☣️ The reality of how things go viral online
- John J D Munn
- Oct 17, 2023
- 3 min read
We would all like to believe the world is a meritocracy. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case in almost every way. One way we need to add to that list - it isn’t necessarily the best content that goes viral.
Just because you say or share something worthwhile it doesn’t mean that you will be rewarded. Knowing this can be both a blessing and a curse.
A curse because it is frustrating to know that the world is stacked against you.
A blessing, because when you recognise what obstacles exist you can work to overcome them. Though, you may have to work harder than others (which sucks!).
As per Hit Makers by Derek Thompson (further info here):
We think that products often grow through friends telling friends, who tell more friends, and this cascades to so-called viral growth. It turns out this is almost never how products grow. Instead, products explode in popularity when someone (or a few someones) with a large platform shares the product with their audience.
Marketers vastly overestimate the power of word of mouth. Much of what outsiders call virality is really a function of what one might call ‘dark broadcasters’—people or companies distributing information to many viewers at once, but whose influence isn’t always visible to people outside of the network.
In 2012, several researchers from Yahoo studied the spread of millions of online messages on Twitter. More than 90 percent of the messages didn’t diffuse at all. A tiny percentage, about 1 percent, was shared more than seven times. But nothing really went fully viral—not even the most popular shared messages.
Despite algorithms being a potential equaliser, they still have just as much bias as the humans that made them. A much more important mechanism for virality is called “broadcast diffusion”—many people getting information from one source. More info on Broadcast diffusion from a 2023 study here.
This is one reason why it is so important to encourage sharing among your audience in the first place. When somebody shares once, they are likely to keep sharing your stuff with their network - the act of sharing alters their identity - cool side note: this is actually what I did my dissertation on many years back.
It is equally important to identify and further encourage your existing super-sharers. The vast majority of your potential virality will come from a tiny subsection of your audience.
The takeaway?
Virality is mostly a myth.
You should work hard to encourage sharing.
You should identify and encourage your super-sharers.
You are probably under-investing in influencers and PR (especially early on!).
You should build your audience and build authentic connections with influencers.
💡 Quote I'm pondering
"The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking spaces." - Will Rogers
I shared this in my Work Smart Wednesday newsletter. Want the full set of related insights? You can read them here: https://worksmartwednesday.substack.com/p/work-smart-wednesday-october-18-2023
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