Viral

What Does Viral Mean?

Viral is a buzzword used to describe any content or media that becomes widely shared through social networks and online. The concept of “going viral” extends to many mediums, including videos, photos, games, articles, or even advertisements.

Techopedia Explains Viral

The concept of going viral did not originate with the Internet and is not relegated to online networks. Ideas can become viral, as can fashion choices and car decals. With the advent of social media, however, there are dependable mechanisms for the right type of content to go viral. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and other networks provide a platform whereby momentum is given to popular content, helping it spread virally across the web.

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Margaret Rouse

Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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