Comments on: 5 Ingredients For Going Viral (Or Catching A Cold)

By: Elliot Travers

Elliot Travers — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 17:08:06 +0000

This was a great article and helped me plan to go viral with my company

By: Nick Gowdy

Nick Gowdy — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:02:01 +0000

The vast majority of people attempting to “go viral” just keep coughing with their mouth uncovered, hacking up bad and unwanted viruses on everyone around them and praying that they spread. They’re playing negative/zero-sum as you say, and are unfortunately successful some of the time. They *are* viruses.

But not all viruses necessarily attack the host or lead to diseases. A small number of viruses have even been found to do good, protecting the host from bad bacteria, infection, and cancerous cells. And we now have the technology to create viruses that serve precisely these positive purposes – to wield viruses for great justice. It’s for this reason that I find the viral metaphor appropriate. Most suck beyond belief and are inconsiderately spread, but if crafted intelligently they can instead be welcome, valuable, and effective.

By: Kevin Marks

Kevin Marks — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:45:35 +0000

I have a problem with the metaphor because of the mindset that comes with it. A virus is essentially exploitative; it is bypassing your defences and doing you harm in order to spread itself. Thinking virally is negative-sum or zero-sum thinking. Instead, think about how you can help people achieve their own goals with whatever it is you are trying to promote. If you do that, they will willingly spread your message, because then it is a positive sum game. You dance around this in the ‘social incentives’ bit. Foursquare location updates are fruitful, in that they help you find your friends in the real world, but badge and mayor updates aren’t, they are germs. You see the distinction, but miss the implication because you’re framing with the diseased metaphor.

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:16:16 +0000

Okay, metaphor issues aside, is the information provided in each article really that different? It seems like you have a bigger problem with the metaphor than the article.

By: Kevin Marks

Kevin Marks — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:13:03 +0000

A clear explanation of a tired and exploitative metaphor. To really do well you have to change your worldview, and stop behaving like a disease. Broaden your thinking to more interesting reproductive metaphors; think about fruit trees spreading their seeds by wrapping them in something delicious that people want to share. As long as you approach SEO with a diseased mindset, your campaigns are less likely to bear fruit.

By: Julie W

Julie W — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:20:09 +0000

Awesome article, Lisa. Great tips for making content more “virus-y”. Love your blog posts, btw! I can’t keep up with my own work to manage to write anything – so kudos and keep it up.

By: SEO Doctor

SEO Doctor — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 10:24:21 +0000

Pay the vectors to tweet and push, its the new link buying.

By: Martin Meyer-Gossner

Martin Meyer-Gossner — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:51:05 +0000

Good post, well-explained – liked reading it. Picked the main take-away for my ‘dish of the day’… http://bit.ly/bOc9ZA

By: Kim S

Kim S — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 03:24:21 +0000

Giving, is a very healthy viral ingredient in contaminating the internet with your brand or product. Just don’t give me the swine flu.

By: Lisa Barone

Lisa Barone — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:32:09 +0000

Thanks, Brandon! :)