When someone refers to media as "viral," most people automatically think of videos. After all, that's usually the type of media that sometimes boasts thousands of views within minutes or hours. Think of how quickly the YouTube hit "Gangnam Style" rose to the top of the charts, or how popular a video of a beagle stealing chicken nuggets out of a toaster oven has become in the past two days (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ym0rxisOpw). Viral videos are certainly growing in popularity, but I'd like to address a type of media that has yet to become quite as popular.
"Audio never goes viral," said radio and podcast producer Nate DiMeo. "If you posted the most incredible story — literally, the most incredible story that has ever been told since people have had the ability to tell stories, it will never, ever get as many hits as a video of a cat with a mustache."
Users of social media sites know they are far more likely to see a shared video on their timeline or feed instead of shared audio. For the most part, the reason for this is unknown; maybe it's because many Internet users prefer visual representations of what they're hearing. Podcasts, originally thought to be the new viral video, have yet to reach the same popularity as other forms of media. Why? Very simply, producers don't see an audience for audio, so they're not investing in it. But with the recent wave of popular audio clips, like the clip "the Scared is scared" above, this may change relatively soon.
Check out the Digg article here: http://digg.com/originals/why-audio-never-goes-viral