Case Study: Stuff decodes viral video sharing with Pulsar Platform

How Stuff Spreads #1 Gangnam Style vs Harlem Shake – Anatomy of Two Memes

Stuff worked with **Pulsar Platform** to better understand how viral videos spread across social networks. The challenge was to move beyond simple view counts and identify the different patterns behind virality across content types, audiences, and channels using data-driven analysis.

Using **Pulsar Platform’s content tracking technology**, Stuff analyzed tweets and retweets linking to four viral videos and compared metrics like size, sharing over time, velocity, variability, retweetability, and social currency. The study found two clear diffusion models—“spike” and “growth”—and showed measurable differences such as Commander Hadfield reaching 75,000 Twitter sharers, the Turkish protest video peaking at 6,000 shares per hour, and the Turkish video achieving the highest social currency at 12,886 shares per 1 million YouTube views.

Stuff