Viral

In the context of social media, when something is viral, it is content that spreads very quickly across social media, reaching a huge audience in a short period. It does this mostly by the means of users on these platforms sharing the content themselves via shares, likes, retweets, reposts, and other forms of engagement that one might typically expect in social media. What the content itself is and why it is spreading is the crux of the matter.

Usually, content that is 'going viral' resonates strongly with users for one reason or another. Maybe it is very humorous and everyone feels compelled to share it with their friends. Or perhaps it is extremely creative, and people are just blown away with how relatable and relevant it is to their lives.

Or maybe the content is really shocking and hard to believe, which makes people share it with the hope of getting someone else to believe it too. Or maybe it is a good old-fashioned emotional appeal that makes someone feel something and, consequently, share it in the process of accomplishing some type of 'going viral' feat.