viral

Etymology

virus + -al

adj

1. (virology) Of or relating to a biological virus.
   viral DNA
2. (virology) Caused by a virus.
   viral infection
3. (computing) Of the nature of an informatic virus; able to spread copies of itself to other computers.
4. (advertising and marketing) Spread by word of mouth, with minimal intervention in order to create buzz and interest.
   Still, the movie Ralph Breaks the Internet] manages to locate some gentle satire in our culture's love-hate relationship with the internet. At one point, Ralph must attain a certain level of viral popularity, assisted by the BuzzFeed-esque content guru Yesss (Taraji P. Henson), and the movie is savvy about how accidental spikes in fame can turn into cynical algorithm manipulation. 14 November 2018, Jesse Hassenger, “Disney Goes Viral with an Ambitious, Overstuffed Wreck-It Ralph Sequel”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2019-11-21
5. (social media) Circulated rapidly and widely from one user to another.
   The end game of that is the GoFundMe link posted beneath a viral tweet so they can pay for their health care. Being an influencer sounds fun until it’s ‘keep producing viral content to literally stay alive.’ 2021-03-24, Charlie Warzel, quoting Anil Dash, “What Are You Paying for When You Buy a GIF for $25,000?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

noun

1. (marketing">marketing) A video, image or text spread by "word of mouth" on the internet or by e-mail for humorous, political or marketing">marketing purposes.
   2002, Nik Lever, Flash Mx Games: ActionScript for Artists, Focal Press, page 411, Using the Flash ActiveX control in this way allows you as a developer to create desktop characters, email virals and screensavers.
   2003, Dave Chaffey, Total E-Mail Marketing, Elsevier, page 2, [M]ost virals are not seen as profiling and data collection exercises, since that would kill the impulse of forwarding to a friend.
   2005, Russell Evans, Practical DV Filmmaking, Focal Press, page 289, Music company virals are becoming commonplace as costs of promos force labels to reconsider how to target more directly to consumers.