Pepper-spray, of all things, became an “interesting” subject all of a sudden, last week. And people are still talking, sharing and tweeting about it. Why? There is no real reason. No scientific discovery around that. No one promoting a new brand in that category. There is nothing to say about it. There never has. It is NOT an interesting subject. And still – pepper-spray has gone viral! One little insignificant incident [in the bigger scheme of things] triggered a whole spur of posts, tweets, shares -this one included. It just “happened”. Viral. No one “pushing” it.
I compare the John Pike pepper-spray viral to “the Man Behind Omar Sulaiman” video. Two “viral” waves of this year, similar in how they unfolded, although totally unrelated. What exactly spurred the viral phenomenon in each case is still a black box -at least to me. Potentially a few people that thought it might be interesting to spread it, then a few geeks that made a spoof, then a few other sharing the previous and so forth and so on. That’s my interpretation.
WIKIPEDIA has a nice “summary” on it; read it here.
Lt John Pike.
*The trigger: Friday 18th of November, 2011. An average lieutenant makes a little mistake he will regret for the rest of his life. See for yourself:
*The viral effect: it started “accidentally” by someone starting to tape the above action. Early outrage made people share the home-video, and off we go. Brilliant spoofs as an effect. The “viral spark” [(c) Kurt Frenier] was the nonchalance, the oblivions, the don’t-care-attitude of the cop.
One of the funny tumblr handles: http://peppersprayingcop.tumblr.com/, and more of the fun pics: http://boingboing.net/2011/11/20/occupy-lulz.html
The Man Behind Omar Sulaiman.
*The trigger: February, 2011. A mysterious unknown man stands behind Egypt’s Vice-President Omar Sulaiman during his speeches addressing the unrests in Egypt.
*The viral effect: Facebook pages, Twitter handles, hundreds of pictures putting the mystery man in different historical and fictional settings, jokes and speculations about his identity. The “viral spark” [(c) Kurt Frenier] here is the numb look on the guys face.
What do we learn about this phenomenon?
It seems to me that viral happens when serious situations need to be shared, but not just as-is… rather with a pitch of salt. Is it because it makes it more palatable? Because making it fun makes it less “damaging” when it goes around? Well, I just don’t know….
Does anyone have a deeper insight in how “viral” unfolds and spreads? Why is a sneezing panda or a juggling cat or a pepperspraying cop so interesting? Please do share!
I’d really like to understand this phenomenon better…
<ADDED MAY2012> :
Thank you for reading this post,
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
You got a really useful blog. I have been here reading for about an hour. I am a newbie and your success is very much an inspiration for me.
many thanks!
keep reading.
and follow me on twitter (@kurtfrenier)
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