What’s viral for Taylor Swift, LeBron James or Denzel Washington, isn’t viral for me. Their reach throughout their fanbase is in the multiple millions, I’m confident. Mine is many iterations below that.
Going viral deserves a bit of a discussion though. What’s viral for one person isn’t viral for another.
Famous and/or tremendously wealthy people live in an entirely different world from the one 98 percent of us toil in every day. Because they are known, they have the capacity to influence tens of millions of people by what they say or do.
This can be good or bad. There are many in society who hate celebrities or billionaires and when those individuals see a post by the rich and famous, they love nothing more than chopping down the tall sunflower. When their social media posts go viral, they can be vilified or worshipped. It goes with their territory.
For the rest of us toiling in the soil, though our messages may be tremendously more important or useful than the famous person, but our viral status is minimized. Our reach is small. Our message may go to a base set of friends and that’s about it.
People frequently ask me what the “reach” is for this weekly column. I let them know that it gets emailed directly to about 400 people. Whether they read it, I don’t know. I receive feedback regularly. On a good week, I may get 10-15 writing directly to me, often starting an engaging conversation.
In addition to the email, the weekly column is posted to LinkedIn and Twitter. I doubt anyone reads it on Twitter. LinkedIn is a different story.
Due to the work-related nature of LinkedIn and the broad subject base, I occasionally tap a nerve, the column goes “viral” in my small world. It’s a relative term.
On average, most weeks the column gets approximately 150 “impressions.” Basically all that means is someone checked it out. On a good week, that may go up to 250. On an excellent week, it may hit 400-500. And once in a great while it launches into the stratosphere and rises to 1,000+. Perhaps three or four times, the column crested 2,500+.
That’s viral for me. Not millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions. But, over a thousand.
Which puts things in perspective. When you add in the number of “likes” or “comments,” I sometimes feel like a viral tiger. “People enjoy this piece. They’re writing in. They’re sharing it with others.”
When that happens, the only thread I’ve found that turns a weekly column into something larger numbers of people appreciate is the “personal” nature of the writing. The more you write from the heart and hit home with others who can relate, the more that people pay attention and want to let you know that what you wrote means something important to them.
You can’t bottle that. There is no viral formula. The celebrities can pick their noses and get 2.3 million views.
The 98 percent of the rest of us have to really demonstrate worthwhile content that impacts others. It’s hard. Our viral will never be LeBron’s viral.
But, maybe that makes ours more meaningful.
Going viral deserves a bit of a discussion though. What’s viral for one person isn’t viral for another.
Famous and/or tremendously wealthy people live in an entirely different world from the one 98 percent of us toil in every day. Because they are known, they have the capacity to influence tens of millions of people by what they say or do.
This can be good or bad. There are many in society who hate celebrities or billionaires and when those individuals see a post by the rich and famous, they love nothing more than chopping down the tall sunflower. When their social media posts go viral, they can be vilified or worshipped. It goes with their territory.
For the rest of us toiling in the soil, though our messages may be tremendously more important or useful than the famous person, but our viral status is minimized. Our reach is small. Our message may go to a base set of friends and that’s about it.
People frequently ask me what the “reach” is for this weekly column. I let them know that it gets emailed directly to about 400 people. Whether they read it, I don’t know. I receive feedback regularly. On a good week, I may get 10-15 writing directly to me, often starting an engaging conversation.
In addition to the email, the weekly column is posted to LinkedIn and Twitter. I doubt anyone reads it on Twitter. LinkedIn is a different story.
Due to the work-related nature of LinkedIn and the broad subject base, I occasionally tap a nerve, the column goes “viral” in my small world. It’s a relative term.
On average, most weeks the column gets approximately 150 “impressions.” Basically all that means is someone checked it out. On a good week, that may go up to 250. On an excellent week, it may hit 400-500. And once in a great while it launches into the stratosphere and rises to 1,000+. Perhaps three or four times, the column crested 2,500+.
That’s viral for me. Not millions or tens of millions or hundreds of millions. But, over a thousand.
Which puts things in perspective. When you add in the number of “likes” or “comments,” I sometimes feel like a viral tiger. “People enjoy this piece. They’re writing in. They’re sharing it with others.”
When that happens, the only thread I’ve found that turns a weekly column into something larger numbers of people appreciate is the “personal” nature of the writing. The more you write from the heart and hit home with others who can relate, the more that people pay attention and want to let you know that what you wrote means something important to them.
You can’t bottle that. There is no viral formula. The celebrities can pick their noses and get 2.3 million views.
The 98 percent of the rest of us have to really demonstrate worthwhile content that impacts others. It’s hard. Our viral will never be LeBron’s viral.
But, maybe that makes ours more meaningful.