The Cost of Going Viral
The outcome of content going viral these days can be unpredictable. In an ideal world, having something go viral would produce positive results.
Whether the viral content is about a product someone is trying to sell, a song an artist wants you to listen to, or a book someone is trying to recommend, it’s not out of the ordinary for a person to post something online with the intent of having millions of people across the globe view it.
As consumers, with the sheer quantity of content presented to us every day across various platforms, we have become acutely aware of what videos we encounter are organic, not planned, or “fake,” what we would call scripted.
For several years, scripted videos have been extremely popular on the internet. For example, people would see a comedy sketch video on YouTube and share it with their friends, who then share it with their friends, and so on, causing the video to go viral.
If a company asked a YouTuber to review their product and post about it, it wasn’t expected of them by their audience to disclose that. There was a certain level of blind trust put in social media influencers and content creators by their fans.
Viewers had this idea that an influencer was promoting something for the audience’s benefit instead of solely to make money from a brand deal.
Somewhere down the line, that all changed.
Take YouTube’s “social experiments,” for example. They started as videos of ordinary citizens’ genuine reactions when encountering various scenarios. Often, these viral videos leave the viewer feeling good, restoring their faith in the world around them. Eventually, though, these videos were specifically created to go viral.
The creator’s intent was no longer to make something that would emotionally impact their audience; the intention behind making these videos had become about garnering views and making money from them.
The audiences viewing these videos caught on and expressed their discontent at these “fake” videos. In some cases, it was even revealed that the people featured in the video were all paid actors. Generally, people don’t like to feel like they’re being used and don’t react well when this feeling is evoked.
Unfortunately, negative viral attention can seriously damage a person, product, or brand’s image, and we all know that the internet’s curse is that an online reputation, once acquired, never truly goes away. If a video or other media piece gained popularity by going viral, viewers were now looking at it through a magnifying glass.
A big reason audiences feel compelled to share something they see online is because of the emotional factor. Whether a piece of media satisfies a particular need or want, makes them happy or sad, or fills them with rage, a person’s emotional state after consuming content heavily impacts their decision to share it. Authenticity is another crucial factor to consider. People want to feel like they’re connecting to another human being, just like them.
If a brand pays an influencer to promote a product, it is vital to the audience that they’re told. If audiences feel like they’re being left out of the loop on purpose, they might feel like they’re being lied to or tricked, and the product might still go viral but for a negative reason. Most of all, audiences want transparency. Transparency from brands, influencers, and even fellow chronically online people. Audiences who feel they’re not getting that transparency tend to lose interest. If something feels forced, the likelihood it will be successful is low.
When it comes to virality, it is imperative to remember that it cannot be forced.
There is no magic formula one can follow to get content creators those millions of views and shares and have them mean something. People have to want to share and feel like they’re gaining something.
A positive feeling, a hearty laugh, or a good cry, the emotions created by a piece of media, are valuable currency in the age of viral videos.
