1-800-HOTLINEBLING

                 Recently, Drake's "Hotline Bling" music video created a frenzy across social media platforms as Internet users had a field day creating parody's based on Drake's strange dance moves in the video. Within a matter of hours there were numerous variations of the video floating around the Internet across social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Vine, etc. With the emergence of social media the ability of rapidly sharing content across transnational borders has become increasingly easier. With that being said, the concept of media content reaching a viral level dates back to the 18th century, as seen in Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense. Within ten days, Common Sense had been distributed to New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts as the pamphlets were shared with families, friends, and colleagues (Standage 141) while also being shared in the post as well as through the political sphere. Additionally, Paine increased the rapid spread of his pamphlet by allowing an increasing number of printers to copy it as they flooded in to capitalize on the popularity of Common Sense (Standage 143). Through a comparison of the aforementioned rapid dispersement of media in the 18th century to the contemporary means of content going viral, differences can be seen. In today's digital society, content is shares through the Internet in which has a much larger reach than word-of-mouth or the sharing of physical media does. A YouTube video, such as Drake's "Hotline Bling," can reach millions of individuals in a matter of hours.                
                 Moreover, Kevin Allocca defines the concept of going viral as occurring when three things occur, "1) The content is introduced into the mediascape by a 'taste maker'; 2) Community participation that creatively transforms original content; and 3) The content must be 'unexpected' or novel." Allocca's ideas are evident through the virality of Drake's "Hotline Bling" parody videos as Drake can be seen as the 'taste maker,' the Internet community transformed the original content into humorous remakes, and the created content was always different, creative and unexpected. 

                  Although the concept of virality has existed for many years, it has evolved drastically in terms of production, consumption, and reach, through our technological advances.

Check out my favourite parody of "Hotline Bling," that appeared on the Ellen show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLveuzoauBo