One of the most popular byproducts of technology has become one of the most newsworthy, too. It found fame in Justin Bieber and induced fits of discomfort in millions with Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday.’ Yes, I’m talking about the viral video.

YouTube, one of the more popular sources for popular videos, is making it easy for everyone to strive for his or her own 15 minutes of embarrassing yet entertaining fame.

This pursuit is being enabled by YouTube’s Video Editor, which offers a free editing process that links directly to your account and is insultingly easy to use.

Want in? Here’s how.

Go to YouTube, log in and voila! As long as your video doesn’t require fancy effects, you can become a viral video sensation with some good footage, preferably of babies singing, dancing or laughing. Go to your Account page and click the tab that says ‘Video Editor.’

As you’re redirected to the page with the simple interface, you can select the clips you want and drag them to the boxes next to the camera symbol at the bottom of the screen.

Video clip too long? YouTube’s Video Editor developers figured that might happen. Just select the clip and trim it down using the visual arrows. Then go ahead and make basic edits, such as brightness, contrast and stabilization.

From here, you can choose to rearrange your video clip lineup, add transitions and, yes, even add music.

Video Editor’s audio library has hundreds of songs linked right to the page for easy access and insertion. Just click, hold and drag, and you can have Otis Redding’s ‘Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay’ over the video of your family reunion at that lake you like so much.

To make your video live, type in a name for the video in the box that prompts you to do so, and click ‘Publish.’ Eureka, you’re either going to get a lot of hate mail for committing an atrocity to anyone who has eyes and ears, or you’re going to feel like a failure when your video accumulates 11 views over a three-year period.

If editing software has been the only thing standing between you and a viral video, go off and find some funny children or a really bad song. Thanks to YouTube’s Video Editor, you can become insanely popular for your hidden talent in playing spoons.

Jessica Smith is senior information management and technology and television, radio and film dual major. Her columns appear every Tuesday, and she can be reached at jlsmit22@syr.edu.

Published on April 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm