MTV’s VMAs Get Share-Worthy on Twitter

In 1984, MTV awarded The Cars for “Video of the Year” at the very first Video Music Awards (VMAs) for the band’s song You Might Think. Since then, Astronaut-on-the-Moon-with-MTV-Flag trophies have been handed out to almost three decade’s worth of music’s biggest acts (such as Green Day, Outkast, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Taylor Swift Kanye West) in a number of different categories (such as Best Male Video, Best Female Video, Best New Artist, Best Video With a Message).

Traditionally, VMAs are bestowed upon the industry’s top videos and artists as decided by the fans of those top videos and artists or the powers that be at MTV. But in the the 28th or so upcoming installment of the awards show that now has a reputation for creating some of the most memorable moments in the history of internet memes, those fans and powers that be at MTV aren’t the only ones deciding who will take home a VMA. Twitter will be deciding, too.

The Viacom brand is appealing to its digital audience that helped to bolster its success by introducing a new category. The “Most Share-Worthy Video” will make its debut at the next VMAs come Thursday, September 6th in an attempt for the show to have another touchpoint to the internet connected youth that will be tuning in and to have gajillions of trending topics on twitter.

MTV is asking viewers to tweet their votes to determine the winner. “Tweet your vote for the music video that proved so impactful that fans couldn’t help but make their own shareable versions,” the site reads. And here are the contenders with their corresponding hashtags:

• One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful – #voteonedirection
• Justin Bieber – Boyfriend – #votebieber
• Beyonce Knowles – Countdown – #votebeyonce
• Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe – #votecarlyrae
• Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know – #votegotye

So who will take home the coveted moon man? According to the latest poll (at the time this article was written) One Direction’s What Makes You Beautiful is in the lead with over 16.7 million(!) votes. Call me maybe, but tweeting for Carly Rae.