Brent Clanfield Post #10

While the word "viral" is beginning to have somewhat of a negative connotation when it comes to the internet and and social media, I believe there are also so many positive examples of things that have gone viral.

There seem to be more and more websites dedicated to crowd funding. I seem to come across them very often on Facebook. While they are sometimes used to help small start-up companies, they have most recently been linked to the many disasters worldwide. Whether it is one of the many shootings that have happened recently, or one of the many hurricanes, GoFundMe campaigns seem to always surface with the goal of helping those affected. One of the most recent campaigns that truly went ultra-viral is that of Houston Texans' football player J.J. Watt. After the hurricane that left Houston devistated, he set up one of these crowdfunding campaigns in hopes of earning $200,000 for his teams city. After this went viral, the campaign quickly exceeded its goal. Because of its success, it went even further viral. Ultimately, the campaign raised over $37 million.

This success would never have happened if it did not go viral. The endless shares on Facebook and retweets on twitter helped the campaign exceed expectations. I believe this is an amazing example of the positive power of social media and technology. While the viral social media machine can also do meaningless things like make a boy yodeling in a Wal-Mart aisle end up performing at Coachella and be on Ellen, it also can do very powerful things like help those in need.

Now, maybe these viral campaigns truly spread awareness and get people motivated to help, or maybe they simply guilt people into helping because they just saw their random cousin repost it and say they contributed, so they have to also. Either way, I really think the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to these viral moments. Plus, they provide a positive news story to brighten up the headlines.