There's also shared experience. Fail content is socially highly engaging. People like to send clips to friends or laugh together over a montage, because it employs a shared vocabulary of humor. You don't need cultural reference, translation, or explanation to find it funny; witnessing someone overestimate the depth of a puddle or hit themselves with their own broom is amusing to everyone, everywhere.
Essentially, our affection for fails is due to the way they humanize us. They remind us that there is no such thing as perfection, that mistakes can be funny and not fatal, and that laughter is the best response to life's inevitable mistakes. Fail content can be about failing, but the joy it evokes testifies to how right it is for our collective sense of humor.
#27 To Convince Us Immigrants Are Bringing Crime And D***s To America
#33 To Say That You Had No Knowledge Of The P**n You Were Caught Looking At
