It finally happened. I went viral.
(Not technically. Viral means something like 5 million views in 5 days. I’m not viral like this. But keep reading. You’re about to witness my most ever liked and retweeted social media post in the history of my social media use.)
More specifically, my cat Louie went–and continues to go–viral.
It started with a cute picture of Louie burrowing into the Christmas wrapping paper on Christmas morning. I posted a picture of Louie with the hashtag #christmascats, and I mentioned the wrapping paper.
Soon, Twitter put the picture in their Twitter Moments feed with the headline, “Nothing can stand in the way of cats playing with wrapping paper.”
And then. . .
My phone continues to explode with notifications. At the time of this writing, Louie has been now seen by 193,338 people with the number rising steadily. 42,206 people have interacted with his picture in some way (retweets, comments, likes). As the number steadily grows, I make jokes with my family about my viral celebrity cat. I joke about Ellen DeGeneres inviting Louie onto the show. I imagine Oprah wanting a moment with this magnificent cat. As I type this, my phone buzzes and buzzes with more and more likes and retweets. For someone who maybe gets 2 likes at the most when I post anything on Twitter, this felt like a true moment. Maybe the only other moment I’ve had on Twitter is a decade ago when I mentioned I was watching American Idol, and Ryan Seacrest responded. That was a moment. But this cat? This cat is something.
It’s the moment. The moment. The viral moment everyone wishes for.
And you’ll never guess what I’m about to say. It’s not meaningless. It’s not empty. It’s actually fun. And it connected me with many people with comments that went something like, “Me too. Here is my cat doing the same thing. Next try making a bed with a cat.” For the past 24 hours, I’ve laughed with complete strangers about our cats. The authentic connection and togetherness of a mini viral experience made me realize why people long for it. It’s connection. It’s knowing you’re seen and understood. It’s resonance. That’s what these kids are after.
And I’m glad I tasted the fun of it for one day of my life.
Thank you for listening to the story of my celebrity Christmas cat, Louie Von Whiskers.