Talks to Watch

PSY - GANGNAM STYLE(강남스타일) M/V

2.1B views · Jul 15, 2012 · 4:13 · 0 HN recommenders · 9 mentions · discussed 2014–2025

PSY's music video for Gangnam Style, the K-pop hit that became a global viral phenomenon.

Why Hacker News points people here: HN mostly references it as a cultural landmark, notably for overflowing YouTube's view counter and as a view-count benchmark.

What Hacker News said 9

Cites itantimoraDec 2014

“Direct link to the video”

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It looks like it also broke the formatting on the number of the viewers: "2151501252". This string does not have thousands separators. Direct link to the video: this video

in “Gangnam Style breaks YouTube viewer count” · view on HN
Cites itSapphireSunDec 2014

“If you hover over the counter, it briefly shows you the negative overflow value.”

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I love that they added an easter egg to the actual video. If you hover over the counter, it briefly shows you the negative overflow value. this video EDIT: I just realized that YouTube also posted a comment to that effect just below the video. :P

in “Gangnam Style breaks YouTube viewer count” · view on HN
Cites itjasodeFeb 2016
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>Here's the form: link >, add the target video's URL and it will be taken down automatically. There's got to be a little more to it than that (at least for bigger channels) because it would mean that random people could take down Psy's "Gangnam Style" video[1]. I haven't tried it but I really doubt submitting a simple web form will get that video with 2 billion views removed. Therefore, I'm guessing there's a whitelist of special userids (e.g. WarnerBrosMusic, TaylorSwiftVEVO, etc) or adminstrative overrides to prevent vandals from shutting down legitimate videos. In other words, if there's an automated system for takedowns, there's another more god-like automated system that ignores abusers submitting them. The interesting question is: How do "nobodys" get that "benefit of doubt" treatment for their videos? [1] this video

in “The Fine Bros abandon attempt to license reaction videos after criticism” · view on HN
Cites itsp332Aug 2016
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They seem to have some YouTube pages archived e.g. this video They're definitely interested in archiving interesting videos but the project isn't there yet.

in “How Many Resources Shared on Social Media Have Been Lost? (2012)” · view on HN
Cites itdredmorbiusMay 2017

“Gangnam Style has amassed 2.8 billion views in five years.”

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I also prefer seeing how my information ages: link link I'm more inclined to the Board's list than the (self-selecting, possibly motivated) Readers'. WEF have a list of the 20 most influenctial books: link Wikipedia has an (IMO) fascinating list of the most-sold books of all time. The Bible and Quotations from Chairman Mao (a/k/a "The Little Red Book") each have claims of over 1 billion volumes (1-6 being the range) sold. The next highest-selling book, Don Quixote , at 500m copies. Contrast that with the most-viewed YouTube video of all time -- Gangnam Style has amassed 2.8 billion views in five years. That's still the YouTube record so far as I'm aware. That makes me wonder what the highest number of impressions of any one media work has been. link this video

in “Top 20 Most Sold and Most Read Books of the Week” · view on HN
Cites it1cvmaskJan 2022

“It’s interesting to see another South Korean company in the creative Youtube space succeed like Gangnam Style.”

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It’s interesting to see another South Korean company in the creative Youtube space succeed like Gangnam Style. Had no idea Baby Shark was from South Korean company Pinkfong. South Korea is clearly super creative even on Netflix shows like Squid Games. link this video

in “Baby Shark is the first YouTube video to surpass 10B views” · view on HN
Cites itfxtentacleJun 2025

“That Gangnam Style song is about riding and the associated up and down motion, just not related to horses.”

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What a brilliant comment :) I'm not sure if you're joking, but it certainly brightened up my day. That Gangnam Style song is about riding and the associated up and down motion, just not related to horses. In that scene where he's watching the horses, he's singing: "A true lady who is warm and human during the day, who is classy and knows how to enjoy a cup of coffee. But when night comes, her heart gets hot..." and then you see the horse moving its head up and down and he sings: "A lady who is kinky in that way" And then you see him with 2 girls in his arms and he's using rather suggestive language: "A man who one-shots ... his coffee. A man who won't let things cool down ... A man who bursts when night comes ... his heart. A man with few muscles and he is bulging ... with ideas." Also, if you pay attention to it, you can hear that both gangnam songs are littered with audio samples of him and her moaning, e.g: this video link And then there's the famous elevator scene where his lyrics are: "A good woman appears calm, but knows how to have fun. She's reasonable and when it's the right time, she will let her hair down ..." this video

in “Why Koreans ask what year you were born” · view on HN
JokezeristorApr 2019

“Famously in Korea they've gone one step further and mime riding a horse without even the wooden hobbyhorse”

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Famously in Korea they've gone one step further and mime riding a horse without even the wooden hobbyhorse: this video

in “Finland’s Hobbyhorse Girls” · view on HN
JokefxtentacleJun 2025

“And you might remember the Oppa that is Gangnam Style”

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Typically the girl will pretend the guy to be older, if that isn't the case. That's why girls in movies and K-Pop groups always shout "Oppa!". link And you might remember the Oppa that is Gangnam Style: this video

in “Why Koreans ask what year you were born” · view on HN