Virality, Agency and Techno-Doubt: Digital Discourses Around a Viralized Festive Body

Abstract

This article explores emerging social media discourses around a viral video featuring an Andean festive dancer, recorded in an ambiguous situation and widely shared online. Using a mixed methodology—combining manual coding, semantic analysis, and lexical graph visualization—we identify four discursive territories: ethical judgment, performative defense, techno-doubt, and indeterminacy. We examine how artificial intelligence is invoked by users to displace agency, deflect moral responsibility, and renegotiate blame. The study contributes to understanding public emotions, trust in algorithmic systems, and social imaginaries of artificial intelligence in festive and media contexts. It also discusses how cultural heritage becomes a site of symbolic contention when it intersects with virality, technology, and representation.