Why is Boyle so hot on youtube?

So there we have it. It’s official. Susan Boyle is the biggest Youtube sensation of all time.

The 47 year old Scottish singer received 1 million hits for every year of her age within 1 week of her appearance on Britain’s Got Talent being posted on Youtube.

47,000,000 views in a week. To put that into context, Obama’s Victory Speech got 18.5 million and the comedic (but real) video of a protester throwing his shoes at George Bush got a shade over 33 million.

Nobody knew of this lady the week before. She was an unknown, single, unemployed lady living in a tiny village in Scotland.

The question you could ask is “Why is Susan Boyle so viral?”

Of the millions of talented unknowns who get their moment of fame, what makes Susan Boyle stand out so much?

Why has Susan Boyle got such impact?

There are a number of reasons for this in my mind. The chief reasons, other than the fact that she is very talented, are:

First, she doesn’t fit into an expected stereotype of a stage performing singer. The expressions on the faces of the judges and audience when she introduced herself were almost dismissing her before she started to sing.

The level of impact she would have had if she’d have strutted on stage in a designer dress, make up, bouffant hairstyle and an air of cocky over-confidence would have been much less. When we expect something is going to be good and it is, we accept it. When we don’t expect something to be good and it is good, it feels even better because it fractures our belief system.

Second, she had humility. She is not pushy with her talent, she is not gregarious, she is not over expectant with her chances of success and fame.

When people are more human, they are able to make a bigger impact on us because they build rapport with us. We can relate to them and imagine ourselves, our friends and our family being in a similar situation. We can better connect with them.

So, Obama and Bush – there’s your lesson in impact from a Scottish spinster. If you want to make an impact, don’t conform to a stereotype and try to be more human.