Description
Book SynopsisWe live in a world where a tweet can be instantly retweeted and read by millions around the world in minutes, where a video forwarded to friends can destroy a political career in hours, and where an unknown man or woman can become an international celebrity overnight. Virality: individuals create it, governments fear it, companies would die for it.
Trade ReviewGoing Viral has won the 2014 Best Book Award by ASIS&T (Association of Information Science and Technology), and was named an Outstanding Academic Title by Choice Magazine (Association of College and Research Libraries).
"This concise and insightful book targets a niche topic in the studies of digital media that is becoming increasingly relevant to the public. It considers many questions and successfully accomplishes what it sets out to do. Students of media, digital worlds, and information will not be disappointed."
—LSE Review of Books
"Virality is what make societies click at the pulse of the Internet. It is at the heart of the new forms of commerce, culture, media, social movements, and politics. This pathbreaking book explains what it is, how it works technologically and socially, and draws out the implications of this process for social change. It is a major contribution to network theory and to the understanding of the network society."
—Manuel Castells, University of Southern California
"Ever wonder why a video, meme, or idea spreads like wildfire online? In 'Virality', Nahon and Hemsley examine the technology, social practices, and cultural conditions that enable media to go viral. This illuminating book gets beyond marketing hype to provide critical insights for understanding the powerful phenomenon of virality. This is a must-read for anyone trying to make sense of how information flows in a networked world."
—Danah Boyd, Microsoft Research
"From Rosa Parks to Gangham style--a fascinating look at a defining phenomena of our age- virality, spreading, winner-take-all success. It is more than a fad-- Going Viral offers a compelling argument that viral processes are here to stay, and they are an essential feature of the online fabric."
—Albert-László Barabási, Northeastern University
Table of ContentsList of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
Prolog
Cover Art
1 Introduction: Virality of pets and presidents
2 What Virality is: I know it when I see it
3 What Makes Something Viral I: The control of networks through Gatekeeping
4 What Makes Something Viral II: What is everyone looking at?
5 What Makes Something Viral III: Caught in the Viral Net!
6 Networked changed societies
7 Afterlife
Bibliography
Notes
