So Bad, It’s Good
Living rooms. Bedrooms. Dinettes. Oh yeah . One of this week’s topics in COM 6610 was viral videos—their origins, what characteristics make a video go viral, and how viral videos can help or harm your organization’s reputation . In a TED talk from 2011, You T ube’s Head of Culture & Trend’s Kevin Allocca says there are three things that make a YouTube video go viral. They are tastemakers, communities of participation, and unexpectedness (Allocca, 2011). Tastemakers , Allocca says, “introduce us to new and interesting things and bring them to a larger audience (Allocca, 2011). They take a point of view and share it with a larger audience, which in turn increases the sharing to trigger the video’s viral-ness. Tastemakers can be celebrities, sports figures, influences , and other well-known individuals who have large online followings. Communities of participation allow us to become part of the viral phenomeno...