Please see the assignment posted on Moodle. Your response to this post should be completed by Monday, February 27th at midnight. This is an assignment and will be graded.
Do some research to determine what makes a video go viral? Post the related link(s). Your opinion is great, but there is research out there, and people are examining this topic. Examination of this topic will assist you in your group project.
To understand what makes a video go viral we must also understand the commonalities among videos online that have already achieved viral status. It would seem that viral videos must maintain an aura of originality and uniqueness. The shock and amazement factors of existing viral videos are what get individuals to share the media among friends and individuals within their social network. There does, however, exist viral videos that do not rely on shocking elements to achieve popularity. Often, videos that achieve a sense of commonality among mass audiences also has a good likelihood of spreading exponentially. These commonalities can atone for emotional connections like happiness, sadness, and humor. This being said uniqueness must always be accompanied. There is an expression that says "it will always be hard to impress a New Yorker". People say this because they figure New Yorkers have seen and done it all either on the streets or through media. The web and tools like Youtube and MetaCafe are just like New York. The creators of videos need to establish the concepts that their audience has "seen it all" and that new and unique or old, unique and revised are the only viable options to attain video viral sharing.
ReplyDeleteViral Videos:
ReplyDeleteI believe there are many factors to making a video go viral, and it starts with word of mouth. Before you go and create a video you will most likely be with someone making the film or telling people you are making the video. In my opinion all you need is a short video, with humor and or an animal or baby in it. I think that anytime you have a funny video with an animal or babies present your chances of getting it to go viral increases. I found this link pretty interesting and they make some good key points in making a video viral, or at least attempting to.
(http://www.penn-olson.com/?p=16370)
These days word of mouth in my opinion is the best advertising, since it travels so fast. People can use share YouTube videos from their phones, I pads, laptops from anywhere in the world. But I am not only talking about the social web, what about in reality? All it takes is one college in the US to like something and the whole world might end up liking it and using it. A great example for this is Facebook. A network that started of from a college is the invention of the decade that revolutionized how businesses operate and people communicate.
ReplyDeleteHowever in order for a video to pass that first stage from being posted to being watched and liked it has to have at least one of the following characters : Gripping, Sexual, Unusual, Real, Relatable, Extraordinary, Joy inducing and funny.
From a business prospective you do not want the video to be perceived as an ad. The themes of a video must be congruent with people's pre-existing knowledge of the brand it is advertising. For example Louis Vuitton is associated with class, elegance, luxury and uniqueness. Videos that strengthen that association meet with approval, "but as soon as we witness associations with the brand that are inconsistent with our brand knowledge, we feel tension." In the latter case, few people will share the video, and it will quickly "go extinct." says Brent Coker a marketing Prof. at Melbourne University.
This man has developed a recipe of success called the branded viral movie predictor algorithm. According to this algorithm, the four ingredients required for a video to go viral are congruency, emotive strength, network involvement, and something called "paired meme synergy.
An example that I also mentioned in class is The Anonymous, a group that doesn't reveal its identity and uses the internet (YouTube) to send mysterious messages to the mass. They have over 70 videos on YouTube which range from 7000 views up to 5 000 000. If you think about it who would want to see this? I am guessing its the mysterious factor that got me to watch it.
Link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrXyLrTRXso
A video has to have the spark that creates the buzz amongst people. There are videos on YouTube that I want other people to see, because thats how much I like them and want to share them.
In the end of the day the question is: Was this video good enough to share?
To me, when someone tells me that there is a video going around that I should probably check out makes me do some research to find out what it is. Using word of mouth is the best way to get people to look into things and take the time to look up what people are all hyped up about. People will get their hands on something such as a video, photo or an article will waste no time informing people about. They will post it anywhere and everywhere they want. These types of things could be something funny to something extremely serious.
ReplyDeleteI find a video that was posted back in July of 2011. The headlight is “Dubai Fountains Choreographed to I Will Always Love You but our beloved Whitney Houston. Her music will be remembered throughout the world. The fountains outside the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, give a show ever half hour. Looking at this video it seems like a team of like rays doing synchronized swimming. This video has over 1 million views. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBquqHc_WHo
People post videos on a daily basis and some have made it to the point of global recognition. What, though, is it that helps a video to become so well known?
ReplyDeleteOne example of a viral video would be the video of a wedding party dancing down the alter to the Chris Brown song "Forever." The video presently has seventy three million views! For those who have not experienced this video please visit this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-94JhLEiN0
There is an acronym that hits a few key points as to why a video tends to go viral; LEGS, which stands for: Laugh, edgy, gripping, and sexual. Other aspects that can cause a video to go viral are things that are unusual or real, compelling, joy inducing and lastly, something that people can relate to. Also, this next point, in my opinion, seems very important. A video that is going to reach millions of people must be one that is relevant to a large group of people such as college students and office workers.
It is also said that videos must associate the message of their video with things that are similarly related or associated. For example, a Harley Davidson video would probably showcase tattoos, and the general biker stereotype. Videos that do not showcase thse things are not as well accepted. Also, the character's of a viral video might behave in a way that is shocking or totally unexpected. This gains viewer's attention. For example, the audience would never expect the wedding party, from the video embedded above, to throw their flyers and start dancing down the aisle. This moment was completely unexpected, but drew our attention in. A video might also go viral because the message is compelling or heart touching.
When constructing a video, in hopes to gain a mass amount of attention, you must pay attention to the network in which you are looking to appeal to. This is very important. Sometimes viral videos happen by mistake, but it is because they contain the ingredients essential to gaining an abundance of attention; LEGS: Laugh, edgy, gripping and sex.
60,000 videos are uploaded to YouTube daily yet more are popular then others while some go viral. Social media has become a major factor in streaming videos for friends and families to witness. “Dynamic Logic” organized a study where they concluded that videos including: Laugh, Edgy, Gripping, Sexual (LEGS) were the result of movies being watched more often.
ReplyDeleteMarketing professor Brent Coker of the University of Melbourne, Australia, came up with a recipe of viral videos. All you need he says, are four things: According to the algorithm, the four ingredients required for a video to go viral are congruency, emotive strength, network involvement, and something called “pair meme synergy.”
I decided to take my own approach and look at my YouTube history to define why I watch the videos I do. The common theme I came across was the videos that made me laugh by the end of the clip were the movies, which I find myself watching more. Unique videos were the opposition to my laughing statement. Finding a video of someone doing a skit or singing a song in a unusual fashion were the other videos stored on my YouTube account.
Only Viral produced videos with strong emotional appeal make the cut, and the more extreme the emotions, the better. Happy and funny videos don’t tend to fare as well as scary and disgusting ones but everyone has their preference.
Have you seen an Iphone being blended? A commercial for a blender company, Blendtec, a company most people have never heard before came on the scene with a viral video. The thought of your $200 Iphone being destroyed by a blender is a great way to grab some viewers:
http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/1938-ad-viral-video-campaign.html
No one likes being out of the loop. The conversation at lunch-time when everyone says: Hey have you seen that video? And you find yourself being the only member of the table who hasn’t witness the new feed… Not a good feeling, but will more than likely push you to go see the video. Sometimes videos are streamed based on a group that thinks a video is funny so the more people will view that clip.
A video has to have a common interest and flare that grabs a viewer. Without originality, that YouTube clip you just posted becomes one of the millions streamed onto the internet.
I feel to make a video go viral it’s all about word of mouth. Once one person finds it on YouTube and thinks is funny they will post it on a social network for all their friends to see. The video needs to be funny something people can relate to. A good example of this is this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9c2fL77Cv0
ReplyDeleteThis video is talking about partying and lax bros. a lot of people don’t like lacrosse “ bros” and they like to make fun of them. This video has almost a million views because how they made it. It’s a 2 min video but there are a lot of things going on at once in it. It also needs to be a short eye catching video it can’t be to long because people wont watch the whole thing.
I also feel like videos with kids it catch the eyes of a lot of people to watch the video. An example of this is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sv4Hpz-GI3g&feature=endscreen&NR=1 we can relate to this kid as we were once his age and hated getting books on xmass. I was so disappointed as a kid getting something that wasn’t toys like clothing.
So I feel like to have a video go viral its all about what is going on in the video it has to be funny and something people can relate to. People post videos everyday some of them are bad but some of them are so funny people get a lot of views. Once a video on YouTube gets 1 million views the person that posted it gets paid from YouTube for having it on the website.
What makes a video go viral is a combination of a few things including the four factors that make a successful television commercial. For a television commercial to be successful those factors include humor, animals, sex appeal and kids. Look at the baby from the E-Trade commercials for example the commercial uses a cute kid and some humor and it becomes one of the most popular series of commercials. Also, look at the Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial from 2011 with the kid dressed as Darth Vader, the combination of this cute kid and the humor of his reaction when the car stat made that a funny and memorable commercial.
ReplyDeleteFor a viral video those four factors but also a few more that make for a successful viral video. Those factors involve people doing ridiculous stunts and failing, or doing ridiculous stunts and succeeding, as well as cats and dogs, and people doing weird or interesting things and finally babies. There is something about cats or dogs and their actions that draw people in that makes those videos popular. Also, people love watching someone try to do some incredible stunt and the only thing more impressive and entertaining than when they succeed is when they fail. I can honestly say I love watching videos of people failing at some attempt at a stupid stunt. America seems to be right there with me because the show Tosh.0 has really soared with its weekly episodes showing these shenanigans. But people also look to videos of babies being cute and people just being outright ridiculous. But people also watch those videos that are serious like the Facebook parenting video where the dad shoots the computer. While that video is funny it is based more on a serious note as you could tell the dad in the video was pissed.
One of the most popular videos is of the Star Wars kid who sets up a camera and proceeds to act like the rod he is holding is a light saber. People love videos that show the actual actions of people rather than the scripted actions in commercials. That is why viral videos are successful because everyone has an interest in how other people live and these videos are a view into those people's lives.
Each link below shows different videos that have millions of views and all of them use humor and seriousness that have drawn peoples interest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PM3N5q8HZU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPPj6viIBmU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkWkZIqmTwk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IytNBm8WA1c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtDzckYltY8
Viral Videos are some of the most popular videos posted on websites such as youtube. I personally enjoy and laugh at some of these vidoes. After watching many of them the most popular ones are either cute animals or funny little kids. These are obviously what the audience of viewers wants to see. I was thinking however what else could these vidoes be used for.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing some research I found out the Viral Videos are very important to the marketing world for viral marketing, viral advertising and marketing buzz. By using viral videos it can be a great way for companies to get there names and products out to the public in a cheap and efficient way. All you need is the world of mouth from one person and the video is then seen by millions. I however think this only truely works if the company really has a good add to put out there but many companies try.
A viral video can also be something as simple as a How to Video, this is something one person does that now millions of people can copy, for instance one of my roomates used a how to braid video that was simple but have over a million hits on it. These videos may seem stupid to some people but once they take off they are really like a virus spreading to millions of people around the world.
The viral videos I have chosen are the cute ones with children and animals like most people enjoy. I chose these because they not only make you laugh but they keep you continuously watching them and it seems as though you never forget them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP4abiHdQpc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFN1-uqt2WA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRH3iTQPrk&feature=fvst
According to marketing professor Brent Coker of the University of Melbourne, Australia, there are four things that make a video turn viral. These four key ingredients include: "congruency, emotive strength, network involvement, and something called "paired meme synergy." In order for a video to appeal to someone it must relate to that person. Most videos that go viral relate to a lot of people.Also what makes a video go viral is the emotion. A video must have emotion, whether really funny or really happy the emotions capture the viewer.
ReplyDeleteWord of mouth is the most powerful tool along with social networking that makes a video go viral. Most of the time when I watch a video on youtube it is because it was posted by one of my facebook friends or someone has told I should take a look. I am a very curious person and I believe that a lot of people look at videos because someone has suggested it.
As I said before, what draws a lot of attention in a video is how it relates to someone. Take this video for instance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikTxfIDYx6Q this video a lot of views and it is simply just a baby dancing to Beyonce. It has a lot of views because pretty much everyone loves babies and fans of Beyonce will enjoy it as well. Other than that their is really nothing special about the video at all.
You can also look at videos going viral in another perspective such as a music video or a celebrity sports blog. Take this video for instance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Gf4-eT3w0&ob=av2e this a music video with a great message behind it, but it most likely wouldn't have went viral if it wasn't Lil' Wayne's music video.
In conclusion, there are many different types of viral videos, but the ones that relate to people the most are the ones that are the most successful with the exception of celebrity videos. The definition of viral is "An image, video, advertisement, etc. that is circulated rapidly on the Internet" so with that being said a video goes viral by gaining popularity amongst individuals and through social networking
Viral videos are a relatively new phenomenon, and as such, the current theories behind its primary causes are limited to either legitimate research experiments supported by a small number of professionally conducted studies or the opinions of pseudo specialists in the field who boast social basics as formula. In a study by Rong Chen, Jinsong Haung, and Xia Wang, titled, Factors Influencing Intention to Forward Short Internet Videos, the experimenters offered a consolidated collection of conclusions from previous research, as well as positing possible causes based on their own findings, in order to identify the reasons why videos go viral.
ReplyDeleteWhat their research put forth first and foremost was that, logically, in order for a video to gain sufficient momentum to be forwarded en masse electronically amongst various social networking and video uploading sites “lies in an individual recipient’s intention to forward messages to others.” While this may at first seem entirely obvious, it was the goal of this experiment to uncover exactly what it is that influences the viewer’s intentionality, what s/he psychologically weighs, before taking the time to scroll the cursor over and click on the share button.
The findings behind intentionality were reduced down to three causes, those being content quality perception, empathy quality perception, and benefit expectation. While the terminology is technical, the concepts behind them are quite to the point.
To begin, content quality perception first entails what the individual deems important or interesting to him/herself. In other words, if the video does not initially appeal to the individual, it is likely that s/he will not even consider the thought of others and thus will not share with them what has been watched. The types of content that have been shown to have the most content quality for the individual are those that “induce strong feelings, such as humor, fear, sadness, or inspiration.” Additionally, videos that contain “extreme comedic violence make audiences form positive advertising attitudes, and increase pass-along activities.” Though, while these findings are helpful when crafting ones own viral video, it is important to keep in mind the relativity of all potential viewers beliefs and adjust the appropriate theme of the subject matter meant to be shared accordingly. A viral video intended to spread a more serious message may not succeed if it utilizes extreme comedic violence.
Secondly, empathy quality perception is what a forwarder expects from the recipients feedback. The sender must not only believe that what is to shared will benefit the receiver, but more importantly, will not generate negative feedback back onto the sender. It would seem that from these finding, it would be wise for ones own viral videos to avoid messages that are blatantly hateful or politically incorrect. In other words, the video should avoid going for the “shock factor,” or attempting to be “tastefully offensive,” and should instead remain within culturally condoned social boundaries.
ReplyDeleteLastly, benefit expectation was found to play a direct role in the propagation of online videos. There are three aspects to the benefits of sharing process, those being inclusion, control, and affection. Inclusion “represents the wish to belong to, or join, other people and to be identifiable.” Thus, a viral video should appeal to the largest majority possible and contain a mainstream, relatable message. The more generic the idea, the greater the likelihood the individual viewers will feel comfortable and compelled to share what has been seen. A common message will act as a means to strengthen the pre-existing bond between like peoples. Control “represents the wish to exert influence on other people.” In this case, creating a video that contains new and valuable information not yet known will be allow the sender to posses a sense of control, or more specifically, a feeling of superiority over those who s/he sends the video to. And finally, affection “is related to the concept of altruism or concern for others.” Thus, if a video also contains information that may potentially help or aid a receiver, it is more likely to be spread by a forwarder.
The full contents of the above information can be found on the Nichols College Psychology Collection database, in the International Journal of Social Behavior and Personality (40.1 [Feb. 2012]: p5).
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ReplyDeleteAccording to Tamar Weinberg, a digital marketing specialist and social media consultant, highly effective viral videos have seven traits. They are: 1) identifiable; 2) spontaneous; 3) genuine; 4) funny; 5) informational; 6) creative; and 7) inspiring.
ReplyDeleteAn effective viral video should be identifiable in that "it does something that other people can relate to." Weinberg uses the example of Weezer's infamous 2008 music video entitled "Pork and Beans." This video was unique because it incorporated characters that were incredibly familiar to the public. These so-called characters consisted of YouTube sensations such as Tay Zonday ("Chocolate Rain"), Miss Teen South Carolina, and the infamous Numa Numa Boy. Because the video celebrities themselves were familiar to millions of spectators, "Pork and Beans" went viral quickly. In fact, the music video had seen 4 million views in its first four days.
A notable example of a video that went viral due to its spontaneity is the "JK Wedding Entrance Dance." Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz transformed the nature of their wedding by encouraging the wedding party to dance up and down the aisle spontaneously. As Weinberg states in her article, "people watching the video from home felt the momentum." They got excited, they laughed, and some even cried.
In her article, Weinberg notes that "you don't always have to engage in expensive video production to promote your wares." In fact, one of the first iPod Touch commercials was created by an 18-year-old student named Nick Haley. He had created the video from home during his spare time, and eventually uploaded it to YouTube. As a result, it caught the attention of Apple executives who flew Haley to California and aired the commercial on national television shortly thereafter.
It seems to be a no-brainer that videos containing humor are a hit with the general public. In her article, Weinberg says that "humans can relate to emotional content, and laughable content is always golden." In my opinion, she couldn't have said this any better! One of my favorite videos that incorporate humor is "The Landlord." Will Ferrell meets his landlord named Pearl, who is subsequently an infant. Hilarious.
Informational videos are usually guaranteed to go viral because they teach us how to do something. Whether it's simply learning how to tie a tie or learning how to fold a shirt Japanese-style, there is a video tutorial for virtually everybody.
Creative videos often demonstrate the characteristic of uniqueness. As Weinberg says, "doing something that is unique and never tried before can bring that video views and awareness." For example, the link posted below is to a video entitled "Dove Evolution," a video that "opens our eyes to why beauty is distorted."
Lastly, inspiring videos tend to go viral fairly quickly as well. Inspirational videos are a category all their own, as they do what the aforementioned six traits do not: they encourage you and motivate you to do your absolute best. One example of a truly inspirational video is Randy Pausch's infamous speech entitled "The Last Lecture." Pausch, a former lecturer at Carnegie Mellon, initially gave this speech to his students at the university. However, it was eventually posted on YouTube and gained worldwide recognition. In the end, Pausch not only inspired his students, but millions of people across the nation as well.
Link to Weinberg's article and respective videos: http://www.techipedia.com/2010/viral-video-traits/
Did Carolyn and my blog posts ever publish? I still do not see them on the comment change unfortunately!
ReplyDelete