Friday and Virality

Having 15 minutes of fame is so common in our society today. It is so easy for a clip, meme, or vine to go viral super quickly because of the Internet. In addition to the Internet, clips become viral through mass and social media modes of production. These modes of production are assemblages, which are broken down into two articulations. The first articulation includes the mode of communication (the communication of ideas), mode of affect (the way our emotions become focused in the mode of communication), and the mode of accumulation (money, wealth, and power). The second articulation includes the mode of production (social media production), circulation/distribution (the way things spread), and consumption (how things are attained/received). 

In the Paines reading, he discusses vitality in the 18th century, his novel, and how he became a best selling author. Paines' book was not popular to begin with, but through word of mouth, his novel and him as a author in general began to grow in popularity and became viral. 

In society today, the ways in which things become viral has changed immensely. Compared to things becoming viral through world of mouth, things become viral in the 21st century in three steps. These steps include a taste maker, community participation, and an unexpectedness of content. An example of these steps are evident in the viral song "Friday", by Rebecca Black. For instance, Friday was able to reach more people more quickly through the Internet. The song was found off of Youtube, which is an internet-based social medium. By posting the song on Youtube, you are able to reach the community of participation (members of Youtube, people generally on Youtube, and etc.). After this song became popular, it became even popular by people creating parodies. These parodies of the song increased the community of participation. 

In conclusion, I think that the virality of the 18th century does differ with the virality of the 21st century. Things can go viral more quickly and can go to a further distance through technologies and mediums like the Internet. Instead of using word of mouth as the way of vitality, we rely on these mediums instead.