Annoyance keeps the audio in your head
A viral sound can be irritating and memorable for the same reason: your attention keeps returning to it. When a clip is repeated in videos, quoted by friends, or replayed because you dislike it, you get extra chances to encode its rhythm and words. The reaction may be negative, but the repetition still makes the sound easier to recognize—and easier to anticipate.
That ease matters. Once your brain can predict the next syllable or beat, the audio stops being a blur and becomes a sequence you can follow. A familiar rhythm can start to feel compelling even when you still find the sound obnoxious. Familiarity does not require approval.
Mocking it is another rehearsal
Singing along “ironically” still means producing the words and timing them to the beat. That active rehearsal can make the sequence more accessible in memory than simply hearing it in the background. The joke also gives you a reason to repeat the clip, so dislike can accidentally help keep it circulating in your own attention.
Viral audios are often encountered in a recognizable setting: a particular kind of video, a punchline, or a friend sending the same sound again. Those cues can prompt the audio to come to mind before you have consciously decided to play it. If the clip is short and repetitive, it is especially easy to pick up where it left off.
So the eventual lip-sync is not necessarily a change of heart. You may still hate the sound; you have simply learned it well enough to predict every beat. At that point, performing the part can feel easier than resisting the next refrain.
