Quote of the Day

Social Currency: 

• “Social Currency is about information senders and how sharing makes them look.”

Triggers: 

• “By acting as reminders, triggers not only get people talking, they keep them talking.”

Emotion: 

• “Some emotions kindle the fire more than others. As we discussed, activating emotion is the key to transmission. Physiological arousal or activation drives people to talk and share. We need to get people excited or make them laugh. We need to make them angry rather than sad. Even situations where people are active can make them more likely to pass things on to others.”

Public: 

• “Making something more observable makes it easier to imitate. Thus a key factor in driving products to catch on is public visibility. If something is built to show, it’s built to grow.”

Practical Value: 

• “People like to pass along practical, useful information. News others can use.”
• “Offering practical value helps make things contagious.”
• “People share practically valuable information to help others.”

Stories:

• “Stories are an important source of cultural learning that help us make sense of the world.”
• “In trying to craft contagious content, valuable virality is critical. That means making the idea or desired benefit a key part of the narrative.”
• “So build a Social Currency – laden, Triggered, Emotional, Public, Practically Valuable Trojan Horse, but don’t forget to hide your message inside. Make sure your desired information is so embedded into the plot that people can’t tell the story without it.”

- Summary of the book Contagious – Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger