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Going viral online with a good post or comment can be a lot of fun. It boosts your ego and makes you feel like a huge part of the world is listening to and (hopefully) agreeing with you.
Since humans are social creatures, this kind of attention and approval makes us feel like valuable members of the (digital) tribe. We feel respected, adored, and influential. And when you rack up millions of views, hundreds of thousands of likes, and thousands of reshares, it makes you feel like you’re powerful and can change the world.
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On the one hand, we improve our odds of going viral with good content, genuine wit, effort, and hard and smart work. On the other hand, some aspects of virality—luck, timing, and other current events—are entirely out of our hands.
You might have the perfect post or comment, and it gets barely any views because something else was dominating the discussion online. Or you might end up with millions of views on a throwaway witty insight that you barely put any effort into.
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You can’t control luck, but you can improve your odds of going viral by consistently posting quality content and insights.
It also helps if you genuinely like what you do and the type of topics and content you interact with. You’ll find it tough to stay motivated with all the endless writing, posting, and resharing if you’re only ever in for the likes and online attention. Sure, being liked is nice. But being liked for something you’re proud of is better.
However, some researchers look past the influence of luck on virality and hone in on the science part.
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According to word-of-mouth, influence, and consumer behavior expert Jonah Berger, PhD, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, people often think it’s random luck or chance that they become popular. But according to him, “there’s actually really a science behind it.”
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“We’ve analyzed thousands of pieces of online content, tens of thousands of brands and millions of purchases both around the United States and around the world. And again and again, we see the same science coming up, the same six factors driving things to catch on and be shared. And so at the core, it’s really about the psychology of social transmission. Why do we talk about certain things rather than others? Why do we share what we’re doing this weekend or not talk about something that happened last weekend? And what about that science can help us understand why things become popular?” Berger told the American Psychological Association.
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Berger explained that there are several psychological reasons that people share things. This is the STEPPS framework, and it includes 6 dimensions:
- S for social currency
- T for triggers
- E for emotion
- P for public
- P for practical value
- S for stories
According to the expert, viral content rarely does all 6 of these things. Rather, they have at least 1 of these ‘ingredients.’
