There was a time when "going viral" was not only a bad news idea, but the term connoted terrible consequences. Consider for a moment the Black Death, also called the Bubonic Plague. It traveled from China along the Silk Road into Europe during the 13th century and killed over 100 million people. Or more recently the threat of the bird flu, or the H2N2 virus. Certainly the thought of these becoming viral pandemics had many countries concerned. But now we think of Psy and Gangnam Style a good viral event. We speak of the cute kitten playing with the dog video and seem captured by the joy of almost commonplace events. So what happened between the 13th century and now to color our perception and make us think that going viral is a good thing?
Well, a lot has happened to allow us to use the term going viral either as a terrible concept or to one of total acceptance. The key to understanding the mechanics of this dichotomy lies in our ability to communicate information. We use meme theory to explain how various cultures and sub-cultures learn new information and pass it along. We can think of the time before the internet and remember that we have heard urban myth, gossip, rumor, and strange ideas. A good example is the story where a woman decides to dry her cat in the microwave and it explodes. The idea has to have some plausibility but does not have to be factual in order to spread. This is also the basis for religious cults and fanatic groups to be able to perpetuate and grow.
But, we are now going viral at warp speed with the exponential growth of social media. But, if a video goes viral with 1 million hits, that is a small number considering that Facebook alone has almost a billion members. And, like the cat, all videos are not factual. Many Youtube videos are staged and designed to "go viral". So, as in the past, it is best to question all of these alleged facts, and don't pass along these useless and fairly spurious parcels.
What is more interesting to me is how national TV shows follow some videos and have the subjects appear to perform for a major audience. And next comes a reality show for the "viral sensation". The trend? A lot more of the same with higher risk events. I think that I will wait for the next pandemic. Just a thought...
Well, a lot has happened to allow us to use the term going viral either as a terrible concept or to one of total acceptance. The key to understanding the mechanics of this dichotomy lies in our ability to communicate information. We use meme theory to explain how various cultures and sub-cultures learn new information and pass it along. We can think of the time before the internet and remember that we have heard urban myth, gossip, rumor, and strange ideas. A good example is the story where a woman decides to dry her cat in the microwave and it explodes. The idea has to have some plausibility but does not have to be factual in order to spread. This is also the basis for religious cults and fanatic groups to be able to perpetuate and grow.
But, we are now going viral at warp speed with the exponential growth of social media. But, if a video goes viral with 1 million hits, that is a small number considering that Facebook alone has almost a billion members. And, like the cat, all videos are not factual. Many Youtube videos are staged and designed to "go viral". So, as in the past, it is best to question all of these alleged facts, and don't pass along these useless and fairly spurious parcels.
What is more interesting to me is how national TV shows follow some videos and have the subjects appear to perform for a major audience. And next comes a reality show for the "viral sensation". The trend? A lot more of the same with higher risk events. I think that I will wait for the next pandemic. Just a thought...
RSS Feed
