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The whole 'viral' meme is rather arogant - the result is the annoying barrage of meaningless 'updates' or solicitations to contaminate your friends. I find the
by zby 17y ago
The whole 'viral' meme is rather arogant - the result is the annoying barrage of meaningless 'updates' or solicitations to contaminate your friends. I find the 'spreadable' metaphore promoted by Henry Jenkins (http://henryjenkins.org/2009/04/how_sarah_spread_and_what_it_m.html http://henryjenkins.org/2009/04/how_sarah_spread_and_what_it...) much more socially productive.
- jfarmer 17y agoIMO, that's a distinction without a difference. Viral is viral, whether there is agency involved or not. It's about people communicating and behavior spreading through a social network. The downside of forcing virality is reflected in additional metrics like retention rates and engagement.
- zby 17y agoThe difference is in acknowledging that the people spreading the message do that out of their own will - not because they have been contaminated by the meme. In other the 'spreadable' metaphor focuses the thinking on why people want to spread the message, what they get out of it, makes the message author to concentrate on cooperating with the spreaders - instead of trying to contaminate them.