Viral phenomenon

Viral phenomena are objects or patterns able to replicate themselves or convert other objects into copies of themselves when these objects are exposed to them.

The concept of something, other than a biological virus, being viral came into vogue just after the Internet became widely popular in the mid-to-late 1990s. An object, even an immaterial object, is considered to be viral when it has the ability to spread copies of itself or change other similar objects to become more like itself when those objects are simply exposed to the viral object. This has become a common way to describe how thoughts, information and trends move into and through a human population. Memes are possibly the best example of viral patterns. The 1992 novel Snow Crash explores the implications of an ancient memetic meta-virus and its modern day computer virus equivalent:

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We are all susceptible to the pull of viral ideas. Like mass hysteria. Or a tune that gets into your head that you keep on humming all day until you spread it to someone else. Jokes. Urban legends. Crackpot religions. No matter how smart we get, there is always this deep irrational part that makes us potential hosts for self-replicating information. (see wikiquote)

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Research on viral marketing techniques has begun to reveal some of the specific dynamics of the viral phenomenon. The viral spread of an Internet message involves a convergence of modalities, including blogs, social networking sites, and mass media coverage. It's common for the message to spread and obtain notoriety via Internet modalities some amount of time before such notoriety is reported by mass media sources.

Examples of viral phenomena in addition to memes are:

• Viral marketing
• Viral Change (creating behavioural change in business through social networks)
• Viral video
• Chain letters
• Viral email
• Viral licenses (such as the GNU General Public License)
• Clothing fashion trends

See also

• Computer virus
• Memes
• Transitivity