In this Ted Talk by Dao Nguyen, she talks about what makes things go viral. Dao Nguyen is a publisher at Buzzfeed and she explains why many of their posts go viral. The main theme in her talk is that things go viral because of how it makes the viewers feel. People are more likely to share things that they can relate to, male them feel good about themselves, or funny. She discusses content cartography and how things have a job for the reader/viewer. The speech did a great job at expanding my knowledge about the subject. Everyday there is something online that goes viral. The question of “how does something go viral” is best explained by telling why something goes viral. It is more about what people are thinking and feeling rather than what is actually happening in the video or post. I like this topic because it is something that I see in everyday life. Most things go viral on social media which I personally use everyday and since it is a way to connect people most memes go viral because of the connection people make to themselves or others in their life. One of the viral Buzzed videos she discussed was the watermelon and rubber bands video which I actually watched when it first happened. She explained how it was the anticipation of seeing what will happened that kept us watching. Dao Nguyen also made the point that people like to feel like “this is me” or be able to humble brag, this is something that I do and see other do. How many times have you commented on a post or sent something to your friend saying “this is so me”?
The speaker did a great job organizing her speech. Everything flowed together and the visuals worked very well with her presentation. She didn’t didn’t just speak just to give a speech, she presented her topic. I like how she “warmed up” the audience by giving an anecdote first. She told a short story that related to her topic then explained why it was important. The difference between delivering a speech and doing a presentation is that with doing a speech you just cite your thesis and speak about your topic. With a presentation you have visuals and find a way to interact with your audience. Overall, Dao’s presentation definitely made me understand more about vitality and how the subject has a specific job for the viewer or reader.