Viral Videos in Social Media

Viral Videos in Social Media

Background

Social media videos refer to videos posted on social media platforms. These are mainly videos posted on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. The goal of social media videos is to educate, entertain, and market a product as they generate likes, dislikes, and comments as they are shared. Some post these videos drive and direct traffic to the business organizations. These videos can either be posted on the social media platforms organically through unpaid means or run as paid advertisements to a target audience. The difference between viral videos in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the rest of the world is that in UAE, viral videos receive much fewer views in comparison to the videos in the rest of the world, specifically the western world.

Videos are likely to go viral in comparison to pictures and graphics posted on the social media platforms. Videos get more viral as they involve the audience more in comparison to pictures and graphics.  Through the videos, the audience relate their feelings with the content. As a result, the videos are more relatable than images and graphics, resulting in more attachment. The history of viral videos goes past the creation of YouTube and means of sharing content on YouTube. The circulation of the first viral videos was through films before the invention of cinemas. The creation of cable networks and wireless networks facilitated the evolution of the various ways of sharing videos.

Social media videos are important in various ways. The first importance is that they are sharable. The sharable aspect of the social media video entails the ability of users to share the videos once posted (Huertas, 2018). As opposed to the videos embedded on websites, users can like videos, comment on them, and retweet them. The second significance of social videos is that the videos are responsible for driving results through social media. Businesses have the advantage of growing and increasing prospects as a result of the videos loaded on social media platforms. Social media videos are also necessary as they reach a broader audience and high levels of engagements (Bielski & Trzcinski, 2018). Viral videos are efficient as they outdo other means of communication because they are both entertaining and educative. Additionally, they help build the trust of consumers by providing more authentic information. The ability to inspire trust is essential as it enables business organizations to increase their involvement with clients.

Videos go viral by spreading among consumers and the intended audience. Because of it a wave, such videos potentially reach a broader cliental base within a short time. The way it was produced, and the intention of uploading is usually the driving force of video going viral.  Singh and Singh (2016) cite social currency as one of the reasons why social videos go viral. Individuals share video content that makes them look good before their audience and the other individuals in their social networks. Another factor enabling videos to go viral through social media platforms includes the triggers related to the videos.  According to Hunckler (2017), the triggers relate to the factors proceeded with the thinking and the decision making of the content sharers. The triggers entail elements responsible for pushing social media users to share the videos. Emotional aspects also lead to videos going viral through social media platforms. Individuals share content which they have emotional connections. The content shared by individuals through the internet is mainly what the individuals care about. The panic factor also enables videos to go viral through social media platforms. Individuals are likely to share content similar to those shared by other individuals around them. Videos also go viral as a result of the practical value they contain (Mellet, 2017). Videos spread through social media as individuals get to share videos of the content they value. The final reason why social content goes vial includes that people share stories and information interesting to them.

Viral videos in the UAE include ‘Meet UAE’s dancing street cleaner who broke the internet.’ The video is about a street cleaner in the UAE caught on camera dancing while on duty. The video posted on YouTube on 29^th august generated 87, 104 views (Khaleej Times, 2019). The main reason why the video went viral on social media is because of the nature of the content it contains. The video depicts a street cleaner dancing as he goes through his work. Video went viral as it appeals to the emotions of the viewers. Some viewers could not understand the reasons behind his actions. Through the depiction of the content, the emotions of the audience get excited. It motivated people to be happy with their work no matter how hard or odd it might seem. Another video that Went Viral in the UAE is the Dream Jump – Dubai 4K video. The video has a total of 58,789,575 views on YouTube. It shows a team of athletes jumping from the second-highest residential structure.  The video went viral as it appeals to the feelings of the viewers. It depicts the athletes as engaging in a spot considered as impossible. Viewers are attracted to the video due to the thrill that it generates. It illustrates that anything is achievable if the right mentality and determination are employed.

Other than videos from the UAE, other videos went viral include ‘COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 19) March Update- causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, pathology.’ The video uploaded on YouTube on March 15th, 2020, has a total of 1,703,417 views (Ninja Nerd Science, 2020). It talks about the current pandemic, what to watch out for, some preventive measures, and the possible origin of the virus. The reason as to why the video went viral is because it appeals to the interest of the public. Following the break of the virus, there has been increased interest in determining more information on the virus. The world is on edge, and any information could be helpful. Another viral social media video is the YouTube video ‘Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health? | Bailey Parnell | tedxryersonu.’ It was uploaded on June 22nd, 2017, and has garnered about 1,796,532 views (TEDx Talks, 2017). The video went viral because of the triggers related to it. People who use social media platforms are keen to understand any mental health risks that come with it.

References

Almeri, K. (2020). How The UAE Fights Coronavirus. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.YouTube.com/watch?V=ehskpc6phzi

Bielski, A. & Trzcinski, T. (2018). Pay Attention to Virality: understanding popularity of social media videos with the attention mechanism. In Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Workshops (pp. 2335-2337).

Huertas, A. (2018). How live videos and stories in social media influence tourist opinions and behavior. Information Technology & Tourism, 19(1-4), 1-28.

Hunckler, M. (2017). The Secrets of Viral Content and How to Create It. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthunckler/2017/03/03/the-secrets-of-viral-content-and-how-to-create-it/#4bcccb8257e0

Khaleej Times. (2019). Meet UAE’s dancing street cleaner who broke the internet. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.YouTube.com/watch?V=glhiveoeqm0

Mellet, K. (2017). Marketing and the domestication of social media. In Markets and the Arts of Attachment. London: Routledge.

Ninja Nerd Science. (2020). COVID-19 | Corona Virus: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, and Diagnostics. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.YouTube.com/watch?V=pwzbarpgo-o

Singh, A. R. & Singh, I. (2016). Going ‘Viral’ on Social Media: A Study of Popular Videos on Facebook. Amity Journal of Media & Communication Studies, 6(2), 7-22.

Tedx Talks. (2017). Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health? | Bailey Parnell | tedxryersonu. YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.YouTube.com/watch?V=Czg_9c7gw0o