Viral

Anything that spreads like a virus is called viral and the word viral in this sense dates from the 1950s. Viral in the sense of something that has ‘gone viral’ dates from the 21st century, where ‘viral’ marketing has become a sort of electronic or digital ‘word of mouth’. Today, the communication of an idea of any sort can be transmitted around the world via social media. When millions of people pick up, read or view such an idea, it is said to have ‘gone viral’.