In the Byzantine Empire during the sixth century, one of the first recorded instances of what many historians have generally identified as the bubonic plague (or more specifically Justinian’s Plague) brought devastation to the Eastern Roman Empire of the late antiquity period in more ways than one. The immediate effects of the plague were seen and felt by almost everyone alive at the time. At the height of virulence, everyone in and around the empire had seen at least half of their friends and loved ones succumb to the pandemic. Due to shortage of land to bury the dead, streets were littered with stacks of dead, rotting corpses.
Plague at Ashdod
Following this first pandemic, survivors – Justinian included – made efforts to rebuild and restructure their empire and its economy but due to the latent effects of the plague, the empire would never fully recover or return to the level of prosperity it once enjoyed. In keeping with points made by Oldstone about viruses and their long-lasting effects on major events and decisions in history and economy, I think it is exemplary of the basic viral-to-host transaction that the bubonic plague, generally believed to have reached Byzantium due to the far-reaching nature of its then thriving economy (trade with neighboring areas, etc), ultimately weakened the same economy that allowed it to spread so quickly in the first place. Should all past, present and future major outbreaks of viruses/plagues be viewed, not as an anomalies, but as inevitable – part and parcel of human advancement much in the same way immunization is devised to combat them?
Biological or (more important and pertinent) computational, is the virus solely responsible for successfully infecting and altering a host cell or should the environment that allows it to spread rapidly be credited for however high a level of virulence the virus is able to achieve? In the specific case of memes in meme culture, how much credit should be given to a video that goes viral for having the right qualities/ingredients to make it go viral? and how much credit should be given to the platform on top of which the video was able to spread so quickly? Does the nature of that platform change over time to reflect the long-lasting effects of highly successful memes on pop and internet culture?
Successful memes go viral, less successful memes don’t. What is the deciding factor for judging a meme as successful or as an isolated incident? Is it quantitative? Is it based on how the meme originated (from an outside agent or as part of the internet turning on itself)? Should a distinction be made between memes that spring up “naturally” (genuinely born on the web… eg: “double rainbow”) and memes that are “manufactured” (perhaps as part of a carefully constructed marketing campaign with deliberate “going viral” potential… eg: “old spice guy”)?
Top 10 Worst Plagues in History
Viruses and plagues are inevitable in nature. We interact and coexist with viral and bacterial elements daily, and as human beings we tend to tamper with and push our ecological system to the limit (i.e. pollution, overcrowding, deforestation of the rain forest, etc.…), Without full comprehension of how nature operates coupled with blatant disregard, backlash is likely to occur. In the small city of Golden Square, one acre of land housed as many as 432 people. (The Ghost Map) This essentially created a breeding ground for plagues and disease to flourish. Without proper sanitation practices, human waste was poured into the streets, gulley holes and ponds, and eventually found its way into the drinking water. This created a breading ground for cholera and upon ingestion led to a devastating outbreak in Golden Square. Overcrowding, in conjunction with a contaminated water source decimated the London population.
With regards to social media I think there is a similar correlation. When creating a meme, there has to be blatant disregard for whether or not a video will be well received, coupled with viewers finding strong commonalities by which to attract their attention i.e. same sense of humor, similar life experiences, similar music genres, etc.… When memes become forced (trying to find the perfect ingredients to create a viral piece) they fall short (number of hits, news coverage, blog posts, etc.…).
Interesting commentary on intent, Lauren. Consider breaking your response into paragraphs to make for easier reading.
Olu, the biological viral phenomenon and its pathway to success via expanding routes of commerce and travel among humans relates precisely to the topics of study in last semester’s class via the SPAM book and online anomalies. As you well know, as trade routes expanded and gave the Byzantine civilization a reason to celebrate, those same conduits opened the floodgates to sharing more than just trade goods. It’s one more example of how of all the things that happen in life, rarely can events, people, etc. be classified as absolutely good or absolutely evil.
Be that as it may, I find it fascinating that we are starting with the origins of the things called ‘virus’ and ‘viral’, i.e., the biological roots of the concept. The metaphor, while not applicable in a one-on-one ratio to viruses and viral media in the digital realm, nonetheless proves itself a more than adequate foundation for exploring and understanding these phenomena. Oldstone’s book is certainly good, but Johnson’s (‘Ghost Map’) exceeded my expectations as a true page-turner.
Before I digress to any more side topics, I wish to address your question about the element or factor that determines whether a media object goes viral or a meme succeeds. For me, I am equally intrigued about this topic as you. In this case, we can turn to the book and our class discussion for possible answers. That is, starting on page 12 of the book, Oldstone begins to detail the numerous steps involved in order for a virus to survive in nature (manage outside its host) and replicate (proliferate once it infects its host). I won’t rehash those steps here, the point being that they all demonstrate that we cannot point to one single factor in a virus’s success. In the case of a media object going viral, it takes a “perfect storm” of factors – distribution over digital networks to populations who may or may not pass it on, an object that clicks with or plugs into a cultural zeitgeist at the right point in time, etc. – to make it flourish. (Not that I intend to jump ahead, but …) Ghost Map continues what Viruses, Plagues, & History started by illustrating in morbidly fascinating detail all the elements that come together under the right conditions at the right time to render a cholera outbreak in 1854 London a massive success as far as bacteria are concerned. In short, the question you ask is an easy one to make, but there is ostensibly no easy, simple answer to it. I’m willing to bet that by the end of the semester, after we have thoroughly examined numerous factors that go into viral media, this is a question we will continue to ask ourselves. Isn’t that almost always the way studies of phenomena in human culture go?
Great response, Matt. “The perfect storm” is a great analogy to think about why some things go viral while others languor in obscurity. Nice application of Johnson too.
Great first post, Olu. The post is well-written, expands upon the reading, and includes many of the formal properties that make blog posts unique. Keep up the good work!
One request, Olu – please adjust the time zone setting of your blog so that it reflects central time. Thank you.