Why do people share?

If you want a post to go viral News, you need to know what triggers sharing in the first place.

At BuzzSumo we analyzed 100 million posts in 2014 to look for patterns in most shared content. The most shared content had either some or all of these features:

• Invoked awe, laughter or amusement
• Appealed to people’s narcissistic side – made them look smart for sharing
• Were lists or infographics
• Were from trusted sources

The New York Times interviewed 2500 people to determine why they shared a story online. The main reasons were:

• To bring valuable and entertaining content to one another
• To define themselves to others (give people a better sense of who they are)
• To grow and nourish relationships (stay connected with others)
• For self-fulfillment (to feel more involved in the world)
• To get the word out on causes they care about

A Marketo study found people shared with:

• Give - offers, or discounts
• Advise - tips, helpful hints
• Warn - potential dangers
• Amuse – entertaining content
• Inspire - images and quotes
• Amaze - pictures and facts
• Unite - be part of the tribe

So while there are some differences, there’s a fair amount of overlap in these lists. So the first viral lesson for 2016 is to make sure your content taps into some of these reasons.

Reality check: viral posts are rare!

Viral posts are outliers. They are not the norm; they are exceptional. We’ve analyzed over 500 million articles to see what the typical share count is. Most content gets very few shares. The average is 8 shares, just to manage your expectations in 2016!