Viral Videos
Just what is it that makes a simple little video like “David After Dentist” become a Viral Video? Also, share links to (or embed) at least two of your favorite videos that went viral.
Since the day that public relations became a field of study, word of mouth has been the quickest way to share information.
Because social media is in large part driven by individuals, this makes it an exciting medium to allow information to disseminate quickly to many individuals.
One of the implementations that are sometimes intentional, but often times not, are viral videos.
Sure, it’s something we see everyday through YouTube and other video sharing websites, but it’s not something we think about very often. Why are some videos popular, and others not?
It has a lot to do with mass appeal.
Just like a film in theaters, viral videos have to attract a wide, tentpole audience to be successful. While odd, quirky videos can get a lot of hits and success, it’s not nearly as often.
Take the Surprised Kitty video.
It’s short, simple and to the point, but also features a house animal that many people love. It’s doing something cute, as kittens conventionally should. While it is in the realm of our expectations, it does something outside of the conventional — responding the same way to the person each time. This “word-of-mouth” creates buzz, and people share the video, because it’s familiar and accessible, yet different.
As I stated, sometimes videos go viral simply because they’re odd.
This is the case with this video, which takes small vignettes surrounding similar characters and tells mini, abstract stories that don’t entirely make sense.
People share it because it’s different, and that makes it something worth talking about.
If every video were the same, people wouldn’t take as much interest in it.
Word of Mouth truly is the most valuable way of spreading information. Its kind of like the saying… If someone liked something, they will tell one person, but if they had a bad experience or didn’t like it, they will tell 5 people. I’ve seen the surprised Kitten video before, and that is too cute… who wouldn’t want to share that. But I’ve never seen the second one until now. How weird. It’s something I’m definitely not a fan of, but I’ll probably talk about because it is so weird and different, just as you said.
This was an interesting post on viral videos. It’s funny to see people wonder why some videos go viral as opposed to others. That’s where I agree with you that it has to do with the mass appeal. Usually I find that the videos getting the most attention are those that are either cute or funny. Sometimes you get lucky and find a video with both. Perfect example is the kitten video you have posted. It has something that most people will enjoy. Unfortunately some videos that have gone viral have embarrassed those in the video. Such as the “star wars kid.”