Viral Videos
Viral videos have really exploded in the past few years. It is no longer enough for people to exchange thoughts about a video clip, we have to share the actually clip, make renditions and send it to everyone we know.
What qualities, concepts, attributes are the most important to tackle/include in any attempt at building a successful interactive communication?
Sean, David K, Brook, Meg and myself believe that humor/entertainment is the number one quality that is most important in building successful interactive communication. Music was also a important component that we discussed. All of the videos that we watched in class had a musical component that added value to video.
Mash-ups or repurposing videos to alter what was the reality creates more entertaining content. Such as babies that have men’s voices, spin offs of original videos. Anything that become a parody of the original has the ability to go viral.
Our group believes that all viral videos are for entertainment, but they we debated on the fact that videos in general are entertainment no matter their content. A viral video needs to shock, be unique, be original and surprise the audience. Not all viral videos do this, but DK mentioned that all viral videos tell a story, even if its predictable like the guy trying to grab onto the balcony.
The content needs to be relatable and have some emotional connection to a massive amount of people. If people don’t identify with it, then they have no compulsion to share with friends/ co-workers/ family etc.
Length was brought up by DK, do viral videos have a time length? Our group thinks so because it has to keep our attention which is a ever growing commodity. It also has to be simplistic enough for a massive amount of people to understand, it can’t be too specific that the general view doesn’t gain value.
The video that I chose to share with the class was the Christian the Lion story. SURPRISE! ITS ABOUT ANIMALS!
I receive a lot of viral videos, via Facebook, e-mail, Twitter and blogs. I watch most of them, but very few do I make the effort to then send to someone else. However, this story was heartfelt and really connected with animal lovers everywhere. I passed this to EVERYONE I know and still pull it up randomly today. The power of viral videos is amazing, after this video emerged there was a book and now there are plans for a movie. The audience told “the business” what they were interested and what they wanted more of. And the marketing, media and business people delivered.
