Viral news is news that reaches a wide margin of spread on the Internet, almost always circulating on major social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, they are called viral because it behaves like a virus: it goes from one individual to another as during a contagion, spreads quickly and reaches many people.
In principle, any information of sufficient public interest or relevance should be viral; however, the most important information is sometimes “in the background. “On the other hand, there is much less significant information, but it reaches an unexpected level of interest and the worst part is that much of this information is lies or so-called “half-truths”.
“A newspaper always has the same number of words, news or not. “Henry Fielding?
The information industry uses sophisticated algorithms to try to make available what interests everyone, every time you open a social network you provide information about who you are and what you like, even without asking, you start to receive all kinds of news, either because someone shares it or because it appears in their virtual space.
In this way, we end up knowing that one singer has earned a passionate kiss from a fan, that one actor is getting divorced, that another is getting married or that one footballer has decided to change his hairstyle. Without realizing it, you are involved in an information network that has been smart to capture your attention, but that at the bottom offers information that you are not interested in, making you “click” on a link and thus help develop your business.
But how is this goal achieved?How is irrelevant information presented to make it irresistible?
There are several studies that show that most readers focus on the title and first paragraph of the news to determine whether they are interested or not, it is something that the people who make the headlines know very well: they know that a reader will be interested in the news, depending on the attractiveness of the title, so it is not uncommon that there are several titles for the same information , as readers have different interests.
An example is the call? Clickbait? (click on hunt). They use phrases like, “You’re not going to believe what happened to this man when he opened your door. “Instead of presenting the information to you, they hide it from you. And when you take the bait and go read the news, you find that the man has found your cat asleep on the couch.
Once they have managed to get your attention, since you have wondered what the man has found as news, you will realize that the information you were looking for is not at the beginning of the article, but at the end. This is a trick, used to try to maintain or increase your curiosity.
Viral news headlines don’t summarize the essence of the news in one sentence: they want to get your attention, so you’re curious and keep reading. They’re looking for your click. Each click has a monetary value. Usually behind enigmatic or cryptic headlines, there is nothing special and, for the most part, not even the truth.
Viral News uses this murky way of presenting information, but it is also clear that many readers are involved in this plan. As much as they believe that behind the title they read there is nothing surprising, they cannot resist and enter the page it offers. The news. This is something that advertisers know very well, so they insist on the formula. They know the reader can get irritated when he feels he’s been “manipulated,” but they also know he’s likely to read fast and fall back into the same trap.
Inflating and cheating with titles is not the only mechanism used in viral news, who is behind this industry studies in detail the behavior of its consumers, so they found that many people are inclined to “bite” other types of bait.
One is to use images that make a good impression, whether in photography or video, that record the strangest situations and present them as an informative “more”. This industry seeks to awaken morbidity among readers and often succeeds. They also know that most of their users do not like to read and therefore do not hesitate to delay the information that corresponds to the title of the text.
They see no problem lying to achieve their goals. Sometimes it’s a cheeky lie, like saying a famous person is dead even if it’s not true. Other times, this is not a direct lie. What they want is for you to log in to your Page; thus, they receive the corresponding income.
Anyone who is inclined to fall into the nets of this viral news could get a very bad idea of reality. You can also open the floodgates to savor the morbid that will impoverish your intellect and your life. The success of the viral information industries is such that it is great that traditional media has begun to use some of its resources: it is a new form of slavery that we are helping to consolidate.