You can create contagious content, if you understand what make things go viral online. In this presentation, I will share three stories I wrote that went viral online. I will share some secrets I learned along the way, too.

1. Creating Contagious Content
Psychology of Going Viral Online

2. The inner fire is the
most important thing
mankind possesses.
Edith Sodergran

3. This is the story of how my friend, Keith Anderson. Keith was greatly helped when a
piece of content I wrote went viral online.

4. Keith has a wife, Julie, and two daughters. In this picture, they are enjoying a
holiday break one year before a traumatic event affected all their lives.

5. One year later, Keith would be diagnosed with pancreatitis, which is severe
inflammation of the pancreas. It is very painful, like having a heart attack.

6. My friend would undergo four surgeries. He was hooked up to a dialysis machine.
Keith was put into drug-induced coma for over a month. He gained 100 pounds of
water weight. He lungs were filling up with water (at one point).

7. I thought of his family. I needed to do something. I asked Julie how they were
doing financially. She said, “Ok.” But, I knew better. So, I did something about it.

8. I wrote a blog article asking the community to help out Keith’s family.

9. I posted the article on the day before Thanksgiving, which is also known as
Travel Day in America. People are traveling to see family. I expected a
tepid response.

10. We raised one-thousand dollars. I had asked for 1,500 originally.
$1,000

11. I expected less on Thanksgiving Day. People were with family.

12. $2,000

13. Black Friday. People would be shopping?

14. $3,000

15. Cyber Monday. Online Deals? People
still shopping?

16. $5,000

17. In the end, we kept raising money….

18. $25,000

19. The Importance of
Contagious Content

20. Brian Sullivan.
@BrianKSullivan
@bigdesign
Hi, my name is
#viral

21. Design Strategy & Execution
Run 3 start of the art UX testing facilities at a major software firm.

22. Founded Dallas UX Group
Over 1,100 people in the group. We meet monthly.

23. I founded Big Design Conference in 2008.
September 4-6, 2014

24. Industry Speaker

25. User Guides

26. Cover Articles

27. 500+ Blog Posts

28. #1 Slides from SxSW 2013

29. The coolest thing I have ever written was about Keith Anderson.

30. What Makes
Content Contagious?

31. I wanted to know why this piece of content went viral. So, I read
Contagious and Made to Stick.

32. Contagious by Jonah Berger helped me to understand the
reasons for the content going viral.

34. Sharable information
to make us feel good
to those in our circle.

37. Social currency was a personal value
(sense of belonging and helping out).

39. Sights, sounds and
stimuli that reminds
us to share.

41. Rebecca Black’s “Friday”
Voted worst song of all time.

42. 69 Million Views on You Tube

43. The natural trigger was to go there each Friday.

44. Trigger may have been the family picture
(sent on day before Thanksgiving).

46. When we care, we
share. Arousal leads
people to take action.

47. 730 million views on You Tube
Charlie Bit My Finger

48. Emotions are Contagious

49. Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotion

50. Seven Most Viral Emotions
1. Awe
2. Anger
3. Anxiety
4. Fear
5. Joy
6. Lust
7. Surprise

51. Do Not Create a Call to Action

52. Create a Call to Passion

53. Emotions were fear, anxiety, and surprise.
When donating, love, serenity, and optimism.

55. Content is built to
show and grow in a
public way.

56. Men grew moustaches in November to show
support for cancer research at a site.
Mou-Vember

57. 1. Mortgage payment in November.
2. Christmas presents in December.
Two Concrete Goals

58. Behavioral Residue:
Social deposits of our
own personality.

60. Behavioral residue for the public came in many
different forms. More public, more viral.

61. Approver

62. Commenter

63. Reporter

64. Broadcaster

65. Believer

66. Fan

68. News people can use
or something with a
concrete value.

69. People Helping People

70. Shucking Corn Easily
Ken Craig, 86 years old, created a video with
over 10 million views. He does not have email.

71. 1. Mortgage payment in November.
2. Christmas presents in December.
Two Concrete Goals

72. While there was no practical value, we certainly
had concrete values people understood.

74. Everyone loves a good
story. You love to hear,
tell, and share stories.

75. The Story of The Trojan Horse

76. The Story of Jared Fogle

77. The Story of Mean Joe Greene

78. The Story of Keith’s Family

79. Stories are more
trustworthy than ads.

80. Just the Story, Ma’am!
Stories are 22 times more memorable than facts.

81. Stories are more
trustworthy than facts.

82. The story talked about Keith’s situation, but it
also talked about his wife and daughters.

83. Lightening Strikes
Twice, Sometimes

84. #1 Slides from SxSW 2013

85. Spoke on Sunday

86. Daylight Saving Day

87. On Slideshare Home Page

88. 30,000 Views

89. 131,000 Views

90. 226,000 Views

91. Lightening Strikes a
Third Time, Too

92. Molly Holzschlag

93. "If Tim Berners-Lee is
the father of the Web,
than Molly Holzschlag
is its fairy godmother."•

94. She Ended the Browser Wars

95. Molly Founded W3C

96. Molly Has Liver Cancer

97. Raised $67,000, So Far
Original goal was $10,000. It went viral. I told
the group that we would hit $75,000 eventually.

98. Some Final Thoughts

100. Create a Call to Passion

101. The inner fire is the
most important thing
mankind possesses.
Edith Sodergran

102. Create Contagious Content
Make a Difference, Be Different!!!