How To Go Viral
On finding the secret formula
What is the secret formula? Why do some books or articles achieve outstanding success, bringing adulation and attention while others are neglected and wither and die in the shadows? After all, Andy Warhol in a (possibly misattributed) quotation, promised us all 15 minutes of fame. Surely it is our turn now?!
Is there a magic recipe to achieve fame and fortune through an article that goes truly viral? If there was everyone would be following it, and of course, competition for the space needed to create a story that reaches the stars, means that sadly there must be many that don’t.
The ideal recipe is elusive since success often seems to have no perceptible particular pattern, however much we search and try to apply some science. Who would have thought that a sea shanty called “The Wellerman” would take off as it did during the Covid lockdowns? Folk music is often filed alongside other uncool things like crochet, coding and campanology.
For other viral examples, think of that catchy tune you can’t get out of your head, an earworm like “Gangnam Style” or “Uptown Funk”, the playground craze like Cat’s Cradle or hopscotch, a word or phrase like “Yuppie”, “gazumped”, “Kamikwasi Economics”
Who would have imagined that an hilarious ill-tempered recorded parish council…
