Viral
Viral
The explosive spread of information across the internet and social media through word of mouth.
In Simple Terms
Viral describes what happens when information spreads explosively across the internet through word of mouth. For example, someone spots an eye-catching video or a new service and shares it with friends on social media. Those friends share it with even more people, and before long, the information has reached a huge audience. It spreads without any big advertising budget — just people passing it along to each other.
Behind the Name
The word "viral" comes from "virus" — it describes something that spreads from person to person the way an infection does. When used online, it captures how information can spread almost instantly, jumping from one person to the next just like a virus passing through a population.
Take a Closer Look!
Viral describes the phenomenon of information spreading explosively across the internet and social media through word of mouth.
Now that anyone can easily share content, it's common to see someone's favorite post spread around the world in no time.
Put simply, this phenomenon spreads by tapping into the human urge to tell other people about something.
For example, a video that makes you laugh out loud or a post revealing a surprising life hack makes people want to share it on their own.
That's how a single post gets passed along from person to person like a baton, reaching a huge number of people in a short amount of time.
A marketing approach that harnesses this viral mechanism is known as "viral marketing".
Instead of companies paying for advertising, consumers spread the information voluntarily, which makes it more trustworthy and keeps costs down.
That said, it's difficult to deliberately trigger this kind of explosive spread — and the same mechanism can just as easily spread bad rumors just as quickly.