The art and science of going viral in 2025 – Computerworld

00:00 
Keith Shaw: Social media has been around for more than a few decades, but many people and companies continue to fail in their efforts. Is social media more of an art or a science? We’re going to discuss the science of going viral on this episode of Today in Tech.
Hi, everybody! Welcome to Today in Tech. I’m Keith Shaw. Joining me today on the show is Dustin York. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Florida, and Dr. York teaches a class called The Science of Going Viral, part of their communication program. Welcome to the show, Dustin!

00:38
Dustin York: Keith, thank you so much for having me. I hope to change your way of thinking about social media and what college is offering now. I’m excited to get into it.

00:45
Keith Shaw: Well, this is definitely better than the stories I hear about classes that teach Taylor Swift studies or similar “easy” courses. Your class isn’t easy, right?

00:58
Dustin York: I hope to keep your respect by the end of this conversation! Absolutely. We’ll talk about how to beat the algorithm on TikTok, Instagram, and beyond.

01:08
Keith Shaw: All right, cool, cool. Talk about the origins of the class. What were you seeing in the space that led you to create this? You’re currently in your second run of the class, right?

01:25
Dustin York: Correct, correct. Yeah. So first, I’m super into breaking the mold. This is an online class, so the students aren’t physically in a classroom. I always think about how we can bring energy to an online environment, introduce new skills, and address what the industry is asking for.

This idea of content creation and getting content to a million views—traditionally, that hasn’t been taught in college. Social media courses have focused on campaigns and building a following slowly. But I thought, How can we make this online class different?

I brought in what I like to call my celebrity friends—they would call me an acquaintance—but people like Mark Cuban and the Savannah Bananas shot videos for the course, making it a unique experience. The whole course is a 16-week experiment: Can you go viral?

At first, I was a little nervous. As professors, we always feel like we’re super smart, right? But there’s no real-world data to show whether what you’re learning in the classroom works—usually, it’s like, Trust me, in five years, you’ll use these leadership skills. But in this class, students were actively trying to go viral. The data was going to tell us if the class worked or not.

And Keith, I gotta tell you, in that first run of the class, a number of students got a million views. It was a great first offering.

02:45
Keith Shaw: So talk about the makeup of the students in the class. Do they all want to become content creators and influencers, or is there a mix of students who just want to learn the concepts and apply them in other roles after graduation?

For example, my son is a senior in high school and looking at colleges. He wants to go into marketing but doesn’t know exactly what type—maybe sports marketing or digital marketing. I think classes like yours will become part of digital marketing degrees at some point.

Or are your students more like my youngest daughter? When she was 12, she wanted to become a YouTube influencer because she had a couple of viral hits. But then she realized how much hard work it was going to be and gave up on that dream.

03:34
Dustin York: Actually, Keith, same—I’m still waiting for my YouTube channel to blow up!
But when I started teaching the class, I assumed I’d get a lot of influencer wannabes. And there were some. But after the first run of the class, I’d say it’s about a 30/70 split.

Thirty percent of students want to be content creators—they love the camera, they want to be in front of it, and they want to build a brand. But 70% of the students are more like your son. They want to learn content creation so they can work for brands like Oreo, ESPN, or other companies. They’re using the class as a testing ground to build those skills.

04:21
Keith Shaw: Right, right. He wants to do this for a sports team—his favorite right now is the Celtics. But he’s more interested in being behind the camera, coming up with ideas, and driving engagement.

So when you’re teaching the class, has the concept of virality changed over the last 10 to 15 years? YouTube is now 20 years old, Facebook is over 20 years old, and platforms like TikTok and Instagram seem to be where most viral content happens today.

Are there other platforms we haven’t seen yet that could be the next big thing? How has virality evolved?

05:23
Dustin York: The old-school way of going viral—like YouTube in the early days—was totally different. Keith, if you had a viral video on YouTube 10 years ago, you were going to get a book deal, a TV appearance, or even a board game.

Today, no. You can get a million views and be forgotten by next week.

Platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels dominate now, and YouTube is much harder to go viral on. We had a student who got 12 million views on TikTok for a law firm’s content, and she was like, Oh my goodness, what do we do now?

And that’s what we talk about in class: If you go viral on TikTok, that doesn’t necessarily translate to sales or brand growth the way YouTube virality used to. You have to plan ahead: What does your page look like? What’s your bio? What links do you have? What’s the call to action? You can’t just say, Oh wow, I went viral! and expect results.

08:11
Keith Shaw: That’s a really important point. The goalposts keep moving. A million views used to be huge, but now it’s just average.
A few months ago, I was watching the Rose Parade, and they had an influencer as a correspondent. She was a singer-songwriter, YouTube influencer, whatever—and had millions of followers. I had never heard of her. I even asked my kids, Have you heard of this person? And they were like, Nope.

So are people still reaching MrBeast or Joe Rogan levels of fame, or do they need to chase new platforms to make a name for themselves?

09:12
Dustin York: Some will, but it’s much harder now. Think of it like TV in the past—we only had ABC, NBC, and Fox. When cable came around, suddenly there were hundreds of channels, and viewership fragmented.

The same thing is happening now. People don’t all follow the same influencers. Even my college students follow totally different people.

The future is niche. If you’re trying to grow, you have to specialize.

10:17
Keith Shaw: So does that mean if you want to become a viral influencer or content creator, you have to be super targeted in your niche?
I love talking about technology, but that’s a broad topic. Should I just focus only on AI and never talk about social media, security, or other tech topics?

On the other hand, I’m also a dad. I love video games, comic book movies, and anime. I want to be a generalist, but I don’t think I could succeed as one in this online world anymore. Do people ask you about this when they’re trying to define their brand?

11:37
Dustin York: Absolutely. When students come to me with that question, we build out their brand by focusing on a general topic first. You like AI, gaming, and comic books, but you need an entry point that hits the algorithm.

Look at major influencers like Alex Earle or Call Her Daddy. They started with a main topic, but people fell in love with them. Once you have an audience, you can expand into other interests.

12:09
Keith Shaw: But what about those influencers who just repurpose information that’s already out there? That irritates the hell out of me. I try to conduct real interviews and add original insights, but someone else can just react to my content and get more views.

12:22
Dustin York: That’s where packaging comes in. People aren’t just looking for information—they want your take on it.
The way you present content is key. Editing and storytelling matter more than ever. Your enthusiasm should shine in short-form content to hook people into the long-form.

13:32
Keith Shaw: So it’s a mix of long-form plus short-form, right? We take our long-form interviews and create short clips to grab attention.

13:47
Dustin York: Exactly! Here’s a tactical tip: The majority of content consumed right now—61%—is short-form vertical video on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.

But here’s the trick: You won’t build a following on TikTok because people rarely use the “Following” tab. It’s all about the For You feed.

So instead of focusing on followers, use TikTok and Reels to drive traffic to your platform—YouTube, Substack, wherever. That’s the two-step strategy: Hook them with short-form, then move them to long-form content.

14:31
Keith Shaw: Do you find that when companies approach you, they don’t understand this strategy? Do they just say, We want to be viral like [insert influencer here] without understanding the algorithm or engagement strategies?

14:52
Dustin York: All the time. Companies want a plug-and-play formula—just give them a list of hacks, and they expect instant success.
Sure, there are hacks—like making sure your first three seconds are engaging or using trending audio—but if your strategy isn’t authentic, it won’t work.

15:47
Keith Shaw: I call that “chasing the trends” or the “Hello, fellow kids” effect—when companies awkwardly jump on trends that don’t fit their brand. For example, there’s a TikTok trend where people describe their outfits. If I tried that, it wouldn’t feel genuine. But my college-age daughter, who’s in theater, does it naturally.

It seems like brands try to jump on trends way too late. The window to act is minuscule, right?

16:55
Dustin York: Exactly. If you want to trend-jack, you have to move fast. But instead of forcing yourself into trends that don’t fit, why not have a Gen Z intern create content for you?

That way, your channel stays true to your voice, while your intern connects with younger audiences. The algorithm will serve different content to different people based on their interests.

18:13
Keith Shaw: Dustin, I love that you think I have an intern! It’s really just me and Chris behind the camera.
But do you think companies will start buying influencers instead of trying to create them? Like how ESPN hired Pat McAfee instead of trying to replicate his style?

19:08
Dustin York: Yes, and that’s smart. Companies struggle when they try to create an influencer from scratch. It’s like throwing spaghetti at the wall.
Instead, they should either:

Buy existing talent—like ESPN did with McAfee.

Find internal talent and support them—if Walmart has an employee in Minnesota going viral for trick-shot videos, they should invest in that person.

20:30
Keith Shaw: That’s like the music industry now. Labels don’t want to build an artist’s following from scratch. They want musicians who already have a social media presence.

21:32
Dustin York: Exactly. That’s why Lil Nas X changed the music industry. He had a huge social media following before he became a musician.
Record labels now scout for artists who already have an audience. Companies should do the same—find people who are already winning and pour gasoline on their success.

23:06
Keith Shaw: Is this just a young person’s game? Can someone over 40 succeed in this world?

23:21
Dustin York: Age doesn’t matter. Look up Grandma Droniak—she’s an older woman with millions of followers just being her hilarious, genuine self.
Our class’s biggest viral success? A student filmed an older lawyer failing the “broom challenge” (where men supposedly can’t step over a broom). That video got 12 million views! People connected with his personality.

25:55
Keith Shaw: So engagement is the key, right? That’s why I ask people to comment, like, and subscribe—it signals the algorithm.

26:35
Dustin York: Exactly. Engagement drives visibility. People even used to misspell words on purpose just to bait comments correcting them!

27:04
Keith Shaw: I hate when people post riddles or movie clips without revealing the answer, forcing you to check the comments. It feels cheap!

27:40
Dustin York: Those aren’t building a brand—they’re bot farms gaming the system to sell accounts later. The real differentiator is storytelling. AI can’t replicate human storytelling.

34:18
Keith Shaw: Do you track corporate brands in social media? Who’s doing it well?

34:35
Dustin York: Duolingo is amazing. They create uniquely human, unpredictable content—AI can’t do what they do.
Also, Oreo is fantastic. They embrace every new platform feature, knowing that Instagram will push content using its latest tools.

42:28
Keith Shaw: What’s your advice for spotting the next viral platform?

42:28
Dustin York: Every Monday, check your phone’s app store and look at the top 25 free downloads. If an app moves up week over week, get on it early. That’s how you catch the next TikTok before the competition gets too high.

44:12
Keith Shaw: Dustin, this has been an amazing conversation. We need to have you in the studio sometime!

44:27
Dustin York: I’d love that!

48:46
Keith Shaw: That’s it for this week’s show. Be sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and leave a comment. Engage, engage, engage! Join us every week for new episodes of Today in Tech. I’m Keith Shaw—thanks for watching!