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The New Logics of Viral Media

2021; Springer International Publishing; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1007/978-3-030-80278-3_13

2662-2637

Tony D. Sampson, Jussi Parikka,

Misinformation and Its Impacts

Up until recently, a universal theory of virality seemed to cut a marginal figure in media theory. After all, media and communication studies were supposed to be about establishing connection; not disrupting it! A universal theory was further obscured by the introduction of so-called media viruses and memes, all of which pointed to viral metaphors as a way to understand digital media. The hyperbolic focus on viral metaphors in marketing similarly concealed deeper material levels of virality that required immediate attention. Now, all of a sudden, following Covid-19, viral media stands at the centre of contemporary issues both materially, economically, and socially. Virality is, as such, both entirely relevant and resolutely non-metaphorical.In this reaction to the pandemic, the authors consider how universal virality might continue to spur a range of actions, habits, behaviours and affects that take a hold of bodies in more predictable or previously unimagined ways. On one hand, it is not surprising that the UK government initially opted for a neoliberal version of herd immunity in which collective obligation was pitched alongside business as usual. Moreover, in the wake of global anxiety caused by the virus, we have seen how contagious loops of panic buying and crazy conspiracy theories spread through social media to empty supermarkets shelves and burning 5G masts. On the other hand, the logic of the universal virus might produce novel spatiotemporal realities for collective grassroots systems of care. It could clear the way for some kind of large-scale radical reaction that addresses recent corruptions of the global political scene and its role in quickening climate change and the biodiversity crisis. Ultimately, the question we all need to ask now is: what are you doing after the lockdown? We do not mean this to be a catchy social media meme, or indeed a misquotation of Baudrillard, but instead we propose it to be the looming political question we must all face.