What does “viral” mean anyway?

content is shared for ultimately many reasons, it’s emotional reactions that tend to drive the most shares

Having a post go “viral” has to be top of most online people’s list of goals but what does “viral” mean?

I suppose in basic terms, going “viral” is when your content gets shared by a second level connection – that is, someone who isn’t already following your posts.
As a goal, it may be one we all aim for but do we really need to? I guess the answer to that is it depends on why you’re using social media?