Why videos go viral – a YouTube manager explains

As we discussed in class it is impossible to tell what will make a video go viral. I came across some very interesting and entertaining insights provided by an employee of the online platform that makes it all possible: YouTube.

Kevin Allocca indeed has a very interesting job at YouTube: as a trends manager he gets to "professionally watch YouTube videos". He recently gave a talk at TED about why he believes certain videos are turning into a viral phenomenon. If you don't know TED please make sure to check it out – it offers hundreds of interesting and inspiring talks from the most amazing people. You can watch Allocca's short TED talk here.

Before Allocca shared his insights he explained how the invention of web video was a game changer for the society. Allocca argues that "we all wanna be stars" and that until a few years ago it was almost impossible to make this wish come true. Through online video and platforms like YouTube everything changed: "now everyone or any of the creative things we do can almost instantly become incredibly famous." Of course only a very small percentage of videos ever goes viral. But why does it happen?

Based on his experience Allocca pins down the most important reasons:

• Tastemakers: To make a video go viral there has to be someone who gets it all started. Celebrities who have a huge group of followers on social networks like Twitter and Facebook often are the first step. By simply posting a single tweet TV-host Jimmy Kimmel has already made many videos go viral. Allocca argues that those "tastemakers introduce us to new interesting things and bring them to a larger audience". 


• Community Participation: Once a tastemaker spreads the word, the community takes over. Thus accelerating the process of spreading the content. "A community forms around this shared information and starts to talk about it and to do things with it." A music video is given as an example that now has thousands of parodies on the web. "Unlike the one way entertainment of the 20th century, this community participation is how we become part of the phenomenon by either just spreading the info or creating something new with it. We don't just enjoy now, we participate."

• Unexpectedness: Over 48 hours of video gets uploaded to YouTube alone every minute. Allocca points out that only content that is "truly unique and unexpected can stand out". Being totally surprising, humorous and creative seems to be a good approach. 

At the end of his talk Allocca tries to explain the shift that changed media from a one way into an interactive channel: "These are characteristics of a new kind of media and a new kind of culture where anyone has access and the audience defines the popularity. On the internet no one has to green light your idea... These are not characteristics of old media, and they are barely true of the media today. But they will define the entertainment of the future."


From my point of view these insights add to the ones we discussed in class. It is very surprising and interesting to see which videos went viral and to find out why they most likely did. Just look at the examples given in Allocca's talk and you will be stunned by the impressive statistics. Thus it is 99.9 % impossible to produce a viral video on purpose.

I think that tastemakers might play the most important role for a video to go viral. A tastemaker is a true opinion leader. As a single person a tastemaker has the power to reach out to a huge audience of followers that is eagerly waiting for any new piece of information ...