▁there ▁to ▁spread ▁vir ally ▁over ▁social ▁networks . ▁The ▁term ▁is ▁an ▁anal ogy ▁to ▁the ▁concept ▁of ▁vir al ▁in fe ctions , ▁which ▁can ▁spread ▁rapidly ▁from ▁person ▁to ▁person . ▁In ▁a ▁social ▁media ▁context , ▁content ▁or ▁websites ▁that ▁are ▁" vir al " ▁( or ▁which ▁" go ▁vir al ") ▁are ▁those ▁with ▁a ▁greater ▁lik elihood ▁that ▁users ▁will ▁res h are ▁content ▁posted ▁( by ▁another ▁user ) ▁to ▁their ▁social ▁network , ▁leading ▁to ▁further ▁sharing . ▁In ▁some ▁cases , ▁posts ▁containing ▁popular ▁content ▁or ▁fast - bre aking ▁news ▁have ▁been ▁rapidly ▁shared ▁and ▁res h ared ▁by ▁a ▁huge ▁number ▁of ▁users . ▁Many ▁social ▁media ▁sites ▁provide ▁specific ▁functionality ▁to ▁help ▁users ▁res h are ▁content , ▁such ▁as ▁Twitter ' s ▁ret weet ▁button , ▁P inter est ' s ▁pin ▁function , ▁Facebook ' s ▁share ▁option ▁or ▁T um bl r ' s ▁re blog ▁function . ▁Business es ▁have ▁a ▁particular ▁interest ▁in ▁vir al ▁market ing ▁tact ics ▁because ▁a ▁vir al ▁campaign ▁can ▁achieve ▁w ides p read ▁advert ising ▁coverage ▁( part icular ly ▁if ▁the ▁vir al ▁rep ost ing ▁itself ▁makes ▁the ▁news ) ▁for ▁a ▁fraction ▁of ▁the ▁cost ▁of ▁a ▁traditional ▁market ing ▁campaign , ▁which ▁typically ▁uses ▁printed ▁materials , ▁like ▁newsp apers , ▁mag az ines , ▁mail ings , ▁and ▁bill boards , ▁and ▁television ▁and ▁radio ▁commer ci als . ▁Non pro fit ▁organizations