Viral Marketing
"At the same time, they have transformed the Defense Department-sponsored ARPAnet into what has become the global digital epidemic known as the Internet."
-Stewart Band, We Owe It All to the Hippies(1995)
With the advent of the internet, advertisers have come across a hot new way to reach a large amount of people without expending a lot of energy. They call it viral advertising and it takes advantages of people's connection through online social networks, email, blogs, and other forms of electronic word of mouth means, as well as offline word of mouth means.
"Opportunities are multiplying for squinting at the small screen--the really small, 2-to-3.5-inch displays of a mobile handset or smartphone. Movie and TV studios hope they've found a "third screen" for their video after the TV and PC."
-David LaGesse, Can't Go an Hour Without TV? No Problem (2008)
Now with mobile devices, the internet and ways to spread a viral message have increased exponentially. The danger here lies in alienating the technically savy people from those who are not. Sure as time goes on more people will become familiar with technology but there will always a group that will not be able to have access to that technology for one reason or another. A staple of American Democracy is that checks and balances in the constitution ensure that the minority always has a voice. I hope this will continue to be the case as methods like viral advertising influence our society more and more.