“I like turtles”- The Viral Infamy

“I like turtles”- The Viral Infamy

           Just a couple of centuries ago, people were living in their own separate pieces of world. Each of them was an expert in knowing what’s happening in his small town – who’s getting married, who’s moving in, or even, who’s in a good mood and who’s not. In contrary, they were completely blank on something beyond the bound. The Europeans found a new continent, but no one in Asia was aware of it. However, as the media developed, such barriers all over the world started to collapse. People started to receive the news from all around the world within couple of seconds. And this is not the end. Not only important news that would make up the first page of the newspaper, but also trivial happenings without any significance started to spread out virally in the internet. Granted, such phenomenon surely has some benefits. However, the problem is, when such videos are spread rapidly via internet, certain people that are inside the video may be extremely criticized, and as a result, socially alienated.

           In fact, the “turtle boy” could be considered as a beneficiary of the viral videos. His simple three words, “I like turtle”, which would normally provide some chuckles and then be forgotten gave the boy immense spotlight and money. Same case applies to the “Double rainbow guy.” The man’s exclamation on sighting a double rainbow may bring out some laughter from those near him, but that would be it. Nonetheless, with the help of Internet, the Rainbow Man became one of the most nationally-renowned people, and as a result, earned both fame and money. Some even use such aspect of the internet as a chance to achieve their goals: a man uploaded a video of himself following Yuna Kim in the hope of getting recognized and becoming an actor.

           Despite the aforementioned benefits of viral videos, the side-effects that the Internet has should not be overlooked. The suicide rate of Korean celebrities is higher than most countries. Korea also has the highest rate of Internet users. A coincidence? Probably not. There are numerous articles and clips that include uncertified facts or rumors regarding celebrities posted daily in the Internet and there are hundreds and thousands of replies that condemn the celebrity based on such rumors. Moreover, when the video of “Dog poop girl” was posted on the You Tube, the girl was so severely criticized from the people all over the nation that she had to quit her job and stay at home all day – basically a complete alienation from the society.

           The development of the media was apparent during the last hundred years, and the final form of such development is the internet. Although the rapid spread of information – both important and unimportant- through the internet certainly benefits the majority, people should not forget that the Internet is also capable of giving incurable wound to some people.