Signal Fall 2020 Newsletter

8 www.alliancecom.net Viral Challenges Can Spread LikeWildfire The fads sweeping social media can be harmless fun—or dangerously dumb What is a Social Media Challenge? A social media challenge typically includes a short video of one or more people doing a specific thing, accompa- nied by a hashtag naming the challenge (for example, #MannequinChallenge). The activity itself can be anything from performing a dance move (like #HarlemShakeChallenge) to having ice water poured over you (as with #ALSIceBucketChallenge). The idea is to record yourself doing the activity, post the video to one or more of your social media accounts (along with the challenge hashtag), then invite your friends and followers to do the same thing. The faster and more widely a challenge gets shared, the greater the probability that it will “go viral” within a short period of time. With the proliferation of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, popular challenges can achieve global reach within a matter of days. What Makes a Challenge Go Viral? While not all social media challenges take off in the same way, all successful challenges share some common elements. Here are a few hallmarks of the top viral challenges: • They’re spontaneous and organic. The challenge is started and shared by an Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last decade, you’ve probably seen this trend on your social media channels: The Challenge. They seem to pop up out of nowhere, then suddenly they’re everywhere. Let’s dig into what makes some challenges so compelling, and why going viral doesn’t always serve the greater good.