Categories: Articles

The Importance Of Viral Videos… Or Not

Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 5 to 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly to SoundCloud, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed:

Do viral videos still have any value to brands and businesses? We live in a world where videos get million of views one day and disappear within a few hours. It used to be that viral videos took time to have any traction. Now, in the real-time world of the “now,” what is the half-life and the value of it? Also, isn’t it strange how videos that went viral a few years ago, can now make a comeback in places like Facebook and, suddenly, it has a second life.
You will never leave Facebook… ever again. Last week, the online social network launched something called, Instant Articles, which allows publishers like the New York Times, National Geographic, and the Atlantic to not just have an article attached with a link to a piece, but to embed and design their articles directly on Facebook. This is a contentious issue. While it seems good for users, the publishers are now trapped on Facebook. Facebook keeps the reader, the data and everything else. All the publisher really gets is access to an audience. This is strange, if you consider that the publisher’s historical power was always the ability to deliver an audience to an advertiser. Confused? You should be!
App of the week: The Great Suspender for Google Chrome browsers.