Viral: The Arithmetic of Spread Speed

It is the spreading label indicating a news item exploding simultaneously across multiple independent sources within a short time.

The viral label measures not the importance of the event but how fast it spreads. To earn the viral badge, the item’s age must be ≤ 3 hours and it must have at least one reference and two similar (or at least two reference and one similar) connections. This label allows you to see the momentary storms in the feed and stays on the item card for 4 hours.

Example: The item receiving the viral badge upon a statement made by a famous actor making headlines across four different platforms within two hours.

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The viral mechanism is a mathematical rule independent of the news’s reality; it maps what suddenly attracts the attention of the masses. News spreading rapidly in a short time is generally big events, but it is often seen that fake news or an unconfirmed rumor can also meet the viral conditions (for instance, 2 references, 1 similar) in less than 3 hours. Therefore, the viral label is not a guarantee of the news’s accuracy, but merely a measurement of its momentum within the ecosystem.