Viral Videos: Internet Leaders Explain What Viral Means To Them

We all know what a viral video is, but if someone who had never heard of the concept before asked you to explain a viral video in words, could you do it? It turns out that the word “viral” means different things to different people. To some, a video that has a lot of views means it’s a viral video, but I think there is more to it than that. To me, a video is viral when it is shared in a lot of places around the Internet. In other words, it’s the topic of conversation. Along with that comes a lot of views, but it’s being talked about too. To other people, a viral video might simply mean a video that inspires people all over the world to make a change or do something creative. What does it mean to you? It’s a little bit abstract, isn’t it?

It’s interesting that a decade ago, it took 6 months for a video to show any effects of going viral. Eight years ago it took 3 months, and today, a video can get a viral effect going in one day. You can learn more about this and other interesting viral video facts that take us through the evolution of viral videos and what the future holds for viral content by watching this video below called The Worlds of Viral Video.

Watching a video go viral is definitely a phenomenon that results from Internet media, and as this trend continues, we are getting more and more picky about our content. We’ve seen so many well done videos that we, as viewers, want them short and powerful. What was considered viral content a decade ago might not even be looked at twice by today’s standards. In this video, you’ll see Jonah Peretti (Buzzfeed), Kevin Allocca (YouTube), Brad Kim (Know Your Meme), Dan Gurewitch (College Humor), Michael Learmonth (Advertising Age) and more all talk about what the term “viral video” means to them. Enjoy!