Veronica-Pooh Nash Poleate released a summer safety video that quickly became viral in 2015. In the video where she advises viewers on how to stay safe from shark attacks, Poleate combines several characteristics and qualities of a video that would go viral, as discussed by Allocca and Nguyen. The video makes viewers happy, helps in learning, and creates the ‘this is me’ feeling, which is why videos go viral (Nguyen, 2018). It also includes Alloca’s (2012) community participation and unexpected qualities. These features fueled Poleate’s video to spread quickly and harness over 15 million views on Facebook.
Poleate’s language choice was vital in making people laugh, using the word ‘ate’ in the place of ‘eat’ to insist on the meaning. While it is funny, the viral video helps many people learn beach safety rules and avoid shark attacks (Poleate, 2015). In addition, many people identify with eating meat when it is in the house. For example, she explains that when chicken or ‘pigs’ find themselves in her house, she eats them just like a shark would eat a human in its house; the ocean (Poleate, 2015). Since most viewers enjoy meat, they relate to the examples, as evident in the comment section. Community participation was achieved through resonating with the people because her advice followed reports of shark deaths in North Carolina. Therefore, many viewers became part of the video and wanted to share it to help others stay safe.
Poleate’s video success resulted from word choice, the relevance of content, and the timeliness of the subject. Viewers were happy with her words that attracted attention to the idea. Most people could relate to the beach and shark accidents during the summer holidays. She released the video immediately after the news of shark attacks. Therefore, these aspects satisfy some video qualities discussed by Allocca and Nguyen.
References
Allocca, K. (2012). Why videos go viral [Video]. TED Talks. Web.
Nguyen, D. (2018). What makes something go viral? [Video}. TED Talks. Web.
Poleate, V. N. (2015). Summer safety tips! [Video]. Facebook. Web.