Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
That famous—or infamous—“spontaneous” viral video isn’t as random as you think.
Every day on TikTok, YouTube, and other social media platforms, someone, somewhere does something scandalous that suddenly seems to be everywhere. Within hours, it’s dissected, memed, remixed, and monetized. Each viral scandal feels random, unpredictable, and impossible to anticipate.
But most viral moments follow recognizable patterns. They emerge through specific social contexts, spread in predictable ways, and reveal how attention, emotion, and culture shape what captures the internet’s imagination.
Drawing on rich digital ethnography, internet pop culture expert Jessica Maddox argues that the internet isn’t the chaos machine it seems to be. By uncovering the hidden logic behind viral scandals, Anatomy of an Internet Scandal shows how these cycles reshape content creator labor—and why understanding them matters far beyond the internet.
Jessica Maddox is Associate Professor of Media Studies at the University of Georgia and author of The Internet Is for Cats: How Animal Images Shape Our Digital Lives.