Sociological explanation

“Viral” spread,

It stems from the public’s following mentality

The reason for its popularity: Everybody Love, all celebrities love it, but if you don’t love it, you’re out

Compared to those “Korean fans” who cling to Korean programs, most Chinese fans know about “Gangnam Style” mostly through WeChat Bo. Maybe when the first person recommends this song on his Weibo, you won’t click on it; when the second or third person mentions this song, you may agree that this song is indeed popular; In addition, many celebrities have also become loyal fans of "Horse Dance". Not only Korean superstars such as Shinhwa, Jang Dong Gun, and Lee Dong Hyuk, but also European and American queens such as "Britney" Britney and "Popeye" Robin Williams are also in public Dance to the song after school. In a recent interview with reporters, the Cantonese queen Priscilla Chan, who is nearly 50 years old, also expressed her hope to perform a "horseback riding dance" at a concert...

When "Gangnam Style" has performed all over the world and in various styles When the MV version of a selfie taken by netizens is circulated on the Internet, you have to admit that not knowing it is a kind of backwardness. So, with doubts, you began the process of learning the "horse dance" in the MV - this is "viral communication". However, do you really love it, or are you "poisoned"?

The second reason for becoming popular: Traditional media follow up and report, triggering heated discussions

Being popular on the Internet may only mean becoming famous among young people, but if even traditional media such as newspapers and television also Joining the army of reports only proves that its popularity is unstoppable. Although Bi Fujian has performed the "horse dance" in his own program before, CCTV's flagship news program "News 30 Minutes" recently introduced this globally popular song in a regular news broadcast, which still aroused the enthusiasm of the audience. discussion. On the day "Gangnam Style" "captured" CCTV News, some viewers said that it was the first time they had seen CCTV dedicate a news segment to introducing a foreign song, which shows how popular this song is.

In fact, it is not difficult to see the "Horse Horse Dance" in "Gangnam Style" on Chinese TV programs nowadays. In order to celebrate the "Triple Crown" of the China Open, at the men's singles awards ceremony a few days ago, Djokovic led the caddies to dance a "horse dance".

A few days ago, as the first person in East Asia, "Psy"'s "Gangnam Style" won the first place in the British singles chart and rose to the second place in the US Billboard chart. It once attracted media attention. In addition, the MV for "Gangnam Style" exceeded 400 million views on the video website YouTube in just 86 days, the fastest speed to date.

The third reason for its popularity: The cumulative effect of Korean singers’ years of “pioneering” in Europe and the United States

Many people do not understand the popularity of “Gangnam Style”, but Koreans can be said to understand it quite well. "Uncle Psy" in the MV does not look fashionable at all, and his dancing is rubbish, but he still insists on himself and leaves his clumsy dance moves in every corner of Korea's high-end wealthy areas, which is quite ironic. mean. This approach has attracted many Korean netizens to watch it and imitate it. Through the current influence of "Korean Wave", this song has truly reached the world.

The more reason may be the influence of "Korean Wave". After the collective "pioneering" efforts of Korean singers such as Super Junior and Girls' Generation in Europe and the United States in recent years, Korean pop music is now highly recognized in Europe and the United States. "Gangnam Style" caught on this ride, and combined with the electronic music elements that have become popular in Europe and the United States in recent years, this song broke out of Asia and went to the world.

Scientific explanation

"Earworm" is at work, and after listening to the melody

I have lingering worries

In fact, a certain paragraph The situation of the melody lingering in the mind for a long time is not something that happened after the concept of "divine comedy" came into being. It has existed since ancient times. Otherwise, there is the saying of "circling the beam for three days" in ancient times. Of course, some scientists have long been aware of this kind of thing. The situation has been studied, and the “omnipotent” scientists tell us: This is the earworm phenomenon! Scientists have discovered that many kinds of music can produce this effect, not necessarily divine music. And almost everyone has experienced this phenomenon of a piece of music constantly repeating in their mind and unable to get it out.

"Earworm" is a literal translation from the German Ohrwurm. This word vividly compares the music crawling into the mind to a worm. Researcher Dr. Kellaris calls the feeling caused by "earworms" "cognitive itch," which makes people want to scratch (think about) it.

In addition, as to why the horse-riding dance is so popular for "imitation", we can also use human research on dance to explain. Some studies have shown that dancing is the most authentic way for men to show their strength and health to women. To put it bluntly, it is "courting" through dancing. Many men in primitive tribes "court" through "dancing". Nowadays, in various versions of "Gangnam Style", imitations of handsome and macho men are more likely to become popular, which actually illustrates this point - in the final analysis, we still have to use Freud's concept of "libido".