Time for Another Word

As communicators, we have a duty to language. It is the medium in which we work. We carefully choose the words we use to convey our messages. We select them for connotation, denotation. For emotion, for clarity, for effect.

If you need convincing, look at the recent posts reminding practitioners to revisit their planned content now to ensure it doesn’t sound offensive or tone-deaf in light of recent <waves hands around> happenings.

And the words themselves that we work with must evolve. Over the course of years or even generations, words can fall in and out of favor. We communicators should consider one that has, in my professional opinion, fallen from favor in just a matter of weeks. That word?

Viral.

I am, of course, referring to the colloquial sense that has come to describe a successful (or at least far-reaching) social media post. The metaphor has been an apt one. The online behavior is certainly analogous to that of an actual virus.

But now, in the wake of nearly 4 million infected and >270,000 dead (as of May 8, 2020, at 8:38am Eastern), the behavior of a virus is no longer associated merely with something trivial like a cold. The true nature of a virus is clear. It can ravage populations at will.

This is why it’s time for us to stop referring to cat videos, TikTok dances, memes and the like as “viral.” Given the destruction we have seen in the wake of COVID-19, both in terms of lives lost and economic hardships, I think we can find a better word. I don’t know what that word should be and I understand this is not one of those things where one just flips a switch. But language does evolve. And that evolution with begins with new ideas for expression. To that end, I have some ideas to kick off a conversation:

Synaptic. Coming from synapse, this isn’t quite right. It does convey the speed of successful social media. However synapses follow predetermined paths, which social media does not.

Rampant. While this word may carry a slightly negative connotation, it does accurately convey behavior we’re trying to describe.

Exponential. This is fairly accurate in describing the behavior of successful social media content, even if in the spirit of the word rather than the letter of its mathematical definition. It has the added bonus of a shortened for (expo) that would suit the tendency for abbreviated phrasing in both the comms and business worlds (i.e., “the video’s gone expo”).

Flourishing. The definition of this word describes precisely the behavior of successful social media: “to grow or develop in a healthy or vigorous way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.” The adjectival form is a little long. But overall, this word is my favorite candidate.

There will be some, perhaps many, who find this to be an overreaction. Some might say, “So what? It’s just a word.”

And that is exactly my point: there is no such thing as just a word.