Designing for Spreadability:

Spreadable Media is a book written by Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green that

explains how different people are spreading their content on social media and the implications

that come with it. The fifth chapter of this book discusses how to design content for

spreadability. This section of the book begins with writing about Mekanism, a creative agency

responsible for ad campaigns such as a campaign for Axe body wash (Jenkins, Ford & Green,

2013). What makes this company stand out is their ability to create spreadable content by

focusing on their target audience and their needs and wants. The material they create is designed

to attract their audience and encourage them to like and share the posted content. In order for

ATP Fitness to create spreadable content, they need to focus on their target audience and create

posts that they will feel motivated to like and share. It is important to think about what motivates

users to share information and build relationships not only with the company, but their social

media followers as well. A concept highlighted throughout this chapter is designing content that

motivates audiences to circulate their posts. However, success of posts is unpredictable, so a

good way to measure success of certain posts is to generate more content. If ATP posts more

content to their social media accounts, they will be able to determine which of their posts

generates the most likes and shares. Jenkins and colleagues (2013) states, “The best way to

predict new success is to build on past success.” Therefore, if ATP focuses on their previous

posts that have generated the most success, they will be able to create similar content to continue

that success. To ensure content is spread, the authors of Spreadable Media suggest making it

relevant to multiple audiences, creating a steady stream of material, and making it easily reusable

(i.e., shared, reposted, etc.) (2013).

The actual posts should encourage engagement with the audience to build relationships

and create conversations. ATP needs to incorporate prompts or questions to receive more

feedback on their posts. Their clients are most likely having conversations about different

workouts, diets, and even local events. If ATP incorporates this into their posts, their current and

potential clients will find ATP’s social media posts to be relatable, thus motivating them to

comment, like, or share. Within the posts, the content should be relevant to different cultures and

backgrounds, so that a variety of users can apply the content to their everyday lives. For

example, ATP could post more motivational quotes that speak to a wide variety of people so the

users can convey something about themselves in the post to their friends and followers.

In chapter five of Spreadable Media, there are several interesting ways a company can

make their content spreadable. One of these ways is through creating shared fantasies (2013).

What this entails is a company, such as ATP, creating posts based on shared experiences with

their customers by exchanging memories and feelings of nostalgia. ATP could create a post with

some of the most popular workout songs throughout the decades, starting with the 1960s song

“The Twist” which reaches the baby boomers of the gym. They could then insert the question,

“What is your all time favorite workout song?” to encourage engagement on the post.

This can help ATP build a relationship outside of the gym with their current and potential

clients by sharing these feelings of nostalgia. Another interesting way to create spreadable

content is by using humor in posts (2013). ATP could benefit from sharing humorous posts with

their followers, however it is important to remember when posting that some humor can be

insulting. For example, ATP would not want to post humorous content about weight problems

since it could insult current and potential clients. However, an example of a humorous post ATP

could share with their followers is a photo of someone lying in exhaustion on the floor with the

caption, “How we are feeling after tonight’s bootcamp class! Great workout everyone!” Using

unfinished content to engage with their audience is another way ATP can make their content

more spreadable (2013). Unfinished content is sharing a post that encourages the audience to

finish it. For example, ATP could post “My favorite thing to do after working out at ATP Fitness

is ________.” This encourages their followers to fill in the blank by sharing their own personal

experiences, which allows them to establish a relationship outside of the gym with one another.

Designing content for spreadability is important for ATP since most of their clients found them

through word of mouth. By using the above suggestions provided by Jenkins, Ford, and Green in

Spreadable Media , ATP will find many of their new clients heard about them on social media

because of their current clients sharing ATP’s different posts with their followers (2013).

Designing more spreadable content will motivate ATP’s clients to not only engage more with the

gym, but also share what they get to experience as a member of the gym with their friends and

followers on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram.