Reflection on Social Media Case 2: Ellen Degeneres and most Re-Tweeted Photo
I loved this case study, it poses a very interesting question.
What is the difference between a post simply being popular and a post being viral. Ellen's tweet was
full of famous people, each of which has a large fan base, so naturally the post was re-twitted a
tremendous amount. If you think about all of Ellen's followers alone it makes sense why the tweet
would see so much traction. The Wendy's tweet however displays a much different picture. The young
man who twitted the comment to Wendy's started out with only 150 or so followers, within two weeks
however his following had increased to around 60,000. His tweet was shared by his small following and
then those followers following shared it and on and on until it was tweeted 3 million plus times. Ellen was
popular, Wendy's boy went viral. The difference all stems from the following base. Since Ellen and all of
the actors already possessed a large following the tweet was re-twitted by the following they already had.
Wendy's boy's however started small but was shared by so many different people, giving it the
opportunity to reach over 3 million re-tweets. the best way to think about viral media is honestly like virus.
When a virus enters the body it doesn't immediately effect all of the cells in the body. it effects one cell
and then that cell move onto another cell and on and on until the entire body is infected. similarly, the
tweet didn't automatically reach 3 million people it had to go from person to person in order to reach
those numbers.
What is the difference between a post simply being popular and a post being viral. Ellen's tweet was
full of famous people, each of which has a large fan base, so naturally the post was re-twitted a
tremendous amount. If you think about all of Ellen's followers alone it makes sense why the tweet
would see so much traction. The Wendy's tweet however displays a much different picture. The young
man who twitted the comment to Wendy's started out with only 150 or so followers, within two weeks
however his following had increased to around 60,000. His tweet was shared by his small following and
then those followers following shared it and on and on until it was tweeted 3 million plus times. Ellen was
popular, Wendy's boy went viral. The difference all stems from the following base. Since Ellen and all of
the actors already possessed a large following the tweet was re-twitted by the following they already had.
Wendy's boy's however started small but was shared by so many different people, giving it the
opportunity to reach over 3 million re-tweets. the best way to think about viral media is honestly like virus.
When a virus enters the body it doesn't immediately effect all of the cells in the body. it effects one cell
and then that cell move onto another cell and on and on until the entire body is infected. similarly, the
tweet didn't automatically reach 3 million people it had to go from person to person in order to reach
those numbers.
The question then becomes how can someone create viral content on purpose? Lifewire goes into
just that in the article what does it mean to go viral online?
https://www.lifewire.com/what-does-it-mean-to-go-viral-3486225 Dao Nguyen discusses in greater
detail why certain things go viral and why most tweets simply go unnoticed.
The idea of viral is fascinating to me! It's hard to understand how it works and even cooler to thinkjust that in the article what does it mean to go viral online?
https://www.lifewire.com/what-does-it-mean-to-go-viral-3486225 Dao Nguyen discusses in greater
detail why certain things go viral and why most tweets simply go unnoticed.
about how fast it all works. It's amazing to see just how much power social media has in our lives.
loved your comparison of going viral as a virus!
ReplyDeleteGreat use of outside resources in this reflection. One recommendation that I would have is to hotlink the links into your article rather than using the whole URL. It would just help integrate the sources in a more aesthetically pleasing way. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI like how you said that Ellen was popular, but Wendy's boy went viral. I think it is way easier to reach millions of retweets, when you already have millions of fans. But to start so small and then explode overnight is what it truly means to go viral. Great post!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I love the comparisons you made!
ReplyDeleteGood work on this article. It is interesting to think about what makes something viral. I liked your sources.
ReplyDelete