch the video.
You knew this was coming, didn’t you? You can’t have a list of the most popular YouTube videos without mentioning Gangnam Style!
The 2012 mega-hit gave a new meaning to “viral”. It became the first video in the history of YouTube to reach one billion views.
The secret?
It’s PSY’s memorable horse-riding moves. They had the whole world enraptured, including famous athletes, activists, and politicians. The iconic choreography has inspired a myriad of parodies.
Even now, it’s a pop-culture force to be reckoned with.
Article source: Yea.co.ke