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Why Weird Content Goes Viral On The Internet

April 29, 2022 | by

People are a body of complex nodes connected to each other in ways we can’t sum up. Every individual drifting on a daily routine feels the need to break the monotony to embrace happiness within themselves. So, they turn to viral content for their fill for entertainment!

Funny posts can go viral overnight. However, have you ever wondered why weird stuff is searched on the internet in the first place? Could it be the tastes of a demographic of people or mere boredom? Or could it be that people just want to stay on top of the news and not miss out on whatever is trending? 

Read along to know HOW VIRAL CONTENT WORKS ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

  • The guilty pleasure of annoying people

This comes with the territory of being an entertainer.  

To the ones who find solace in being the annoying one in the gang, this title SALUTES you!  

These are the ones who will reshare funny, weird or vague content that might not necessarily entertain their friends but means no harm.  

People turn to social media in their pastime and the internet gives them the freedom to do so. The cringe-worthy levels on social media are high, but people give into it knowing that deep down you only want to feed your curiosity and nobody wants to be left out. Social Media is full of cringeworthy content. 

This is one of the reasons why Dhinchak Pooja and ‘Chai Pilo aunty’ got famous in the first place.  

Referring to ‘Chai Pilo Aunty,’ do you remember the woman who made those pointless videos while cooking or sipping her tea? People dubsmashed her videos, added a storyline, made fun of cricketers and Aunty was all over social media! People may have hated her, but those people used it to annoy their friends and shared this kind of content making it viral.

  • Following the trend

Trends are a subject that experiences a surge in popularity on social media for a limited period of time. If something is trending then it’s for sure making people relate to something or makes them want to follow the trends.  

Some clever marketers use trending topics to market their brands and products. We have given these examples ahead in the blog.

  • FOMO

There was a recent trend of social media called the 10 Year Challenge.

In this trend, people posted a picture of themselves from ten years ago and compared it to the current day. We’re not sure how this trend started, but soon, we saw people hopping onto the bandwagon making reels of their own. People everywhere uploaded it on their social media and celebrities were no exception to this!   The videos contained everything from parents, babies, kids, pets and everything that made you smile, looking behind.  Some posted videos of them leisurely doing stupid things, ten years ago, and we’re more than glad for people to see them without missing the opportunity to follow the fun trend.

  • Evokes an Emotional Response

Our brains are wired to react to emotions that we can easily relate to. 

For instance, during the demonetization in India, there was a public dilemma and people were lashing out in different ways all over social media. What was funny to watch, in this case, was the outburst of his anger that we all experienced at some place to some degree.

A popular example is – Will Smith’s fiasco with Chris Rock at the Oscars, 2022.

Driven by impulse and acting out of rage, Will Smith smacks Chris Rock, the presenter of the Oscars, 2022, for making a joke out of his wife’s disease. Although, this may seem justified logically, he received a real lash out on social media for his violent impulse.  

People took to this on public platforms and social media. The next thing you know, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram were storming memes of Will Smith’s reaction and made videos and memes that went viral! 

  • Reshares and Word of Mouth 

Word of mouth gives customer experience or recommendations a major boost. If something aligns with the audiences’ experience, they will use and recommend it to their friends and the chain goes on.  

Almost all the social media platforms take into consideration the time involved in posting something and engaging the audience with it.

HOW BRANDS USE VIRAL CONTENT TO MARKET THEMSELVES

Remember ‘Bachpan Ka Pyar’? Do you know how it all started? 

There was a kid who sang a song in his slurry accent. His teacher filmed a video of him singing. Two years down, after it traversed half the nation through social media, the video was discovered by the Indian musician Badshah and he gave the boy a spotlight.  

Sahadev Dirdo is the boy who sang ‘Bachpan ka Pyar’. 

This was seen by everyone and MG Hector used this to their advantage.  

They took this opportunity to market themselves by gifting the boy a car and the news was public. Whether the boy got the car or not is completely another thing! This surely was a marketing stunt by MG Hector.  

 

Another example is Tiger Shroff’s dialogue in the movie Heropanti – ‘Choti Bacchi Ho Kya?’ The meme has become more popular than the movie itself!  

A few other examples are stated below —

  • When Zomato gives its take on the trend.
  • When HDFC plays a fiddle with the trend!
  • The KFC in Bartlesville Oklahoma is savage.
  • The Events Couture’s take on Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter

DECODING VIRAL CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA

So, basically, we have decoded the reasons why content goes viral and how brands and businesses benefit from it. 

Here, we’ll take the instance of Will Smith who acted violently on national TV. 

Element of surprise – No one was expecting the assault that followed after the offensive joke was uttered from Chris Rock. Everyone was taken by surprise at that! 

Backstory – The backstory here was Jada Pinkett Smith’s disease that she was fighting which turned out to be the reason for the offence.  

Emotional connection – After swearing and reacting out of the blue, the viewers instantly empathized with Chris Rock. Soon, there followed a serious backlash from the global audience. No one wants to be in a position like this awkward one in front of a global audience.

CONCLUSION

Love me or hate me, both are in my favour. If you love me, I’ll always be in your heart. If you hate me, I’ll always be in your mind.

Whether or not you like it, we live in a world full of consumers and this means people choose to do what they want while resonating with it. 

Trends keep updating every month. So, nothing stays constant. Content always comes freshly brewed and the audience has sufficient meat to feast on. 

So, tune into the trends available at hand and follow Deffective Duo where we break down more insights on everything that helps your brand stand out and stay up to date on all marketing trends!

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