So, I thought what better way to enter the world of FITC's blog, than to write a post about the thing I get asked about the most. Jump in with both feet, just like I always do. Of course I love the work, and there's tons of cool sites, and technologies and artists doing amazing stuff, but when Shawn asked me if I wanted to contribute to the FITC blog, I thought I'd alternate a bit. Article/Rant, Cool stuff, ... repeat. So that's where i'll start. So for my first post. It's all about The "V" Word. The single least important question I get asked.

 How to make something viral...
My question is - When did Viral become a genre? The last thing I remember what that viral content was either a) good, or b) bad. (I've posted countless rants on that before and I won't go into it again here). Now, it seems I get requests for "virals" as an execution. When did that happen? What happened to viral being symptomatic of a successful piece of content? I'm not sure, but it seems that we're starting to produce banner advertising that doesn't drive anywhere,  content hoping people will send it around like David after Dentist. Let's get honest, digital has become a wasteland of virals. Everything on digg is viral, viral isn't even relevant anymore. we've eliminated it. Our attention spans have become way too short. Viral is anything newsworthy now, it's Kanye and Tiger Woods, and one in a million times its advertising. Can't we start refering to "virals" as "videos", because most of the time that's what they are. There's usually nothing innovative around them, for "virals" the internet is just a vehicle. It's not there to do anything but be a CDN.  It's like using your iPhone as a phone. Single use for a multifaceted technology.

Next up from me,  a little bit about what I think makes the digital scene in Canada, so great. After over a decade, it's still one of the most solid and talented communities in the world. It's not an anomaly.