The PSY-Gangnam Style video went viral with over 3.2 billion views. Specifically, there are many reasons as to why this video went viral. One thing that contributed to the massive number of viewers was referral. Many people referred their friends to watch the video just because it had gone viral. When something starts going viral, everyone will want to watch and see why the video has gone viral (Guadagno, Rempala, Murphy, " Okdie, 2013). Additionally, people began making their own videos of the same style, which also went viral. In this regard, these individuals were tastemakers who made the video to continue going viral and skyrocket to more than 3.2 views. By sharing with the larger audience, the tastemakers accelerated the process which caused almost half of the world to watch the video (Berger " Milkman, 2013). The community participation helped everyone become a part of the phenomenal by sharing the video or doing something new with this video.
Immediately after the video came up, it caught the attention of various trendsetters who took it upon themselves to share it on other platforms. This ignited the viewership as many individuals rushed to the internet to have a peek at this new sensation. What followed was that many people shared the video on their social media platforms which contributed to more people watching and sharing it also. By the end of the first week, the video had catapulted in regard to viewership and gathered over 10 million views. Over the course of time, the number of viewers continued to steadily rise as the video became a topic of discussion on many platforms. Various remixes made also contributed to increasing the number of viewers as anyone who watched a remix was sure to watch the original version. Today, the video has reached over 3.2 billion views, which is almost half the populace of the whole planet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0
Interview questions
1. What are your career goals?
2. What popular culture is in your immediate industry?
3. Is popular culture something that will affect or influence work in your industry?
4. How does popular culture affect your work?
5. Are there any recent technological advancements in your field?
6. How do these technological advancements affect your industry?
7. Has technology changed anything in the industry?
8. Does the audience influence have any impact in this industry?
9. How do celebrities contribute to this industry in regard to influencing the audience?
10. Does uniqueness affect branding?
The first way one can implement the concepts discussed in class is incorporating them to the industry in a bid to conduct research on how they would perform. The second way is taking the concepts and utilizing them in a specific workplace in a bid to examine the outcome. Finally, these concepts can be implemented by incorporating experts who can work towards analyzing the concepts and how they apply to the industry so that they can be easily implemented. The interview perspective with my classmate has given me more perspective on the influence of media in the entertainment industry. Specifically, the media are gatekeepers who can influence a particular subject or entire industry. What the media chooses to focus on will become relevant to the whole populace. Additionally, the media are also trendsetters who can influence trends in particular industries specifically by putting a spotlight on particular topics that they desire. Lastly, one way that I will continue to stay connected to trends and developments is staying tuned to media channels as well as other media avenues such as the social media platforms. Essentially, it is through this platforms that one connects with the world and knows exactly what is happening in the world in regard to trends and developments.
References
Berger, J., " Milkman, K. L. (2013). Emotion and virality: what makes online content go viral? GfK Marketing Intelligence Review, 5(1), 18-23.
Guadagno, R. E., Rempala, D. M., Murphy, S., " Okdie, B. M. (2013). What makes a video go viral? An analysis of emotional contagion and Internet memes. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(6), 2312-2319.
