‘Need to be Shared’: Decoding Viral Genome of Popular YouTube Videos

Abstract

The meaning of space and time changes multifold when applied to the virtual world of internet where there is not any demarcated space or stipulated time for things to operate. In this crossover of space and time a defined agenda of mass communication has taken a back seat. Earlier the capacity to reach was a measure for mass communication but now the speed of reach is also equally important. As is often the case with masses, some communications are preferred (or privileged) over the others which are rejected. Every second there is large amount of information being dumped into the cyber space, but only a selected few manage to reach the masses while others remain ignored. This phenomenon of high speed communication is popularly known as ‘viral communication’ and can occur anywhere irrespective of packaging or medium. It has been observed that certain messages, pictures, stories or videos have gone viral in the internet driven virtual space. This raises the questions: why this selective viral spreading happens and how certain content is more privileged than others? This triggered us to study a specific set of communication and explore what are the key attributes of privileged content over the other through the present work. For the purpose of this study we have specifically looked at online videos on the popular website YouTube which had gone viral in the year 2014 and have a minimum of one million views. The aim was to identify key parameters which if present could ensure a video to go viral. This study would not only help the amateur content producer to gain multiple views but also cater to the marketing experts who have been trying to monetise social media to gain a share of conversation.