Featured Article: “Wanted: Interns Who Can Make TikTok Hits,” by Sapna Maheshwari

Popular fashion styles are “trends.” Popular songs are “hits.” Popular movies are “blockbusters.” And popular online videos are … viruses?

Often funny, sometimes shocking and never boring, viral videos earn their name from the way they spread. These videos captivate us. We share them. Then others share them. Soon, they spread rapidly — from host to host, group to group, city to city — much like a virus. Except, instead of transmitting disease, they pass on visual fascination, potentially to millions.

Although the content of these videos is often silly, making them has become a serious business. Companies are hiring young people to make viral content for their brands. Their work is made possible by a powerful math concept: exponential growth. However, it’s also made risky and exceedingly difficult to maintain by exponential growth’s treacherous cousin: exponential decay.

In this lesson, students will use exponential models to explore why companies — big and small — are hiring young people to make TikTok videos. At the same time, they’ll think about the role that advertising and branded content plays on social media, and how it affects themselves, companies and the influencers who create content.