6 Crucial Sharing Personalities to Go Crazily Viral
The Only Guide You Need
The study “Psychology of Sharing: Why do People Share Online” uncovered 6 different types of sharing personalities and why people share what they share online.
Viral marketing works by spreading through a crowd. And these 6 personalities actually are the key people in making your message viral.
They are defined by Emotional motivations, Desired presentation of Self (to others), How they view their Role of sharing in life and how they see the value of being first to share.
It is crucial to know who are they, as it helps in identifying your next target crowd.
The 6 Types of Sharers online
1. Altruists
Altruists are sharers who are selflessness. They think of others when they see a certain piece of content and they want to help people with it. Then they will share it to those people or group. An Altruist is reliable in his or her field of information.
I have a good friend and he loves to travel. Let’s call him Desmond. Desmond is also very thrifty. All the times that he travelled he got the lowest possible rates and the best value his money can get for him. When he went for his honeymoon with his wife, he researched so thoroughly, chalked up enough mileage for his Krisflyer and saved a few thousand dollars for themselves for a 2-week trip to Europe. He is so detailed in the itinerary, he found alternative kinds of tour guide that are really value for his money and would bring him and his wife to places where mainstream tourists won’t to look at culture rich places and scenes.
When we travel in a group with Desmond in it, naturally and mutually we will all look to him to provide the best travel rates, where the best places to go are and the best value for accommodation.
So every time Desmond shared a good deal on cheap air-tickets, we all trust him because he is reliable and helpful. And we know he is thoughtful and trust his judgment that the deal he recommended IS the real deal.
Altruists are connected people, they prefer to share through e-mails. The fact that they prefer e-mails tells that they bother to type an e-mail add and send instead of sharing through Facebook shows that they care. Do you know any Altruists?
2. Careerists
“I share [things related to] business interests and exchange ideas on how to improve our company’s offerings to our customers.”
Careerists are well, people that are keen on building their networks around their work. They are educated, intelligent and serious people who connect and find interests in content set in a more business and professional setting.
That is why there is Linkedin, the social media for business people. Other than Linkedin, Careerists like to use e-mails too. The business contents on Linkedin are what interest their corporate mindset.
Think about any corporate/business sites that are similar to what Careerists will share. For example, news site and sites like www.forbes.com.
3. Hipsters
Less likely than other sharers to use email to share content, these sharers are creative, young and popular. They consume and share cutting edge content and care about setting trends that define their identity.
Hipsters speak creativity, young, popular, trendy and tech-savvy.
They are usually younger crowds that share to define who they are. They had been tech-savvy and are very familiar with Twitter and Facebook. Hipsters use them to share the latest trending topics and are cutting edge.
“Sharing is actually part of who I am.”
4. Boomerangs
They are like the rebel in the group. They like to share controversial, provocative and I would say out-of-the-box contents. But it is not because they are weird or crazy, but because they want to be perceived that way.
Boomerangs want to see mixed reactions and feel validated on the content they share.
They can be people that are fighting for a cause or against a certain issue, for example. I have this friend on Facebook, he puts a fake Russian name instead of his real one. And every time he posts, it is something controversial about the government or the leadership of North Korea or how fallen our schools have become. Sometimes he gets good responses from people who support him and sometimes he gets negative responses.
Boomerangs are empowered by social media to spread their cause and use Facebook and Twitter the most, although they are connected through e-mails, blogs, forums and wherever people will engage them.
5. Connectors
Connectors are relaxed creatives. They’re people who share contents to make plans and keep in touch with others. They are thoughtful and usually use Facebook and e-mails to stay connected.
Do you have any friends that come to your mind when we talk about Connectors? They can be people that are of similar interests and usually share information to talk about common topics. For example you are very into flower arranging.
You have few friends that are into that as well. But whenever you post an article about flowers or flower arranging on Facebook, you know this certain friend will respond to it.
6. Selectives
“I only share things with someone specific if I think they will enjoy it. If they aren’t relevant to the material, there is no point in sharing it with them.”
The most thoughtful persona out of the 6. They are very focused, logical and informative. Selectives are careful with the materials they share, making sure it is relevant to whoever they share with. Although chances of them sharing through Facebook and Twitter are there (but slim), e-mail is their preferred tool.
Selectives remind me of an aunty of mine that likes to share through newspaper cuttings with people she cares and thinks they enjoy the content she shares. If the content is good, it doesn’t matter if it is online or not.
Finally, if you have to take one thing from this article, it would be that “Sharing is all about relationships”. Think about what kind of content to work around these 6 personas and chances of them going viral will be higher than if you never try.
Check out ViralProverbs for more content on going Viral!
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