Does "Going Viral" Equal Pop Culture?
Ah, you just went viral on TikTok. What now? Are you trying to go viral again? Are you trying to gain more followers? Does your post have a million hashtags? Are we ever posting online just for ourselves, and not trying to impress anyone or trying to go viral? As I went through this module, one of the top thoughts I had in my head was: Okay, how does pop culture and virality correlate? Is one a byproduct of the other? In my head, I started thinking about the countless TikTok videos (and sounds) that go viral, and why do they? Do these viral videos count as pop culture, or is pop culture and going viral the same thing? In my undergrad, I also studied communications with a further emphasis in media and public relations. One of the courses that came to mind was my social media fundamentals class. Through this course, we discussed why things go viral. The book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger, shares the acronym of S.T.E.P.P.S. and how these are the reasons for why th...