Showerthought: Viral feels totally different now than it did ten years back.

I was watching a clip of that old 'Charlie Bit My Finger' video (remember that?), and it hit me how random viral hits used to be. It was just a home video a dad posted, zero plan, and it blew up because it was weirdly cute and funny. Now, it feels like you need a whole strategy team and a content calendar just to have a shot. Everything is so planned, with hooks in the first three seconds and sounds picked just to ride a trend. Part of me misses that old magic of something just catching fire because it was genuine (or just really odd). But the other part gets that creators today have to fight the algorithm to be seen at all. Is the new way better for making a living online, or did we lose the real spark that made things go viral in the first place? I'm honestly split.

3 comments

3 Comments

adam_dixon911mo ago

Like @thomasmitchell said, it's just more obvious now with the algorithm.

noah_murray1mo ago

Yeah, the "genuine" part is gone, heard it called content farming now.

thomasmitchell1mo ago

But is it really that new? People have always made stuff just to get views, its just more obvious now. Sure there's a lot of bad content out there, but the good stuff still finds its way through. Calling it farming makes it sound way more organized than it usually is. Most of it is just noise you can scroll past anyway.