Going Viral

by Karine Nahon, Jeff Hemsley

We live in a world where a tweet can be instantly retweeted and read by millions around the world in minutes, where a video forwarded to friends can destroy a political career in hours, and where an unknown man or woman can become an international celebrity overnight. Virality: individuals create it, governments fear it, companies would die for it. In this important new book, Nahon and Hemsley uncover the factors that make things go viral online. They analyze the characteristics of networks that shape virality, including the crucial role of gatekeepers who control the flow of information. They also explore the role of human attention, showing how word of mouth, bandwagon effects, homophily, and interest networks help to explain the patterns of individual behaviour that make viral events. Drawing on a wide range of examples, this path-breaking account of viral events will be essential reading for students, scholars, politicians, policymakers, executives, artists, and anyone who wants to understand how our world today is being shaped by the flow of information online.

Genres: Nonfiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published October 18, 2013

Reviews

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Você sabe a diferença entre memes e virais? Sabia que eles não são a mesma coisa? Memes podem contem viralidade, mas virais não são memes. Memes, como o da Nazaré que calcula, podem ser remixados e sua estrutura ser usada para diversos signifidados que o seus produtor queira da r em contextos diferentes. Já virais, como o vídeo da Susan Boyle no X-Factor ou o clipe de Gangnam Style são produtos estáticos, estanques, que não mudam e carregam sempre os mesmos sentidos e mesma informação mas com um poder de difusão imenso. Neste livro, os autores pensam a viralidade através das lentes da ciência da informação, cunhando temos como viralidade de network e analisando o papel dos gatekeepers no processo de uma informação ou conteúdo se tornar viral. Eu gostaria que os autores tivesse abordado mais a viralidade dos memes, mas eles se restrigem a uma pequena inserção de texto sobre o tema. De toda forma, é uma importante obra para quem se dedica mais aos virais do que aos memes.

[Aicha ☀️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn’t your typical “how to go viral” manual. Instead, it takes kind of a semi-academic approach to explain what virality means, the different types of it, and how viral dynamics shape and reflect societies. For anyone in the social sciences, this book provides a solid conceptual foundation to think about how information spreads, how trends take off, and how “the viral” can be used as both an object of research and a lens for understanding bigger questions.

It’s not a brand-new book, so by now there’s been more research on the topic (though still limited). But that actually makes it a great starting point if you’re planning to explore the virality of information, especially in political communication, media studies, or digital sociology.

Overall: a thoughtful, accessible introduction if you’re curious about the mechanics and implications of going viral, beyond the buzzword.

[Alex Carlson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has some good core basics into why certain things go viral, but internet platforms evolve so quickly that even though it was published in 2015 a lot of the examples and conclusions already feel dated. The authors approach this topic from a scholarly, rather than business/marketing perspective so it's not a how-to book for internet virality. Rather, it's a well-researched look at what types of content will become widespread online and what categorizes "viral" from merely "popular."

Unfortunately in order for this to be a recommended read, the authors would have to essentially revise it every single year.

[Mike Eccles · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book through the Amazon Vine program. The subject matter sounded intriguing: just why do tweets etc go viral and how does it happen. What I hadn't realised was that the book is very academic in style, despite the author wishing to make the text accessible. There were good insights, but I'm afraid that I'm now past the stage in my life where I read this style for pleasure whilst also learning.

[Alexander Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a strongly persuasive and yet delicate introduction on the social importance and meaningfulness of "viral" information. Although, at this point, many of the popular references are mildly dated, this should be expected in discussing viral events. It is their nature to occur and then all but completely dissolve. Still, it seems there are many open questions on the social influences of viral events yet to be explored.

[Amanda R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book! The writing is clear, the examples demonstrate the key arguments very well, and the breakdown of analysis for what constitutes virality via social media is very compelling. I assigned this to a class on social media I’m teaching and it served our purpose wonderfully.

[Matty Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was AMAZING. I couldn’t recommend it highly enough, especially if you’re into digital marketing. I would consider this a life-altering read. Many thanks to the authors!

[Dirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are few good books on viral content on social networks. Nahon and Helmsley have done a good job to make the reader question some of the wild claims by bloggers and so called viral marketers who clam to know how to design content to go viral. They highlight the social features of of virality and challenge the very analogy of virality by emphasising that content to go viral requires agency, whilst virality suggests an almost automatic process. Nahon and Helmsley also discuss the impact of viral content on individuals, social structure and institutions. The book is a good starting-point for future studies in the sociology of networks and the marketing of social networking sites and social media.

[Jennifer Kanke · Rating 3 out of 5]

The real meat of the book doesn't kick off until the last two chapters, before that anyone with a background in information studies won't find much new. But those last two chapters are worthwhile and have an interesting take on the possibilities of virality. At times there's a naivete about how organizations operate, but sometimes you need that I guess.

[Mills College Library]

302.3 N154 2013

[Giuseppe Veltri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good intro.