Viral Media

Serena Kashiwa

Viral Media refers to means of communication that reaches the masses through the internet via videos, news articles, blogs, etc.  This project will evaluate how viral media is evolving from mainstream media by encompassing the concepts of social media and viral marketing in ways that are just if not more influential than media such as television and radio.  It will also consider in depth how viral media has created actual monetary profit and how it's redefining the free market now that anyone can make the right video or post the right blog in order to gain.

Social Media 

Social media refers to the ways in which we socialize, communicate, and exchange information through the internet whether it's through blogging, "liking," someone's comments on Facebook, or posting important information through chat rooms and message boards.  Similar to when the radio and television were invented, the actual time it took for information to reach the public was grossly shortened when the internet became a tool for communication.  People are now able to write down their thoughts and feelings that can reach millions in an instant.  This sharing of information has resulted in creating social networks and led to many successful sites such as Myspace and Facebook where the focus and purpose is to connect with others.  These forms of media have become reflections of ourselves to the point where people are using sites like Facebook for unofficial references.  Your Facebook page is now your calling card and your social network is now your web of connections.  (Gorringe, 2009)

Viral Marketing

Viral marketing can be as obvious as the side ads on a webpage to as undiscerning as those, "You might also like," ads on your own Facebook page.  Most people don't realize that every Google search, every rating you put on an online video, even the, "Please tell us why you did not like this advertisement," option of Facebook sends information to companies on your personal preferences.  While this might seem intrusive to some, ultimately viral marketing has become an interactive marketing tool (Southgate, 2010).  Before, ads on billboards or television were geared toward a general group of people like putting Revlon commercials on channels geared for women like E!  However, now that information can be gathered across the web, you might see advertisements on your Google search for your favorite restaurant or an upcoming movie you wanted to see based on the preferences you create with each click of your mouse.  Even still, the most powerful tool in viral marketing has been the speed and distance that word-of-mouth advertising can reach.  The amount of information available on the internet can be overwhelming, and not all of it is quality information.  Many consumers now find that the most reliable source are other people within their networks that they trust.  Studies show that more people buy products based on recommendations than any other form of marketing (Dăniasă, C. 2010).

This image shows a Facebook page with some birthday notifications and an advertisement for sending virtual gifts.

The Influence of Viral Video

One of the most influential and lucrative phenomena to come from the web are viral videos whether they are home-made computer animations of a dancing baby or the latest address made by the President of the United States.  It's no surprise how quickly video media switched from the television to the web just as TV did to the radio.  The convenience of being able to see your favorite shows at any time versus at a regulated 8 o'clock once a week has changed the way we view and control media.  The biggest difference is that by viewing videos online, people also have the option of sharing the video with others throughout their social networks (Madden, M. 2007).  It's also possible to find an infinite number of message boards, sites, and blogs that discuss that particular video creating even more attention.  While the vast majority of online viewers are teens and young adults, the older generations have recently become the fastest growing demographic of online viewers (Viral, 2011).  

The internet has also been one of the main tools used in the last presidential election as live debates, campaign videos, and major discussions were shared world wide.  Websites like Youtube and DailyMotion were integral to Obama's campaigning especially towards the younger voters.  Being able to link videos into your Facebook page, send links to live videos through your cell phone, and getting notifications of when people are posting spread videos like the, "Yes We Can," music video virtually instantly.  The most valuable strategy for this was that the videos were actually promoted over the television as news channels informed the masses of when the videos would be available online and where to view them.  This perfectly blended both medias in order to catch the attention of all demographics rather than just the young or just the old (Wallsten, K. 2010).

There have been various social implications on the effects of viral videos such as its use in classrooms and the promotion of web celebrities such as the videos made by lonelygirl15 who actually was an actress and the videos made by film directors (Viral, 2011).  One of the biggest celebrities to come from the web is Andy Samberg, cast member of the variety show Saturday Night live and part of the comedic singing group Lonely Island who created music videos like, "D*ck in a Box," and, "I'm on a Boat."  In an interview with Wired Magazine, he's named the, "Viral Video King," and a large part of his success is due to the fact that he has been able to juggle both televised media and viral media successfully.  He discusses how his digital shorts on SNL were mainly just to fillers in between acts at first and quickly turned into a popular, cost effective part of the show (Hardwick, C. 2011).

While originally exclusive to Hulu.com. this video has several million hits on other sites like Youtube and has also inspired several spoof videos.  Profit for this video has come from various paraphenalia available such as t-shirts and even an official D*ck-in-a-Box box you can purchase.

How Viral Media Creates Profit

While making videos and sharing blogs are great entertainment, they also have become one of the fastest growing markets.  Part of this is due to creating actual products like the D*ck in a Box, and part of it is through viral marketing and the new programs some companies are creating such as the partner program Youtube offers to that shares ad profits with successful video makers (Fletcher, D. 2009).  One of the biggest success stories of viral media and pioneers of video sharing sites is Eric Bauman, creator of Ebaumsworld.com.  According to an article in Wired Magazine (Kushner, D. 2006), Bauman;s site took off by the turn of the millenium and by 2006 was making as much as over $10 million in ad revenue.  It's also one of the top visited humor sites with over a million hits a day.  The site has gotten a lot of criticism for posting videos that are tasteless and offensive, but it's hard to deny its popularity and profit.  

Sometimes a singular video can be enough to create profit, and while many people don't have the knowledge on how to take advantage of a popular video, an article in Time magazine discusses how one video has made over $20,000 in ad revenue (Fletcher, D. 2009).  The infamous video, "Keyboard Cat," is a ridiculous video that features a cat in a t-shirt forced to play the piano with humorous music added in.  The owner of the cat and video, Charlie Schmidt joined Youtube's partner program that shares ad profits from people who view his video.  Sheer word-of-mouth and video sharing have spread this video and created other sites like PlayHimOffKeyboardCat.com where Keyboard Cat usually plays following a video of someone making a ridiculous mistake.  Schmidt also admits that he gets considerable profit from other products like t-shirts.

This video shows a woman making a ridiculous but hilarious grammatical error on a game show and is consequentially, "played off," by Keyboard Cat.  It's hard to trace exactly where these kinds of jokes originate, but message board sites like 4chan and EndoftheInternet create and spread jokes like these quickly.

Music Goes Viral

The music industry has fought hard against free viral media with more and more laws to regulate file sharing and forcing people to purchase mp3 files on sites like Itunes and Amazon.com.  In truth the various laws are almost ineffectual since it's impossible to monitor and regulate all file sharing, and some artists are beginning to embrace the effects of viral media rather than fight against it.  According to Dan Sabbagh of Time Magazine, many artists like the alternative music band Gorillaz are finding and creating different strategies for creating a profit while allowing their actual music files to be free (Sabbagh, D. 2010).  One strategy involved letting consumers listen to the entire album for free on their website which not only creates huge profit in ads, but gets the public talking and sharing information.  The Gorillaz record company is also giving away special codes to free online games, special videos, and other promotions for purchasing the songs.  Making a fan base online not only creates a lot of momentum for the music but it gets consumers interested in other lucrative products such as concert tickets, posters, and of course, t-shirts.

References

*Dăniasă, C. I., Tomiţă, V., Stuparu, D., & Stanciu, M. (2010). The mechanisms of the influence of viral marketing in social media. Economics, Management & Financial Markets, 5(3), 278-282.

*Fletcher, D. (2009). Youtube effect: Making money from viral video. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1938731,00.html

*Gorringe, H. (2009). NEW WAYS TO COMMUNICATE: THE DEVELOPMENT OF WEB 2.0 AND SOCIAL MEDIA. Journal of Farm Management, 13(8), 587-591. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

Wallsten, K. (2010). “Yes We Can”: How Online Viewership, Blog Discussion, Campaign Statements, and Mainstream Media Coverage Produced a Viral Video Phenomenon. Journal of Information Technology & Politics, 7(2/3), 163-181. doi:10.1080/19331681003749030

*Hardwick, C. (2011). Q&A With Andy Samberg, Viral Video King. Wired. Retrieved from http://twww.wired.com/magazine/2011/04/ff_samberg_qa/2/

*Kushner,D. (2006) Dude, that is so not Funny. Wired, Retrieved fromhttp://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.10/ebaum.html?pg=1&topic=ebaum&topic_set=

*Madden, M. (2007, July 25). The audience for online video. Retrieved fromhttp://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2007/Online-Video.aspx

*Sabbagh, D. (2010). The record industry: Going alternative. Time. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1987504,00.html

*Southgate, D. (2010). Creative determinants of viral video viewing. International Journal of Advertising, 29(3), 349-368. doi:10.2501/S0265048710201221

Viral Video (2011, April 28). Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viral_video.

9 Universal Principles of Viral Media Sites (2010, June) Mashables. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/06/21/principles-viral-media-site/ 

Understanding that Viral isn't Social Media (2010, September) ClickZ. Retrieved from http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/1735566/understanding-that-viral-isnt-really-social-media