Advantages Of Viral Marketing

In the previous essay, I have analyzed the rapid spread of the WannaCry Computer Virus. I found that the Small World Theory can be utilized to explain not only the few step for something transport from one particular unit to another in a given system but it, in addition, suggests that with the coexistence of both strong and weak links between units, a virus/message can cover a large range of units in short time. The Law of Small Worlds can explain more than those. One example is the viral marketing, which is a rising trend in the advertisement industry nowadays.
People used to promote their products by putting advertisements on mainstream media like TV and newspapers. It is helpful because the message is possible to reach a massive audience

First of all, the number of people in the social media is still increasing. It means that the connected units in the system and their connections will keep increasing, so the potential receiver of the product message will enlarge. The viral marketing strategy will be more profitable in the future, so more and more company will try to use it.
Another advantage of the viral marketing is that it utilizes the social media to activate many weak ties that would fade out in traditional relationships. Everyone can find some once-met "friends" on their Facebook, who they have never seen again. In the traditional relationships, even if people exchange phone numbers, they will just forget about them and they will never be used. But viral marketing does not care whether you remember that person or not, once you post, it will show on your timeline and possibly on your "friend"'s screen. This implies that with the social media's help, the effect of weak ties on Small World Theory will be further strengthened.

What It Might Bring

To attract audiences, the viral ads often use combinations of product information and some social opinions. For example, Dove has been criticized for a seemingly "feminist" advertisement, which is regarded as objectivize women by many people. I have also watched an advertisement on Facebook about a Fiber Drink, which at first made me think it's talking about tolerance to differences, then it changes to free choice, but in the end, it's just about a fiber drink that gets you slim, which makes the whole topics become non-sense. This kind of viral ads abuse the serious social issues and confuse audiences. When people are heavily exposed to these confusing "mixture" of social issues and selling, they might become apathetic to those real issues. Therefore, the impact of social movement may be undermined when people really want to call other's attention in serious