Has Viral Gone Viral? by Nick Bilton

"When Michael Jackson died last year, it took only minutes for traffic to spike
worldwide on NYTimes.com"  That is shocking


Marshall McLuhan, the famous media professor and theorist: "These new media have made our world into a single unit. The world is now like a continually sounding tribal drum, where everybody gets the message all the time."

In the passage Bilton states, "Today, it seems that everyone can do it". This can not be true. He is neglecting to account for the nearly 60% (http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm) without internet. What does this mean for those people that do not internet access yet? will it be to fast for them when they finally do adopt it, if they do?


"Chatroulette's viral growth, aided by social media, suggests that the already speedy clock of Internet time is running faster than ever". With the background knowledge of Chatroulette becoming very popular, and its decline in popularity in the past few years, do you think these 'virals' are going to come and go at an increasing rate? Since my use of the internet, I've seen viral videos take weeks to gain popularity, and most recently, I've seen viral videos gain popularity over night.

We've seen Facebook, Twitter, AOL messenger, and many other social media sites. Do you think that another social media platform will arise in the near future? Personally, I do not see where it fits, but do you see where something may?