Source: About Viral 2009

In order to completely grasp the above model a few terms have been defined below. It is not logical to consider all virals equal. Therefore, identifying the patterns, similarities and content categories will aid anyone addressing the subject of viral production to view it in a more holistic manner.

The Grid – Y Axis

The grid is split between whether a viral video becomes popular from the production or distribution side. Production often relies heavily on quality content. Quality is not specific to resolution or whether the clip was well shot but also its likability. The homemade baby laughing virals are a testament to heavy production based content.

Distribution heavy virals can be movie trailers where heavy promotion makes them available to a wider audience based on monetary compensation for sharing. YouTube Partners, who have built up a large list of subscribers, are also distribution heavy as they have carved out a niche audience around their channel. (AV subscribes to most YouTube Partners)

The Grid – Bull’s-Eye
Levels of Mainstream Interest

The bull’s-eye represents the increased interest and similarly the audience present. The outer circles (5 & 4) show a more niche type audience whereby a select few people are interested in the viral’s subject matter. Subjects could be certain sports or a specific genre of film.

As the circle gets smaller (3, 2 & 1) the content becomes increasingly more mainstream and the audience grows in size. Virals that are found close to the center will generally have greater mass appeal and will be composed of more elements of popularity i.e Sports combined with a Shock and Awe component. These videos can often be listed in multiple categories.

Optimal Content Balance

The bull’s-eye represents the optimal balance within content. A video can’t please everyone so this position at best is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Flu Virals

Flu virals rarely reach the highest interest level. They are often sports highlights or date specific events that lose their appeal as time goes on. A streaker at a home opener ball game peaks early as the game is fresh on the audience’s mind resulting in most traffic coming in the days immidiately after the game.  But, more games will be played and inevitably more streakers will jump the fence and make a hopeless dash for freedom. Let’s be honest, when was the last time you saw someone putting their clothes back on outside the arena without any bruises?

Seeded Virals

Seeded virals are often within the realm of flu virals as companies enlist the services of web influencers to push a video into an audience’s view whether they know about the hidden agenda or not.

Sleeper Virals

Sleeper virals are content that lean hard to the production side of the model. These clips are generally uploaded from relatively unknown users and sit amongst the sea of videos uploaded each day. After an extended period of time moving around personal networks and within organic conversation a couple blogs or social influencers catch on and spread the clips increasing their popularity exponentially.

Addictive Epidemics

Music is an example of content that causes addictive epidemics. It’s the type of content that a wide audience can enjoy, put in a playlist and share with their friends easily. The content promotes remixes and multiple plays which is why, on our last check, music dominates the Top 100 Videos of All Times. If you look at the number one all time song on YouTube and match it to the pattern within the model you will see that initially RCA Records would have pushed the song in the market and then allowed the content to take over and run it to all time viral position it is in today.

Simple Viral Threshold

Human nature for sharing can be extremely complex or extremely simple. A simple way of looking at it is looking at any one individual having three broad options seen in the image here. The goal of any viral would be to consistently hit the third stage of any online media consumer.

Integrated Media Campaigns

An integrated media campaign takes the distribution side of the grid and blankets anyone with eyes and ears via promotion over multiple outlets. Levis jeans uses integrated tactics when they release web videos of a monkey doing Hollywood, someone doing a backflip into a pair of jeans and then additionally setting up a website to send crotch gifts to each other.

Organic Web Catalysts

Organic web catalysts are little gems for viral videos. They immediately show up as statistic blips as one or more online networks, online influencers or an event occurs launching a video into the spotlight. Some of these catalysts include Digg.com, a YouTube feature (regional and then worldwide), increased comments and ratings placing a video on page one of “what’s popular” or “rising videos”, multiple blog posts to gain recognition on The Viral Video Chart or a spot on The Best of YouTube.

Wrapping it Up

Each video that generates a certain level of success will be able to be plotted on the above grid. The more statistical data available from the release of the video to its climax the more accurate one can place the video into a given pattern.

The model helps to identify the what and why surrounding certain videos and ultimately creates a better understanding of the digital media landscape and the overall concept of Viralism.

Cheers!

Avril Lavigne is the reigning queen when it comes to having the most viewed video of all time on YouTube. As of February 17th her Girlfriend video has been viewed over 115 500 000 times. That’s a lot of views.

What gives Avril the title (once belonging to a video called The Evolution of Dance not to long ago) is the variable that is central to 78% of video on Youtube’s Top 100 list of all time: Music.

Breaking it down quickly 70% of the all timers are music videos. 8% are videos that use music to launch the video to its stardom. Finally, 22% don’t use music as their central feature but may contain a little here and there for tone.

If those numbers seem like a foreign concept to you then understanding the power music has is something you should read up on. Music videos are slowly creeping into the ultimate limelight and for good reasons too. YouTube playlists allow users to store their favorite songs and listen wih their YouTube account directly from a computer. This generates huge amounts of views as users come running back to hear their new favorite song, rather than waiting for the radio to overplay it. In any other video category it is likely that a video once seen and shared to a few friends retains little reason to return on a regular. This is where music gets its longevity.

Soon the Virals from outside the music category will be shoved into the middle of YouTube’s all time database.  An assortment of creativity, humour and weirdness will be cast into the saturation of the 6th and 7th pages of YouTube’s all timers.  It’s happening fast too.

Take a look at two videos; Katie Perry’s Hot‘n’Cold (38 200 000) and Beyonce’s Single Ladies (40 700 000). These videos are only 4 months old yet they still make the top 50. The drive and repeatability of music videos along with the offline promotion wheel help catapult these clips to the forefront.

Other videos in the prestigious top 100 have their reasons for being there but they have good right to be worried about how many hit singles it will take to knock them out.

Free Hugs Campaign is genuinely moving and received huge publicity from the Oprah Effect.

Extreme funny is good entertainment however, their ability to land the key words “extreme funny” must have played a role in keeping their exposure high in common searches.

Oral has obvious sex appeal for men and was added a year ago but still gets constantly shoved back as new music hits the scene.

Introducing a video outside the music category and reaching the ultimate goal of the top 100 is slowly becoming a momentous challenge as music proves to be a key variable in Viralism and take over the top of YouTube.

Cheers

In order to grasp the landscape of viral videos and their “popularity elements” we can organize the various elements into categories. The list below divides up a group of videos that show a good track record and have the numbers to prove it. Have a look through the categories and you may notice the patterns to various videos. Each category constantly evolves as videos make their mark on the web.

From the article An Introduction to Viralism we know that certain people will react uniquely and if you think there’s a category missing, let us know. We’re all the judge and jury on this one.

Slapstick/Animals/Kids
Kicked in the Nuts
Sneezing Panda
Hahaha

Uniquely Creative
Her Morning Elegance
Spending Time with Poster Boy
Powerthirst
Dove Evolution
Guy catches Glass with Face
I Met The Walrus

Shock and Awe
Marc Ecko
Cell Phone Pop corn
Giant LEGO Boulder
Guy Backflips into Jeans

Commercial
Cadbury Gorilla
Cadbury Eyebrows
Fedex SuperBowl
Halo 3 Believe

Music/Dance
Evolution of Dance

Sex Appeal
Kylie Minogue
Best reason for a Wii Fit

Comedy
Russel Peters
Dane Cook

Cheers!

Before things “went viral” people used phrases like “word of mouth” and “social epidemic” to describe the spread of various trends, commercials or videos.  If you used the word viral to describe something to someone born before 1960 they would probably think you’re referring to the plague.  The concept of web 2.0 and its implications on sharing have since evolved our notion of what is popular for the subsequent generations.

Considering this evolution in language is a social change, a movement if you will, it seems perfectly natural that a new way of understanding and tracking this phenomena is inevitable.  Hence, the introduction to the concept of viralism.

Viralism is the theory, study or doctrine as to why certain things, messages, ideas or lifestyles are popular and spread through society’s social networks in the given manner.

The popularity of anything is made up of elements that coincide with an audience’s social understanding of what is cool, funny or interesting.  These elements vary with every individual that they encounter and the greater the degree an audience can associate positively with these elements the more mainstream and popular the source will be.

Sounds like common knowledge and it is pretty simple, with the added tracking features the web has to offer the mathematics can be reduced to a simple popularity equation.

Popular Elements + Audience = X # of views/visits

For example.

    Dance Compellation               +              YouTube             =             112 million YouTube views
    & Trendy Music
  
Take a second to scan the different categories on this blog and you will notice the trends successful videos use in order to “go viral”.  Keep in mind the phenomenon of popularity is produced socially and will always be subject to new and interesting elements.  

Advertisers and marketers have used these same key elements to sell products and lifestyles for years however, cataloging the evidence has traditionally been difficult.  The concept of viralism has been enabled through the web and has brought these “popularity elements” into the public’s reach.  So enjoy and listen to FedEx because if they didn’t know about viralism they definitely knew the elements.        

To see a list of “popularity elements” and examples continue to the post “The Evolving Elements of Popularity”.  The list can by no means be decided by any one person so feel free to suggest examples and comment. 

Cheers!