Only Crap Goes Viral on Facebook

Sunday, 20th January 2013

ONLY CRAP GOES VIRAL ON FACEBOOK – There are in fact many useful photographs, images and messages achieves viral status on Facebook and indeed other social networks such as Twitter.  The issue here is why does so much of what goes viral is simply garbage, crap and of little or no use to anyone?

I recently watched, and wept, a video that was created by a young mother with heart disease.  This idea of the video was to try and find a new heart and the cost of surgery.  Unfortunately, the young mother of two adorable young children passed away shortly after making the video and posting it on YouTube.

This type of message I find not only acceptable but also extremely useful – we do have the ability, through the social networks, to help one another is ways that are totally life changing.

On the other side of the spectrum are messages, such as the recent one posted by a young man, The picture of Petter Kverneng, 20, from Norway.  As you can see from the image below, his goal was to achieve one million Facebook likes in order that his long time female friend would have sex with him.

Not only do I find this offensive, but it must have been terribly degrading for the young woman, as this is little more than prostitution – agreeing to have sex if he achieves the required number of likes, is little more than a type of payment, in which Facebook users appeared all too willing to support.

With the incessant amount of crap and utter garbage that gets posted on the social networks, is it any wonder why some are now abandoning their accounts?  When you hear about and see the volumes of nonsense being propagated on the web you surely have to stand back and ask what type of civilized society we have become.

The internet and indeed the social networks are capable of delivering so much useful content and the ability to help others.  However, with the amount of time wasting rubbish and the increasing abuse some users are subjected to by ‘Trolls’ is the internet and the social networks any place that a decent human being should be using.

Like a billion other people on the planet I have a Facebook account, however I only ever use it to spread, what I view as, useful information.  I have exactly 48 friends on my account and I never add people that I do not directly know – in other words, friends of friends, are never added unless I have met them.

Of all the information I post on Facebook I have never once had anything go viral and in fact if a particular item received one or two likes I would be pleasantly surprised.  What is astonishing, is the amount of utter crap my friends engage in and how they appear to relish sharing it.  Maybe it’s just me, but I fail to see the significance of how a young man wants to pursue the defiling of his friend and their friendship, as above, in the pursuit of simply getting laid – this is not only degrading to his friend but it is also highly irresponsible for those that shared it on their social networks.

The conclusion is that very little of what is worthy of going viral ever really does but if you do want something to go viral then make it as crap, stupid and degrading as possible and you can guarantee that the sick users of Facebook and the other social networks will happily oblige in sharing your crap.

This is yet another article that I have written in the hope people will see sense and share it.  Will it go viral?  Not a chance.