What Makes a Viral Video?

People from Utah and all over the world love viral videos; hence, their viral status. It isn’t just a few million views, it isn’t top-notch video production and it isn’t just a humorous tone; so what is it about certain videos that make them go viral?

Although viewership is important, with the amount of video content currently available online and the sheer amount of people watching video content, viral status doesn’t just come with a few million views. High levels of viewership in a relatively short amount of time, like a dozen million views in a week, is what can turn a popular video into a viral one. Some videos, like Utah Saints’ “Something Good 08” music video, have over eight million videos, but over the course of a few years. Those types of videos don’t quite get the viral tag.

Longevity is also important. Videos that a multitude of people can still quote, even after they are no longer the talk of the town, will move a video from well-known to viral. The “Bed Intruder Song!!!” video has over 100 million views, and people from Utah and all over the United States can still quote it to this day. The longevity of this video (as well as the parody aspect), with its ridiculously funny content, definitely pushes this and other videos like it into the viral category.

Less important for viral videos is the video production quality. Whereas some content, like “Gangnam Style” by PSY, and other videos by the Piano Guys, who shoot many of their videos in Utah locations, are done with professional video production teams, plenty of viral videos were filmed with just a cell phone camera.

A little bit of social buzz definitely doesn’t hurt. People are much more likely to view something funny shared by a friend instead of searching for the same video without any outside influences. As the video gains more traction on sites like Reddit and Twitter, it will push the content from just being funny to something that is a must-see for audiences everywhere.

How a person reacts is the true signifier as to whether or not a video will achieve viral status on the Internet. In an interview with The New York Times, Dr. Rosanna Guadagno, a social psychologist, noted that an intense emotional response will likely precipitate the likelihood of someone sharing the video. “People share things they have strong emotional reactions to, especially strong positive reactions,” Dr. Guadagno said.

Although quality video production, overall views and buzz are all important, time and emotional response are the true indicators for whether or not a video will go viral.

Taylor Larsen writes for Fusion 360, an advertising agency in Utah. He writes for many other clients as well. Find him on Google+.