YouTube Boasts A Trillion Video Views In 2011

Twelve zeroes. A trillion. It looks like this:

1,000,000,000,000

That’s how many videos we collectively watched on YouTube in 2011. Or, as the YouTube blog explains, about140 views for every person on earth and more than double the number of stars in the sky.

Still, that’s a stunning number. And it’s part of YouTube’s 2011 Rewind feature that looks back at how and what we watched over the past 12 months.

Most Watched YouTube Videos of 2011

This list doesn’t include videos from major music labels. And it also includes only two videos that I’ve seen. (Not kidding. Just the talking twin babies and the Volkswagen commercial. I’m not nearly as hip as I seem.)

1. Rebecca Black – Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
2. Ultimate Dog Tease
3. Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton)
4. Talking Twin Babies – PART 2 – OFFICIAL VIDEO
5. Nyan Cat [original]
6. Look At Me Now – Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes (Cover by @KarminMusic)
7. The Creep (feat. Nicki Minaj & John Waters)
8. Maria Aragon – Born This Way (Cover) by Lady Gaga
9. The Force: Volkswagen Commercial
10. Cat mom hugs baby kitten

YouTube’s list of the fastest rising search terms during the year included several pop music references — Lady Gaga in February and April, Katy Perry in June, Amy Winehouse in July, Drake in August and the Rock In Rio festival in September. Ted Williams, the homeless man with an amazing voice, dominated YouTube search in January. In March, it was the tsunami in Japan and in May it was Osama bin Laden’s death.

This helicopter view of the Japanese tsunami was the most-watched news video of the year, while an unofficial iPhone 5 concept video was the most-viewed science/tech video of the year.