Reflection on Social Media Case 2: Ellen Degeneres and most Re-Tweeted Photo


Although Ellen’s tweet went “viral” and still holds the record for the most retweeted photo on twitter it doesn’t mean as much as it might with other tweets. For example, Ellen herself already has a very large following and then when you combine her with everyone else in that photo the following is enormous. This photo is going to go viral just because of who is tweeting it. To me someone who starts out with almost no followers like Carter Wilkerson and gets a tweet to 3.4 million retweets that is viral yes, just like Ellen’s but it is more impressive considering where he started from. Viral in this context is a 16-year-old boy getting more retweets based off a tweet about getting chicken nuggets than Ellen and other celebrities did with tweet and a selfie photo.

In this article https://www.lifewire.com/what-does-it-mean-to-go-viral-3486225 it talks about how there isn’t a “secret formula” to going viral and it often times will happen by accident. When I think of a viral video it is usually either something a celebrity put out or a funny/cute/sad video that spread rapidly through Facebook or twitter without meaning to. It also talked about in this article how a celebrity can tweet something quite boring and still gets thousands of retweets and likes but if an average person were to tweet something that gets thousands of retweets you might consider that to have gone viral. Viral to someone with a low amount of followers could be normal to someone that has a large following.

One of the amazing things about social media is the opportunity for someone who doesn’t have a large following to be able to go viral and get a message out into the world. This article http://time.com/3633786/heartwarming-stories-2014/ talks about 10 heart warming stories that became popular on the internet and showed the good in the world. Social media has helped people go viral who need to get their message out. That is one of the good things about “going viral” is the ability others have to help spread messages all around the world.

Comments

  1. chad.artistJanuary 30, 2018 at 9:30 PM

    I enjoyed your first article you referenced. When things go viral it really does just happen by accident and you have to have a lot of luck. Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. karleejoJanuary 31, 2018 at 11:59 AM

    I completely agree with you when you say how Ellen's photo went viral just because of her own popularity. I think it really is more impressive when someone's post goes viral when they have a very small following. It means it really peaked people's interest enough for them to share it, and be not just because the admire the person who posted it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJanuary 31, 2018 at 2:05 PM

    I like how you talked about how both Ellen's post and Carter's post went viral, but it seemed like Carter's was more viral just because he wasn't already famous. In my post I actually didn't even consider Ellen's post to be viral because she is so popular and all of the people in the photo are so popular. However, it definitely would be considered viral when taking into account how fast it got retweeted. I also like how you talked about the opportunity that social media provides to those that aren't popular to be able to get their voice heard. Good post!

    ReplyDelete
  4. DylanSpradlingJanuary 31, 2018 at 4:24 PM

    I really liked your post and your hot links. I believe to when you are not famous already having something go viral is random and out of luck. I also liked how you thought it doesn't mean so much when a celebrity has something go viral because they already have a big following base which makes it a lot easier.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJanuary 31, 2018 at 5:14 PM

    I enjoyed reading the information you found about Carter and Ellen tweets going viral. I do agree with you on how social media has made it easier for the public to get there message out and if enough people like there post it might go viral. Awesome job.

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownFebruary 1, 2018 at 1:58 PM

    Awesome reflection! The additional links gave great insight to the topic!

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownFebruary 1, 2018 at 9:04 PM

    Kind of funny how some videos, pics, and memes can go absolutely viral. Makes me curious to understand the formula more in depth as to why people respond to some videos better than others.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Emily HeatonFebruary 1, 2018 at 11:03 PM

    I loved how you brought up some of the beautiful things the internet has given us and that have become viral. People sometimes focus on the negative sides of social media, but it can be a place where people share really nice things. Thanks for that perspective.

    ReplyDelete

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