"Viral" is a term that has two connotations. It is a word that can raise either excitement, or fear, depending on the context in which it is spoken. The principle that the term describes is one of mass, self perpetuated proliferation, and the model looked to, of course, is the virus that penetrates the human bio defenses and invades the body, making us sick to whatever degree of malevolence to which the particular virus equates. In the context of this article however, we are looking into the positive usage of the term. How can I get my message, or better yet, my interest, to self proliferate at a viral rate and scale?

Modern astronomers have philosophized around the concept of using a viral model to explore the universe. They imagine a self-replicating Robot / Space Ship that would land on a planet, gather raw material, make 100 copies of itself, and then launch en-mass to 100 new planets, each new ship re-replicating itself, and then repeating the process over and over in a "viral" manner throughout the cosmos. This would be an example of a positive application of the "viral" term.

As we look at the strangely lifelike nature of the internet, we see examples of viral pervasion online. Social Networking sites like MySpace and Facebook are prime models. These sites allow users to launch new pages at will. A person could launch thousands of these profile pages if they wanted to, but most people have only one. The freedom to launch a new page has resulted in unprecedented user ship, and that audience of users just keeps growing.

The entire internet phenomenon has been a viral one. Web pages continue to appear in exponential formula and the addresses that host them are virtual. The literal real estate on planet earth is limited, and we are making a good run at populating it to the maximum. The virtual real estate on the internet however, is unlimited and endless. Addresses can continue to scale exponentially, limited only by server capacity, and this is scalable too. As a result, the playing field for strategic viral activity in cyberspace is essentially unlimited as well.

The natural ideological result of this line of insight is that the war of viral strategy is under way and will continue to heat up. We will see a maturation evolutionarily of the revenue capturing concepts that correspond with the evolution and maturation of viral methods.

If we do not expect this process to advance, we should immediately start to do so. Not only should our expectations arise, but so should our desire to participate and benefit. The question we should ask is, "How can I recognize and get in on the viral spiral?"

Recognition is the easy part. There will be a mass proliferation mechanism integral in the website. YouTube has their "signe up fo an account". The social websites allow you to launch a your own page. These are avenues that prompt unrestrained growth in users, or viewers. This growth is self perpetuated and spreads virally through word of mouth.

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