Blog Post #11

It was pretty ironic reading about viral marketing on a on a pre-existing social network, which is what viral marketing uses. Kinda trippy. Reading about it made me think about how this kind of marketing and advertising is being actively used everyday. Not only is it popular, but it also seems to be very effective. For example, I am exposed to viral marketing all the time though the site YouTube. I follow multiple content creators on this platform, and some of them have companies who sponsor these YouTubers in exchange for them to advertise their product or service. I can tell you from my own personal expereice, that when someone you follow through media, talks about a companies product, I feel interested in that product. I feel this way for two reasons, the company is funding my favorite YouTuber, and that product itself could be very interesting. It’s like a family member or a friend talking about a good movie that they recommend for me to watch. I would most likely watch that movie than something else like a TV commercial to watch a movie because I don’t have a connection with that movie. I feel that is why viral marketing has such a strong influence towards consumers.