Steven Spielberg makes horizontal movies. The next generation of filmmakers is making vertical movies. We are seeing the rise of serialized, high-budget entertainment designed specifically for the vertical, full-screen phone orientation. These are not TV shows shrunk down; they are native viral narratives.
In the 1990s, getting your show on NBC was the goal. In the 2020s, getting your clip on the "For You Page" (FYP) is the goal.
Algorithms have become the primary curators of popular media. They do not care about quality, budget, or acting pedigree. They care about retention and shares. xxx viral mms best
This has led to a specific aesthetic for viral success:
Before the rise of social platforms, popular media was a top-down structure. Studios, record labels, and network executives decided what was popular. They pushed content through narrow channels (prime time, radio, cinema), and the audience consumed it. It was a monologue. Steven Spielberg makes horizontal movies
Viral entertainment content has killed the monoculture. Today, we live in a polyculture.
In 2024, a child’s reaction to a theme park ride in Ohio can get more views than a network television premiere. A leaked snippet of an unreleased song on a Discord server can chart on Billboard before the radio stations even know it exists. This is the democratization of attention. These are not TV shows shrunk down; they
The key difference: Traditional popular media was "push" based (we push this show to you). Viral content is "pull" based (you pull this clip because your friend sent it, or an algorithm predicted you would like it).
When it comes to MMS, the constraints of the medium (such as file size limits) can actually foster creativity. Here are some characteristics of viral MMS:
While there's no guaranteed formula for virality, here are some tips for creating MMS content that could potentially go viral:
Viral content rarely operates in the realm of neutral feelings. It exploits high-arousal emotions: