Within a matter of minutes, Dr. Khristo Boyadzhiev, a Professor of Mathematics at Ohio Northern, became the most popular man on campus and one of the most popular men on the Internet. He was the man who said, ‘Hello,’ every day when he entered the classroom. And he was the man whose stark white hair, pale khaki pants and invariable greeting took over the World Wide Web last week.
At 9:13 p.m. last Wednesday night, former Ohio Northern student-athlete Brock Hersch tweeted a video that compiled twelve of Boyadzhiev’s pre-lecture “Hello’s,” all strung together. The video, which lasts just 17 seconds, took little time to catch fire on the Internet.
I recorded my professor every day. pic.twitter.com/5iRFkFLBmh
— Brock Hersch (@bhersch04) September 3, 2015
The tweet gained nearly 100 thousand retweets and 120 thousand favorites in the first 24 hours.
“The first two days [after the post] I didn’t turn the notifications off on my phone, and it would die after 2 hours,” Hersch said in a phone interview. “Literally every single person I walk up to has asked me about it.”
Hersch was shocked.
“I thought it was funny, but I didn’t think it was that funny,” Hersch said.
Hersch, who is currently a junior at Ohio State University, attended Ohio Northern for his first two years of college. He was a business major and also played forward for the soccer team. Hersch tried to record Boyadzhiev every day during his Differential Equations class last year, although he admits that he usually only got to record him 2-3 times per week.
“I just noticed him saying, ‘Hello’ every day and added it to my [Snapchat] story, and people thought it was funny,” Hersch said.
While most of the world saw Hersch’s viral video on Wednesday night, Boyadzhiev didn’t see it until the next day, when his daughter told him about it.
How would Boyadzhiev react? Although Hersch said that he was never trying to mock Boyadzhiev, what would the professor think?
“I found it very funny,” Boyadzhiev said via email. “I am still amused by its popularity.”
Boyadzhiev believes that the attention on social media was good for Ohio Northern, and there were other positives that came from the viral video as well.
“I think this video is something positive and fun,” Boyadzhiev said. “My daughters were very entertained, and still are. Some friends congratulated me. Well, I am already cooling down.”
The video, with the caption, ‘I recorded my professor every day,’ currently has over 125 thousand retweets and 175 thousand favorites on Twitter (as of Friday, September 11). Hersch’s Vine post, which captures seven seconds of the full video, has over 251 thousand likes and 112 thousand revines.
With Boyadzhiev’s permission, the Ohio Northern Communication and Marketing team shared the video on Twitter as well, through the official ONU account.
Is it me you’re looking for? #hello https://t.co/AJALtR81dA
— Ohio Northern Univ. (@ohionorthern) September 3, 2015
“We thought it highlighted our professor in a positive light – yet in a humorous and humanistic way,” members of the ONU Communications and Marketing said via email. “It really helped to convey to our audience that we can laugh at ourselves.”
“We monitored appropriately at first to make sure Dr. Boyadzhiev was being portrayed in a mostly positive way,” the C&M team said. “Dr. Boyadzhiev was very excited to learn his classroom entrance went viral. We provided Dr. Boyadzhiev with a few updates throughout the day.”
And while most of the world has now moved on to another viral video, something setting the Internet ablaze for a moment or two, Hersch is starting to feel the pressure of becoming an Internet superstar (albeit short-term).
“My friends want me to make another video so I can keep it going,” Hersch said. Hersch, who had approximately 350 Twitter followers before last Wednesday’s post, now has nearly two thousand.
The ONU Communications and Marketing team is also trying to keep the sensation alive. The team said that they have submitted Hersch’s video to the Ellen DeGeneres show to see if they might use it in one of her segments.
As for the future of ‘Hello,’ we may never know. It will likely fizzle out after a short period of time, an ember in the ever-changing Internet inferno. Hersch, Boyadzhiev and ONU had their week of fame.
Now, back to more cat videos.
[…] “Salutation Sensation: The story behind ‘Hello’” by Grant Pepper […]