What Does It Mean To ‘Go Viral’? A Dive Into Internet Fame and Its Evolution

For the record, Kevin Driscoll hasn’t recently started his day dunking his face in ice water and rubbing a banana peel on his skin. 

Just because the University of Virginia media studies professor is an avid social media researcher doesn’t mean he always participates in the latest internet trends. 

“I haven’t been personally influenced in that sense,” Driscoll said with a laugh. “I don’t think any video on Instagram will get me up at 3 a.m.” 

Fitness influencer Ashton Hall’s facial plunge and fruit-related antics are just a few of the quirks featured in his 2-minute, 14-second “morning routine” video that’s racked up more than 9 million views on X and has received more than 3 million likes on Instagram. 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ashton Hall (@ashtonhallofficial)

The post’s widespread reach and various adaptations have unequivocally helped it go viral. It got us thinking – what does “go viral” actually mean?

A short video posted in October from UVA’s Instagram account – of three students jumping in the pool at the Aquatic and Fitness Center because they refused to call Grounds “campus” – has reached 2.6 million views, making it the most viewed post across any of the University’s social platforms. But did it “go viral”?

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by University of Virginia (@uva)

“Going viral is more of a feeling than a number,” Driscoll, the author of “The Modem World: A Prehistory of Social Media,” said. “The mathematical vocabulary is limited because it doesn’t get at the feeling, particularly for someone who made the video or post.

“That person can feel their post going viral because they’re getting all these responses and reposts and it’s happening all at once. There’s not a single number that signifies virality for everybody.”

Kevin Driscoll, an associate professor and the associate chair of UVA’s Department of Media Studies, specializes in technology, culture and communication. (Contributed photo)

Some media and culture scholars push back on using the term “viral” in this context, Driscoll said, because of its medical connotation. 

“It suggests that we’re passive vectors,” he said, “like this thing hit us and we were compelled to pass it on in the way you would if you had this flu or a cold. 

“You don’t choose to spread the cold. But when you’re passing on a meme on the internet, you’re actively choosing to pass it on.”

A virus, though, mutates and evolves, just as Hall’s morning routine post has spread to a range of audiences. 

“Different readers have very different ideas of what it’s all about,” Driscoll said. “For some, it’s just a quirky guy doing some weird thing. For others, it’s aspirational and contributes to this culture that many young men are wrapped up in, the grind-set mentality where everyone is a potential rival to you. 

“There’s the economic component to it, where people are talking about the different brands that appear in this video. There’s also the representation of masculinity and the performance of Blackness in the video. 

“In theoretical terms, it’s an example of polysemy. Just as different readers get different messages from watching the video, they also have different reasons for sharing, commenting, scrutinizing and riffing on it.” 

Because of its vague definition, there’s no single post experts claim as the first to “go viral.” Driscoll, though, says the roots of this phenomenon date to the 1990s when chain emails trended.