第2476期:What makes something go viral?

What do these three things have in common: a grumpy baby, Harry Potter puppets singing, and a challenge where you pour a bucket of icy water over your head? The answer – they have all 'gone viral'. 

这三件事有什么共同点：脾气暴躁的婴儿、哈利·波特木偶的歌声以及将一桶冰水倒在头上的挑战？答案是——它们都“病毒式传播”了。 

The world is becoming more and more digital, and we can't stop it. While growing up, instead of wanting to be a doctor or a teacher, some now aspire to be an influencer or content creator, maybe in the hope of suddenly capturing widespread attention. It's generally agreed that if your content reaches over 1 million views in a week or less, you have 'gone viral'. So, how does virality happen? 

世界变得越来越数字化，我们无法阻止。在成长过程中，有些人现在不再想成为一名医生或教师，而是渴望成为一名有影响力的人或内容创造者，也许是希望突然引起广泛的关注。人们普遍认为，如果您的内容在一周或更短的时间内浏览量超过 100 万次，那么您就已经“病毒式传播”。那么，病毒式传播是如何发生的呢？ 

The marketing tech company Unruly analysed over 400 billion videos and found that emotional connections, like humour and shock value, resonate the most strongly. These emotional elements drive us to share that content with others, and the more shares we have, the more seen that content will be. We should also think about why people want to share content in the first place. Dr Jonah Berger, a Marketing Professor at the Wharton School, says "Sharing allows us to feel connected to others. We share emotions, which allow us to deepen the bonds we have with our peers and with our friends". So, while we may be behind a screen, we're still online because we want to connect and communicate with others, and going viral is driven by organic sharing, just like word of mouth but in a digital sense. 

营销科技公司 Unruly 分析了超过 4000 亿个视频，发现幽默和震撼价值等情感联系最能引起强烈共鸣。这些情感元素促使我们与他人分享该内容，我们分享的内容越多，该内容被看到的次数就越多。我们还应该首先考虑为什么人们想要分享内容。沃顿商学院营销学教授 Jonah Berger 博士表示：“分享让我们感受到与他人的联系。我们分享情感，这让我们加深与同事和朋友的联系。” 因此，虽然我们可能在屏幕后面，但我们仍然在线，因为我们想与他人联系和沟通，而病毒式传播是由有机共享驱动的，就像数字意义上的口碑传播一样。 

Though there are other things to consider. Datadab, a marketing agency, says that our brains are wired to enjoy and recognise patterns, which they say is why internet memes often go viral. If we are already familiar with a theme, like a recognisable image on a meme, then it doesn't take long for us to understand the context of a new caption, which our brain enjoys and makes us more likely to share it. 

尽管还有其他事情需要考虑。营销机构 Datadab 表示，我们的大脑天生喜欢享受和识别模式，他们说这就是互联网迷因经常流行的原因。如果我们已经熟悉一个主题，比如模因上的可识别图像，那么我们不需要很长时间就能理解新标题的上下文，我们的大脑喜欢它，并使我们更有可能分享它。 

Timeliness and relevance are also crucial. Content that is relatable, or that aligns with current trends, captures more interest and encourages more sharing. So, combine all of these factors and you could have content that goes viral. 

及时性和相关性也至关重要。相关的内容或符合当前趋势的内容会吸引更多兴趣并鼓励更多分享。因此，将所有这些因素结合起来，您就可以获得病毒式传播的内容。