Breaking the Internet: How does one go about it?

Viral content is evolving and sprouting new limbs due to the ever-growing nature of the Internet and increased usage of social media. Hence a new form of virality termed “breaking the internet” has emerged. Now I have no idea why someone would want to break the Internet, let alone think they have the black magic required to do so, but apparently it’s possible. Kim Kardashians butt succeeded back in November 2014 causing internet users to have mini strokes at their keyboards and more recently #Thedress destroyed not only the internet but also all of our lives. It was actually Kim K’s Paper magazine spread that coined the phrase “break the internet” and subsequently caused an influx of sharing, re-do’s and commentary overnight. However the buzz didn’t last very long, actually significantly short for viral content. To make reference to it two weeks after its release was seen to be out of touch, but using Chloe we’re going to Disneyland (2013) as a response meme in the current day is no biggie.

So why is this new form of virality so different to original viral content? What differentiates #Thedress from something like Keyboard Cat (2007)

Well, Internet breaking viral content is almost instantaneous in nature, which consequently leads to a very short shelf life. Within as little as a 48 hour period users are being bombarded with almost nothing but this content on all social media feeds, pop culture website and even the news. It becomes so encompassing that other important issues are looked over because Kim K’s butt is blocking up your feed. This incessant stimulation of an individual topic inevitably creates universal loathing in a short period of time, evoking feelings of overdone, overworked and no longer relevant.

Conversely, original viral does not have as quick of an uptake. It can take weeks of exposure to make content mainstream viral, which in turn makes its appearances on social media more sporadic and less dense. Lessened visibility actually lengthens the contents lifespan, as it takes longer for a large audience to view it, thus it takes longer for the audience to get sick of it.

So how does one break the Internet?

The ability to re-purpose, re-interpret or build upon content is a major factor of what makes content go viral or what makes it spreadable. Henry Jenkins, an American media scholar who helped define the idea of spreadable media provides important insight on how users share content:

Consumers, both individually and collectively, exert agency in the spreadability model: they are not impregnated with media messages; they select material that matters to them from the much broader array of media content on offer. They do not simply pass along static content; they transform the content so that it better serves their own social and expressive needs.

So, essentially certain content becomes viral because it allows users to attribute their own or a groups collective meaning to the content. It becomes something personalized to themselves and those they pass it on to. Something such as #thedress sparked conversation and debate amongst users, giving people the opportunity to have an opinion on something that wasn’t heavy or devastating like a lot of current events.

Most content is not produced with the sole purpose of going super viral, although producers for celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, who intend on making content go viral, now have a better handle on how audiences respond and interact with their productions. As Jenkins mentioned previously we are now aware that audiences are not just passing on a message delivered to them, rather they are making it their own. So now intended viral content is being created to appeal to these aspects, instead of creating something to stand alone.

In the age of Web 2.0 there is a proliferation of content creators, so content with such an appealing viral checklist becomes very attractive to them. These creators grab a board an attempt to ride the fame wave by contributing to conversation or reconstructing the original content. This in itself contributes to the spread and visibility of content and answers why new viral content is so present. It’s not just showing up in its original form but in thousands of re-creations. It’s now likely that you will see this breaking the Internet viral content in a re-interpreted form before you actually see the original.

Even a video of teenagers reacting to #thedress got over 3 million views, that proves how much wider of an audience can be reached when content has the ability to be re-created.

So when attempting to create internet breaking viral content make sure it’s something everyone can rip off, give the people what they want! If all else fails whip out your butt and start asking dumb questions.

Also #teamblueandblack duh!