This document provides tips for creating viral content. It discusses the importance of finding compelling content with elements like a hero, villain, emotional story arc, or inspiring message. It notes that only a small percentage of content goes viral, so constant testing is needed. The most viral content tends to involve movies, surprising facts, authentic human moments, villains/bullies losing, or heroes succeeding. Proper framing in headlines and on social media is also key to driving clicks and shares so the great content can be discovered. Framing involves using curiosity, emotions, or speaking to the audience.

1. s
‘
THE SWEET SCIENCE OF VIRALITY
You Are Bad At It. We Are Less Bad.
How luck, testing, math, luck, data, retesting, luck, and bullies can help you win the Internet.
Sara Critchfield (@saracritchfield) & Adam Mordecai (@advodude)
There will be pop quizzes, so pay attention, class.
#GoViral @Upworthy #SXSW
imized!

2. Click

3. links

4. to

5. see

6.
opt
hits!
1

7. Quiz In The Heart Of Texas!
POP QUIZ ALREADY?! CAN YOU HANDLE IT?
Which headline gets more clicks?
A B
A Hidden Camera Show Is A Hidden Camera Show
Baffled When They Can't Goes To Texas. They Did
Find Any Bigots In Texas Not Expect To Find This.
2

8. Quiz In The Heart Of Texas!
B!
SEE IT @
3

9. What We Do: The Quick Version
+ +
+ + =
sometimes

10. .
4

11. What Makes Us Fancy Experts?
Adam Sara
Mordecai Critchfield
Viral Curator Managing Editor
Worked on the Dean campaign B.A. in visual communications
and maybe caused the scream? from Drexel
Had a Friendster account. M.A. in nonprofit management from U of Penn
Has a Facebook account. Uses It. Worked at MoveOn as community director.
Tweets once in a while. Was a DC lobbyist in international development.
Can imitate muppets. Teaches at Church Camp about tolerance.
Got 3,500,000 people to Got 1,000,000 people to watch a lab experiment
watch a spoken word poem on bullying. @ with monkeys being paid unequally. @
5

12. Case Study: Zach Wahls
written

13. by
Old Title:
1
Zach Wahls Speaks Million
Views
About Family
Text
New Hotness:
Two Lesbians Raised
A Baby And This Is
17
What They Got
Million V
iews
6

14. What We Do In A Nutshell
1. Find amazing content.
2. Frame it for
Facebook. SEE IT @
3. Promote it on
Facebook.
4. ????
5. PROFIT?!?! Invest
in nutshells. 7

15. Who The Hell Are We? Meet The Founders.
Eli Peter
Pariser Koechley
Chris Hughes
3
8

16. State Of The Up 1

17. year

18. la
ter...
6th,

19. 2012
Launches

20. March

21. 2 15,000
Tumblr followers
70,000
Twitter followers
500,000
Email subscribers
1,150,000
Facebook fans
9

22. We’re Off To A Good Start
10

23. My Bosses Haven’t Fired Me
18,000,000 Page views
15,000 Facebook fans
And I got 1,000,000
people to watch a
bank oversight
hearing. SEE IT @
11

24. DISCLOSURE: I Am Dumb
In the last year, I predicted 100 of my
posts would break 500,000 Page views.
5 did.
12

25. 5% Expert, 95% Not So Much
Anyone who tells you he can make ANYTHING go viral
is definitely not telling you the truth. Or is really naive.
Almost nothing will. Even if it’s great.
13

26. That’s Why We Have This Instead
We test the hell out of everything. Then we test it again.
14

27. Pop Quiz, Slackers!
A B
A Journalist Goes Watch A Diner Waitress
Undercover As A Explain To A Wall Street
Waitress. Guess Which Guy How Money Works
Job Was Harder? In America
Which one did our audience totally want us to serve?
15

28. Pop Quiz, Slackers!
B! 4X
THE CLIC
KS!
SEE IT @
16

29. THE MOST FAQ
How Do You Make That One Thing You Made
Go Super Viral And Stuff?
17

30. What The Hell Is Virality?
Shares per
View
Clicks per
Share Viral?
LOW LOW Nope.
HIGH LOW Kinda?
LOW HIGH Not so much.
HIGH HIGH Hell yeah!
To get clicks, you MUST focus on framing things perfectly.
18

31. Will That One Thing You Made Go Viral?
Yes
START
HERE
Is it No Is it Yes Is it
Yes
Does it No Is it shrill? funny? REALLY
No
suck? political? No No funny? YES!
Yes Yes Kittens, puppies, babies, No
Do you celebs, or Harlem Shake? Heart-
Good luck with that. Yes
have a huge No warming?
PR budget?
No I doubt it. Maybe? No
No Yes
Yes You ask No
No No No
to share? Yes Hero
Are you Easy to Yes Does it Yes You sure villain?
Yes Yes
lucky? We’ll See share? end well? it’s good?
19

32. Why The Hell Do People Share?
Anger
Shareable:
“I am angry, yet
entertained. I must
do something, right
now.” *click*
Relaxation Happiness
Not Shareable:
“Just chill.
We’re all gonna
die anyways.” *sigh*
Sadness
20

33. Where The Hell Do People Share?
good

34. luck,

35. if

36.
you

37. crack

38. it

39. you slow

40. cook

41. it

42. to
are

43. a

44. god. perfection.
If

45. you

46. do

47. it

48. right,
it

49. can

50. make

51. a

52. small

53. dent.
21

54. The Social Part Of Social Media
It’s not as much about having a conversation
as it is about being conversational.
22

55. Six Degrees Of Viral Bacon
Who should you be targeting?
EASY HARD REALLY HARD
Getting your Getting your Getting your audience’s
audience to audience’s friends’ friends to like
like. friends to click. and share.
My

56. mom
Getting your Getting your Getting
audience to audience’s @KevinBacon
click and friends to to like and
share. share. share.
23

57. We Have Not Achieved Bacon... YET
365 days.
Still no
Bacon.

58. TL;DR
1. CONTENT: Find and/or create amazing content.
2. FRAMING: Optimize said content to be really clicky on Facebook.
3. TECH/UX: Optimize your site to be really good at sharing said
content back to Facebook.
4. DATA: Never stop testing your zany theories.
5. LUCK: Capture a leprechaun and steal his lucky charms.
25

59. STEP 1: FIND EPIC CONTENT
A Hero
A Villain
An Emotional Story Arc
A Super Inspiring Meaningful Message
The Right Time And The Right Place
Charles Xavier Cerebro
26

60. How Hard Can It Be To Find Awesome Stuff?
66% of our posts don’t break 20K views.
6% of our posts have reached 100K views. Tell

61. me

62.
more

63. about

64. how

65.
3% have reached 200K views. easy

66. this

67. is.
1.6% have reached 300K views.
0.9% have reached 500K views.
0.5% have broken 750K views.
and 11 posts have broken 1,000,000 views.
(0.42% for those playing the home game)
27

68. What Do The Top 10 Have In Common?
@ @ @ @ @
@ @ @ @ @
28

69. Everyone Loves A Good Movie
@ @ @
High production value can work.
You better have a good story though.
29

70. Everyone Likes To Learn Mind-Blowing Stuff
@ @ @
If you can give your audience some information
that they are honestly surprised by, they’ll share it.
30

71. Everyone Loves Raw, Human, Honest Moments
@ @ @ @
You can’t fake authenticity.
People love it and share it.
31

72. Everyone Hates Bad Guys And Bullies
@ @ @ @ @
The The
viewer who fed not Extremist The male-
Mitt
rhetoric dominated
called her doing his Romney
guy industry
fat job
@ @
The
company All the
with bad
ideas
Every good story needs a villain. bullies, EVER
32

73. Everyone Loves When The Good Guys Win
@ @ @ @ @
An
The A woman
A couple in An eloquent awesome
President of inventor
love news anchor gay military
Ireland engineer
veteran
@ @ @ @
A funny A senator Say hello Astronauts
A poet
feminist on who does talking about
the TV her job to our science
all of us
heroes.
33

74. Everyone Likes It When You Say What They’re Thinking
@ @ @ @ @
Stop Your Stop We should
attacking
It’s time. position is poisoning the help girls
people’s
wrong. discourse. succeed.
looks.
@ @ @ @ @
The Our
feds need Bullying
planet is the WHOA. FOR
Seriously? affects all of
to do their only one we REAL?
us.
job. got.
34

75. Moral Of The Story
Make or find really amazing content that speaks to
your audience in a human way.
WHO KNEW?!
35

76. STEP 2: Frame ’Em
It doesn’t matter how good your content is.
If you don’t make it compelling enough to click and
share, no one will know it exists.
36

77. Social Headlines Need A
“Curiosity Gap”
Too vague, and I don’t want to click:
A Guy Invented This Thing You’ll Like
Too specific, I don’t need to click:
Inventor Launches New 3D Printer At SXSW
Ergo...
The Epic Thinger That Makes The
Internet Look Like A Coloring Book
37

78. Upworthy’s Editorial Process
1. You HAVE to crap out 25 headlines for
every piece of content.
2.You WILL write some really stinky headlines.
3. Once you start getting desperate, you start
thinking outside the box.
4. So you HAVE TO WRITE 25 HEADLINES.
5. #24 will suck. Then #25 will be a gift from the
headline gods and will make you a legend.
6. Accept that not every headline will be perfect.
7. Then write 25 headlines.
8. With practice, you’ll be writing 25 in 15 minutes.
Then I will give you permission to lower your limit.
SO PLEASE WRITE 25 HEADLINES
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79. Headline Rules
Don’t give it all away in the headline.
Also, don’t give it all away in the excerpt, share image, or share text.
Don’t be shrill. Don’t form an opinion for the end user. Let them do that.
Don’t bum people out. (Remember slide 11.)
Don’t sexualize your headlines in a way your mom wouldn’t approve.
And don’t over-think it. Some of your headlines will suck. Accept it and keep writing.
Which reminds me, my mom doesn’t like it when you put the word “sucks” in
headlines.
Lastly, be clever. But not TOO clever.
39

80. The Slide For Your Cheap Boss
Two Headlines. The Exact Same Video.
@ @
TOO
CLEVER
100X
THE VIEW
S!
10,000 1,000,000
Pageviews Pageviews
40

81. YOU WILL WRITE
25
HEADLINES!1!!!1
Otherwise, people won’t click your links.
So I’d write 25 headlines.
41

82. FRAME ALL THE THINGS!
The Share Text
The Headline
The Excerpt
SEE IT @
The Share Image
Your Mom*
Don’t give it away on any of these, or you will
prevent people from clicking.

83. Mom

84. Thing.
ing

85. About

86. The42
*

87. We’re

88. Not

89. Jok

90. To Do List For Your Code Team
If you aren’t making the most of social media, you are wasting
opportunities for massive traffic increases.
Facebook Headline Field
Facebook Excerpt Field
Share Image Field
Fancy AB Testing System
You have no one to blame but
yourself if you don’t do the first
three things.
43

91. “We Can’t Afford That, Mr. Fancy Pants.”
You may be thinking, “Easy for them to say with
their fancy development team.”
Then click here.
You can edit
headlines and
descriptions when PROTIP SEE IT @
posting.
ALL THE THINGS! 44

92. Let’s Talk About Your Mom, Dude
FACT: No one likes to disappoint
their mom.
DOUBLE FACT: Middle-aged
women are the biggest sharers
on the Interwebs.
ERGO: If you frame your content
to not make your mom shake her
head, you have a better chance of
winning.
45

93. You Aren’t A Bad Person (Probably)
Marketing is not inherently evil, hippie.
Accept that if you get people to come see your important message,
they might actually learn about how to help and stuff.
46

94. How We Sleep At Night
Curiosity-inducing headlines are manipulative, you say?
00K
8 on
Views
Up worthy SEE IT @
Guess what NYC is now being forced to investigate? Read it @
47
The Nation

95. Also...
Not sure if we mentioned this yet, but you should write 25 headlines unless you want
the terrorists to win.
48

96. The Quiz To Punch Your Boss In The Brain
A B
A Public Service Put Yourself In A White
Announcement On Behalf Guy's Shoes. Comfy,
Of All White Dudes Right?
Pick a winner, champ!
49

97. See, I wrote 25...
50

98. The Quiz To Punch Your Boss In The Brain
A 32X
THE CLIC
KS!
SEE IT @
51

99. The Share Image Is Your ‘In’
@ @ @ @
Interesting

100. Curiosity-inducin’ The

101. cutest

102. thing

103. People

104. love

105.
celebrity

106. image what

107. is

108. happening?

109. in

110. the

111. world secrets
@ @ @ @
x

112. vs.

113. y Heavily

114. annotated PG-13 Obvious

115. screenshot
52

116. Facebook Just Made Images More Interesting
Thumbnails are now 600 x 600. You better start optimizing.
Their new feed is focused on visuals, so if you aren’t making your images
big enough to be visual, your content ranking will probably suffer.
53

117. Share Image Quiz For Your Thoughts?
A B
54

118. I Got This One Way Wrong
A!
SEE IT @
1.6XKS!
T HE CLIC
55

119. “We Can’t Afford AB, Mr. Fancy Pants.”
Your Wall + Bit.ly + A Stopwatch + Facebook Targeting
1. Create two Bit.ly URLs, one with
URL?r=A and one with URL?r=B.
2. Find two cities with similar
demographics and populations
amongst your fans. Use one Bit.ly
on each.
PROTIP
3. Time it. The most Bit.ly clicks
wins. (Add a “+” to a Bit.ly url to
see stats.) SEE IT @
56

120. I Know Your Boss Thinks
It’s A Waste Of Time
But I have an idea.
You should write 25 headlines
and make it easier to share.
Then people will want to “click”
on your “stuff” and bring “traffic” back to your
“website.” Then your boss will “finally get it.”
57

121. STEP 3: Let’s Talk About UX, Baby
58

122. Optimize Prime
Your website is the gateway
drug to sharing. Make sure it
shares properly.
You should always be testing,
always adapting, always
challenging what works.
Art by Tim Doyle of Nakatomi Inc
59

123. You Better Fix Your Share Buttons
Floating
Hover Overlay
Links
+ Links Above
SEE IT @
3E98%
MOR
WIN 60

124. Slide
SEE IT @
A slider pops out and
6E20%
asks you to like us.
MOR
BOSS 5

125. STEP 4: Don’t Stop Testing
And/Or Believing
62

126. Always. Be. Testing.
AB test constantly.
-“Katy Perry and Tim McGraw” garnered twice as many
clicks as “Rihanna and Pink Floyd.”
- Test angry vs. passive, short vs. long, questions vs.
statements, and anything else you can think of.
Use Google and Facebook Analytics to see what people are
interacting with the most.
Always ask yourself, “Is there another way to do this?”
63

127. You Can Always Do Better
SEE IT @
16-second delay
7 0% ICKS!
MORE CL 5
64

128. STEP 5: Go Get Lucky
You can’t force something to go
viral. Even if it’s good.
Virality is tough to predict.
Content you love won’t always
make it. Walk it off, and write 25
more headlines.
More content = more chances for
a huge hit.
65

129. TL;DR
1. CONTENT: Find and/or create amazing content.
2. FRAMING: Optimize said content to be really clicky on Facebook.
3. TECH/UX: Optimize your site to be really good at sharing said
content back to Facebook.
4. DATA: Never stop testing your zany theories.
5. LUCK: Capture a leprechaun and steal his lucky charms.
66

130. Stay Classy, Austin
Sara FINAL PRO TIP: Always make an ask.
Ask us some questions... make sure to test
Critchfield things...
Managing Editor and always write 25 headlines.
Totally your call, but
Adam would you mind following us?
Mordecai
Viral Curator
The Sweet Science Of Virality by Upworthy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://facebook.com/upworthy.
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