Abstract Public referral is a viral campaign strategy that takes advantage of the existence of networked culture in social media. The 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge is an exemplary instance of a public referral–based campaign, the success of which can be partly attributed to the voluntary engagement of celebrity communities. This study views celebrities as social actors and explores the ways in which celebrities’ public referral networks grew during the Ice Bucket Challenge. Findings suggest that celebrities engaged in the campaign based on restrictive social networking rules. Also, the referral network grew through homophily, wherein sociodemographic similarities played an important role in celebrities’ referral decision making. This article contends that understanding whom people select to pass along the campaign message should be as important as understanding why people share the message.

中文翻译：

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公众推荐，病毒式宣传和名人参与：YouTube上冰桶挑战的社交网络分析

摘要公众推荐是一种利用社交媒体中网络文化的存在进行的病毒式营销策略。2014年冰桶挑战赛是基于公众推荐的运动的典范，其成功的部分原因在于名人社区的自愿参与。这项研究将名人视为社会参与者，并探讨了冰桶挑战赛期间名人的公众推荐网络的发展方式。调查结果表明，名人参与了基于限制性社交网络规则的竞选活动。此外，推荐人网络通过同质性而增长，其中社会人口统计学的相似性在名人的推荐人决策中起着重要作用。