Factors of Ukrainian Media Content Virality on Social Networks, under the Current Conditions

Abstract

The main objective of the study was to explore the key factors of the virality of media content on social networks under the current conditions in Ukraine. To achieve the objective of the study, a combination of general and specific scientific methods, both theoretical and empirical, was applied. We used the methods of generalization and terminological analysis to clarify the definitions of the term “virality” and “virality content”. Analytic and synthetic method allowed to single out the virality factors of the content and to get an idea of the whole system of measures applied for the promotion of information on social networks. The methods of observation and measurement were used for collecting the actual source material for the theoretical study of the virality factors. The comparison method made it possible to define the features of the information popularization under special circumstances. The method of content analysis was used for in-depth study of the text messages on social networks in order to select the indicators, which allowed interpreting the study results into the specific recommendations. Results and Conclusions. We analyzed the concept of virality and generalized the reasons that affect the popularity of the information posted on social networks in Ukraine. The three main groups of virality factors were singled out, namely: the content (its subject and form); the audience; and the specific character of the social network. We analyzed the content of the three most popular Ukrainian media in Facebook (“Ukrayinska Pravda”, “Hromadske TV”, and “TSN”) to define the virality factors under the current Ukrainian conditions. Given the specificity of the algorithm for ranking posts in Facebook news line, we traced the reasons for the popularity of certain materials, which are caused by the situation in the country, the emotions induced by the publication, the type of the content, and the time of the users’ activity in the social network. The results of the study indicated that, given the political situation and hybrid war, there are few most popular content topics, namely: the politics, the war in eastern Ukraine and the basic life needs.