The topic that I will be
covering today is probably my favorite social media topic: viral videos. I
would hope that most of you know what a viral video is, but just in case I
found a really great definition. According to Techopedia, a viral video is any
clip of animation or film that is spread rapidly through online sharing. Viral
videos can receive millions of views as they are shared on social media sites,
reposted to blogs, sent in emails, and so on. What I found interesting was
Techopedia’s assertion that most viral videos have humor and fall into three
categories:
1.
Unintentional
viral videos: videos that the creators never intended to go viral.
2.
Humorous viral
videos: videos that have been created specifically to entertain people.
3.
Promotional viral
videos: videos that are designed to go viral with a marketing message to raise
brand awareness.
Viral videos are all fun
and games until it actually hurts the person in the video. The part that
freaked me out was the category of “unintentional” viral videos. So, pretty
much if someone posts a video of you do something stupid and embarrassing,
there is definitely a possibility of it going viral. Even if you ask the social
media site to take it down, it’s still out there. Someone could have downloaded
it or screenshotted it before you were able to take it down. AND THEN THERE’S
NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT! So, please be careful with videos of yourself that
you don’t want anyone else to see. My advice is just to delete it immediately.
When people think of viral
videos they usually think of hilarious videos like Gangnam Style or the Harlem
Shake videos. But, viral videos can actually very beneficial for your business.
Forbes claims that highly sharable content can give your business a lift,
leading new people back to your site and increasing your conversions. I have
one thing to add to that sentence, it makes your brand awareness skyrocket. Forbes
then gives suggestions for how businesses can create a viral video: 1) Be short
and sweet. This is an obvious piece of advice because NO ONE likes long videos.
2) Be upbeat. Being upbeat evokes an emotional response from the audience. 3)
Be timely. It certainly helps if you can link your video to an existing popular
topic. 4) Be involved by engaging with your audience. 5) Be informative.
Everyone wants to learn something they don’t already know. 6) Be inspiring.
So after all this talk of
viral videos, I have attached my favorite viral video below. Enjoy!
Sources:
Your comments on posting videos that you don't want others to see made me think of Travis Chambers' video of his wife talking about Miles Per Hour. At first he was hesitant about posting the video, when he did he almost wish he hadn't because of the light it was shining on he and his wife. It is so easy to say that it wont hurt anything or create any harm, then you realize the mistake that you made when you get over a million views in just a couple of days... Nice post!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed that Charlie Bit my Finger link. It has been a long time since I have seen that. Really enjoyed reading your blog post and the different types of viral videos. And I agree that no one likes long videos.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed that Charlie Bit my Finger link. It has been a long time since I have seen that. Really enjoyed reading your blog post and the different types of viral videos. And I agree that no one likes long videos.
ReplyDeleteviral video