Page 72 - The Complexity Perspective 20 02 18

The Phenomenon of Virality

Virality is a phenomenon of social networks on the internet platforms.
It is the Holy Grail of modern marketing; virality is the hyper-rapid
diffusion of an item of information through the community. Think of it

as diffusion on steroids.

The viral transfer of a message occurs when many people
simultaneously forward a specific information item over a short period

of time within their social networks. To be truly viral the information
must spread rapidly beyond those personal networks to different often
distant networks (through hubs with large numbers of weak links)
resulting in a sharp acceleration in the number of people exposed to

the message.

A message can go viral regardless of the actual size of the audience;
some messages interest the general population others are of interest to
only a very narrow group. Additionally, some viral messages are

transient living only a short time others are enduring often recurring
for a further round.

Virality is not:

● Word of Mouth: Person-to-person recommendation, not
many to many, does not meet the speed and reach criteria

● Memes: A unit of culture spread by copying, modifying, and

imitation. Could go viral as a topic

● Information Cascades: Following the herd, bandwagon,
mimicking, could be part of a viral event but not in and of itself

as typically lacks speed and reach

● Promoted Messages: Though under skilled hands a promoted
message could go viral, such efforts typically explode and die

72
©Business Games Works 2018 (Version 1)