How Should ‘Viral Video’ Be Defined?

Last week I came across ths very old but still valid BBC article attempting to define the term "viral video". This post prompted me to categorize definitions collected in the post as well as look for more definitions. Now, let’s see what I have managed to find (please add any if you know more concepts and approaches).

"[Being] viral is an effect, not a strategy" is the best quote from that article, of course. Really, being called a marketing ‘tactic’, viral video is something we almost never can control because that’s for people to spread it. Therefore, it is hardly a ‘tactic’ or ‘strategy’.

More definitions:

General definitions:

A viral: a "video that spreads quickly via the internet."

Viral – is what people want to talk about:

Of course it’s viral – we’re talking about it, some of us have blogged about it, others have sent the link out.

Emphasis on purpose:

A video… spread by "word of mouth" on the internet or by e-mail for humorous, political or marketing purposes… (via wiktionary.org)

Emphasis on content:

"A virus slowly picks up momentum because people feel they’ve found something which they want to pass on to other people. There’s something about the content that infects them and then they pass that on in a sort of e-sneeze.

"Creating entertaining or informative messages that are designed to be passed along in an exponential fashion, often electronically or by email." (via WOMMA)

This is a guest post by Kate Snow of HomeLoanFinder, the best free Australian-based tool that allows to easily compare variable home loans.