Evaluating the effect of viral posts on social media engagement
Abstract As virality has become increasingly central in shaping information sources’ strategies, it raises concerns about its consequences for society, particularly when referring to the impact of viral news on the public discourse. Nonetheless, there has been little consideration of whether these v...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84960-6 |
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| author | Emanuele Sangiorgio Niccolò Di Marco Gabriele Etta Matteo Cinelli Roy Cerqueti Walter Quattrociocchi |
| author_facet | Emanuele Sangiorgio Niccolò Di Marco Gabriele Etta Matteo Cinelli Roy Cerqueti Walter Quattrociocchi |
| author_sort | Emanuele Sangiorgio |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract As virality has become increasingly central in shaping information sources’ strategies, it raises concerns about its consequences for society, particularly when referring to the impact of viral news on the public discourse. Nonetheless, there has been little consideration of whether these viral events genuinely boost the attention received by the source. To address this gap, we analyze content timelines from over 1000 European news outlets from 2018 to 2023 on Facebook and YouTube, employing a Bayesian structural time series model to evaluate the impact of viral posts. Our results show that most viral events do not significantly increase engagement and rarely lead to sustained growth. We identify two primary types of viral effects corresponding to different mechanisms of collective attention response. A ‘loaded-type’ virality manifests after a sustained growth phase, representing its final burst, followed by a decline in attention. A ‘sudden-type’ virality, with news emerging unexpectedly, reactivates the collective response process. Moreover, quick viral effects fade faster, while slower processes lead to more persistent growth. These findings highlight the transient nature of viral events and underscore the importance of consistent, steady attention-building strategies to establish a solid connection with the user base rather than relying on sudden visibility spikes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-33bb2e9230b543c2b3a76105c1b1f8f1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-33bb2e9230b543c2b3a76105c1b1f8f12025-01-05T12:14:07ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-01-0115111110.1038/s41598-024-84960-6Evaluating the effect of viral posts on social media engagementEmanuele Sangiorgio0Niccolò Di Marco1Gabriele Etta2Matteo Cinelli3Roy Cerqueti4Walter Quattrociocchi5Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of RomeDepartment of Computer Science, Sapienza University of RomeDepartment of Computer Science, Sapienza University of RomeDepartment of Computer Science, Sapienza University of RomeDepartment of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of RomeDepartment of Computer Science, Sapienza University of RomeAbstract As virality has become increasingly central in shaping information sources’ strategies, it raises concerns about its consequences for society, particularly when referring to the impact of viral news on the public discourse. Nonetheless, there has been little consideration of whether these viral events genuinely boost the attention received by the source. To address this gap, we analyze content timelines from over 1000 European news outlets from 2018 to 2023 on Facebook and YouTube, employing a Bayesian structural time series model to evaluate the impact of viral posts. Our results show that most viral events do not significantly increase engagement and rarely lead to sustained growth. We identify two primary types of viral effects corresponding to different mechanisms of collective attention response. A ‘loaded-type’ virality manifests after a sustained growth phase, representing its final burst, followed by a decline in attention. A ‘sudden-type’ virality, with news emerging unexpectedly, reactivates the collective response process. Moreover, quick viral effects fade faster, while slower processes lead to more persistent growth. These findings highlight the transient nature of viral events and underscore the importance of consistent, steady attention-building strategies to establish a solid connection with the user base rather than relying on sudden visibility spikes.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84960-6Social mediaViralityAttention economy |
| spellingShingle | Emanuele Sangiorgio Niccolò Di Marco Gabriele Etta Matteo Cinelli Roy Cerqueti Walter Quattrociocchi Evaluating the effect of viral posts on social media engagement Scientific Reports Social media Virality Attention economy |
| title | Evaluating the effect of viral posts on social media engagement |
| title_full | Evaluating the effect of viral posts on social media engagement |
| title_fullStr | Evaluating the effect of viral posts on social media engagement |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluating the effect of viral posts on social media engagement |
| title_short | Evaluating the effect of viral posts on social media engagement |
| title_sort | evaluating the effect of viral posts on social media engagement |
| topic | Social media Virality Attention economy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84960-6 |
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