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For subtitles you have to click the CC button on the bottom right. If you enjoyed this video, you'll also enjoy Becky Adams and Daniela Velluto's video @ http://danielapensatroppo.blogspot.com/. 

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Rhetorical Circulation/Virality Social Media Plan

 Medical research articles intimidate people because they are geared towards a particular audience with an extensive vocabulary. Unfortunately, this audience is extremely narrow and many other people miss out on the amazing breakthroughs in science. Also, since highly involved and interested groups are usually the only financial backers there is limited funding for promising research. What is needed is more exposure to the general public to create excitement. So how could breakthroughs in research and science get to the general public in a grand scale?

This is a Social Media Plan to increase awareness of recent breakthroughs in spinal cord regeneration based primarily on the research article “Effects of Lumbosacral Spinal Cord Epidural Stimulation for Standing after Chronic Complete Paralysis in Humans” published just last year in 2015.

Making it into a video will make it more appealing to a wider audience. By creating a documentary, many other things have gone viral and spread through Netflix and other online movie sites.  

Step 1: Hire someone to make a documentary of the people involved in this research if they agree to and find a director with popularity and large amounts of followers like Clint Eastwood (who has done some inspirational movies lately) or Angelina Jolie (who directed Unbroken).

Step 2: Make the documentary available on Netflix with one trailer and post on YouTube. By releasing the video with few trailers and advertisements[1], it will allow for a natural growth of the viral event.

Step 3: create a catchy slogan that’s simple enough be reused and repeated by WOM[2] like #StandingHope and have the director tweet it or post on Facebook with message “Complete Paralysis isn’t the end.” 

Step 4: Advertise the movie to interest groups[3] to become involved, have them share, retweet the directors post or their own with the hashtag. The largest and most celebrated being the Paralympic community, would be perfect for this event. This will help more people become interested in the movie on Netflix.

Step 5: The Paralympics in 2020 would be the perfect time to have special viewing events after the movie is launched on Netflix and advertisements on t.v. and Facebook during both the Paralympics and Olympics. This will create more hype and many people will spread the news again by WOM. By combining a natural event with a promoted one it is expected that the viral event will reach a large amount of target audience and last a long time.

Make sure you check out my classmates projects: Amy  realrhetoricalrantings.blogspot.com and Ammon
and http://incompetentpupil.blogspot.com/

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[1] p.g. 25 of “Going Viral” explains “promoted messages tend to gain and lose the public’s attention more quickly than socially driven messages, perhaps because social messages are more socially authentic.”

[2] In “Going Viral” by Nahon and Hemsley WOM or word of mouth is when “people speak to each other, often about a product, but without a commercial motive.” This does not include social media posting but when the event or idea becomes large enough, WOM will become crucial in the natural growth of the idea.

[3] In “Going Viral” events “…can help bring people together of common interests, purposes and actions.” By reaching out to one interest group, creating a movement, others will latch on to the “bandwagon” and the event will reach a wider audience.