Categories: Lifestyle

Is “going viral” dead? -The New York Times

In May 2016, Candace Payne, a stay-at-home mom from Texas, walked into a Kohl’s department store to return yoga pants and made a purchase that would change her life.

It was a plastic Chewbacca mask that made noises like the beloved furry character from “Star Wars.”

Candace Payne, also known as “Mommy Chewbacca,” is filming her hit Facebook Live.Credit…Candace Payne, via Facebook

Ms. Payne broadcast a video on Facebook Live, then a new feature offered by the technology platform to encourage users to share in real time. Sitting in her car in the store parking lot, Ms. Payne laughed in a way best described as a physical embodiment of the coffee cup mantra “laugh like no one is watching.”

Except people were watching. Lots of them. It was an example of internet monoculture, a few days where it felt like everyone on social media was relating to the same thing.

Ten years ago, this wasn’t exactly a rare phenomenon.

Once “Mama Chewbacca”, as she quickly became known, left the stage, came a parade of others who briefly became “main characters” and earned the Homeric epithets that long outlasted their turn in the spotlight: the “BBC Dad”, “The Cinnamon Grilled Shrimp Guy.”

Nathan Apodaca’s impromptu video of him skateboarding while drinking Ocean Spray struck a chord.Credit…Nathan Apodaca via TikTok

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Rachel Anderson

Rachel Anderson – Lifestyle & Travel Writer Produces engaging content on American lifestyle, travel, and food culture.

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