# Viral Video

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viral-video/755801>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 27, 2016, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viral-video/755801 "2016-05-27T11:38:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![stosh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@stosh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stosh)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viral-video/755801/1 "2016-05-27T11:38:34Z")

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What does this mean?  
I see it all the time on news casts.  
How many hits does it take to be " viral" and is there any video that is not " viral"?

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**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viral-video/755801/2 "2016-05-27T12:04:16Z")

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viral in this context: gaining a wide audience by viewers re-publishing the link, as opposed to by the original publisher’s own promotional efforts.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2016, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/viral-video/755801/3 "2016-05-27T13:39:07Z")

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Right, it spreads like a virus, from one “carrier” (audience member) to another. The latest episode of a hot TV show isn’t viral, even though it might be seen by more people, since that’s all from the show’s own marketing. And the anime music videos my friend’s daughter has put together aren’t viral, either, because they haven’t spread significantly at all.