Why Upworthy has Won the Internet

WHY UPWOR HAS WON THE INTERNET AND NOW YOU CAN, TOO.* UPWORTHY THE INTERNET YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE HOW THIS WEBSITE STARTED BY SO FEW PEOPLE GOT SO HUGE! OR *JUST DON'T BE SPAMMY QUALITY CONTENT COMES FIRST. UPWORTHY WENT LIVE ON MARCH 26, 2012 Founded by Eli Pariser MoveOn.org Adam Mordecai Howard Dean Presidential Campaign DECEMBER O3, 2012 270 DAYS LATER Peter Koechley Chris Hughes Facebook The Onion 791,000 10,000 43,000 Facebook fans Tumblr followers Twitter followers ONE WEBSITE CHANGED DO TITLES REALLY MAKE THAT MUCH THE INTERNET FOREVER. OF A DIFFERENCE? LET'S SEE: HOW CAN YOU DO IT, T00? Here are two different titles used to share the same video: 1. Find interesting content that should be shared 2. Improve the layout and framing lowa House Democrats YouTube channel title: MoveOn.org title: 3. Post it to your site for lots of exposure "Zach Wahls Speaks About Family" "Two Lesbians Raised a Baby and This is What They Got" 4. Promote! Spread the word about the post so that the world will remember that there are more important things to ponder than Honey Boo Boo 5. Rake in the profits 6. And this actually works? •1 million views 17 million views HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT ONE THING YOU MADE GO SUPER WHAT MAKES PEOPLE SHARE THINGS VIRAL AND STUFF? ANYWAY? (MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION, ACCORDING TO UPWORTHY) People share your content when it strikes a good balance between emotionally stirring and entertaining. WHAT DOES VIRAL EVEN MEAN? Shares per view Clicks per share Viral? LOW LOW NOPE HIGH LOW KINDA??? LOW HIGH MEH, NOT SO MUCH HIGH HIGH HELL YEAH BUDDY! People have to click and share the heck out of your content! Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest WHERE DO PEOPLE SHARE? According to Shareaholic's Q4 study of social media traffic referrals: 14.9% 4.5% 1.1% 0.3% ) This is where the majority You can make a good luck with that - Speaking of moms.. of the audience from. difference if you If you succeed, you should win an 0scar. #learn2tweet. Percentages are from a Shareaholic 04 2013 study on all social media referrals from over 200,000 websites' worth of data. KEYS TO VIRAL CONTENT a hero a meaningful/inspiring story something that draws on emotion posting at the right time and place a villain KONY FRAMING IS WHAT TO FRAME VITAL FOR Framing is the optimal placement of various aspects of your post VIRAL Share text The Headline The Excerpt The Share Image The Tweet Your Mom That's what Upworthy says anyway... and they aren't kiding- middle-aged women are the most prolific sharers on the internet (Seriously, just ask my mom.) HEADLINES Headlines must have an THIS IS A BIG PART element of mystery without being overly vague OF UPWORTHY'S SUCCESS They come up with at least 25 HEADLINES for every post and then pick the most effective one. FOLLOW THIS ONE TIP AND...NEVER Necessity is the mother of invention. DIET AGAIN! Don't sexualize your headlines in a way your mom wouldn't approve of. tteto Upm f shore Ofanbook UX USER EXPERIENCE Make it really really really really easy to share your content on Facebook Facebook ORTHY er This Want More Stuff Like This? chnolog Upworthy shares increased by 398% after they added scrolling share buttons wewerteerdmainlte nte Tror il The emindr faryoen Sontann eu A popup asking the audience to "like" them on Facebook USER EXPERIENCE IS ALL ABOUT EASE FOR YOUR increased "likes" by 419% AUDIENCE TESTING KEEP TESTING THE REACTIONS AND SHARES FOR VARIOUS TYPES OF CONTENT These numbers reflect the THE DIFFICULTY METER time period between March and December of 2012 Remember that you've already won the attention of your audience - it's their friends and their friends' friends that you want Number of posts Number of views 56% Most posts never reach 10k views 5% 1.9% 1.1% 0.7% 0.3% 10k views 100k views 300k views 400k views 500k views 1 million views THAT'S ONLY 5 POSTS IN 10 MONTHS E THESE 5 Mitt Romney Accidentally Bully Calls News Anchor Confronts a Gay Veteran, Awesomeness Ensues A Tea Partier Decided to Move Over Barbie - Pick a Fight with a Foreign President. It Didn't Go So Well BOOM, ROASTED: Here's Why You Don't Ask a Feminist to Hawk Your Sexist Product You're Obsolete Fat, News Anchor Destroys Him on Live TV The Filter Bubble IS THERE A DOWNSIDE TO UPWORTHY? Wha Intemet "Viral mills" such as Upworthy and Buzzfeed are huge on the internet Eli Pariser THiding author of Eli Pariser You'll spend far too much time clicking around these sites In The Filter Bubble, Eli Pariser indicates that websites are catering to their audience's pre-existing views Every post baits your curiosity to click on another post.and so on These websites paint a curated, often inaccurate view of the world They're concealing disagreeable information THEY ARE VERY RELIANT ON FACEBOOK TRAFFIC Traffic could decrease significantly if Facebook changes its algorithms They are often more inspirational than enlightening YOU CAN'T GUARANTEE YOU'LL GO VIRAL, BUT IF YOU TRY REALLY HARD, YOU TOO CAN WIN THE INTERNET (OR AT LEAST ONE CORNER OF IT) DEVELOPED BY N NOWSOURCING PRESENTED BY: Sources: slideshare.net/Upworthy/how-to-make-that-one-thing-go-viral-just-kidding betabeat.com/2013/10/dishing-out-insulin-how-feel-good-viral-machines-like-upworthy-and-buzzfeed-filter-reality Marketo