going viral - netwerk theory and the new age of pr (raf weverbergh)
TRANSCRIPT
GOING #VIRALNETWORK THEORY AND THE NEW AGE OF PR
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WHY THIS TOPIC?• IT’S POORLY UNDERSTOOD • REVEALS A CENTRAL TRUTH OF HUMAN
NETWORKS• EXPLAINS HOW INFORMATION SPREADS, BUT
MORE IMPORTANTLY: ATTITUDES, BEHAVIOR, MONEY & POWER
• OUTSIZED IMPACT ON MEDIA AND OUR DIGITAL INTERACTIONS IN THE LAST DECADE
• COMMUNICATION & PR HAS NOT YET FULLY ADAPTED TO THESE CHANGES
MEET “THE DRESS”
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ON FEBRUARY 25TH, USER “SWIKED” POSTED THIS MESSAGE ON TUMBLR: “GUYS PLEASE HELP ME - IS THIS DRESS WHITE AND GOLD, OR BLUE AND BLACK? ME AND MY FRIENDS CAN’T AGREE AND WE ARE FREAKING THE FUCK OUT”
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NEXT, THIS HAPPENED:
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AS CLOSE AS IT GETS TO PURE VIRALITY. DOES THIS REMIND YOU OF SOMETHING? OF COURSE IT DOES:
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“BETWEEN JUNE 1 – SEPTEMBER 1, MORE THAN 17 MILLION VIDEOS RELATED TO THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE WERE SHARED TO FACEBOOK. THESE VIDEOS WERE VIEWED MORE THAN 10 BILLION TIMES BY MORE THAN 440 MILLION PEOPLE.”
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THE PHONE RINGS - A JOURNALIST WANTS ANSWERS ABOUT THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE:
WHERE DO THESE THINGS COME FROM?
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WELL, THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE CAME OUT OF BOSTON:
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SOURCE: FACEBOOK
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NOT REALLY INSIGHTFUL, IS IT?
“SO THIS IS AN INTERNET THING, RIGHT?”
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IN FACT, IT’S NOT:
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IN 1989 IN LEIPZIG (DDR) A SMALL GROUP OFPROTESTERS STARTED TO MARCHON MONDAY NIGHTS
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IN 1989 IN LEIPZIG (DDR) 1200PROTESTERS STARTED TO MARCHON MONDAY NIGHTS
8 WEEKS LATER, THEY NUMBERED500 000
SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA/HAMBURGER ABENDBLATT
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ON NOVEMBER 9, 1989 THE BERLIN WALL CAME DOWN.
“BUT WHAT IS IT THEN THAT MAKES IT SO VIRAL?”
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SOURCE: JEREMIAH OWYANG
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NOT
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IT DOES NOT EXPLAIN WHY THE DRESS AND THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE SUCCEEDED WHERE ALL THE OTHERS FAILED.
WHAT IF THE ANSWER IS NOT IN CREATIVITY, BUT IN MATHEMATICS?
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IN 2003, DUNCAN WATTS WROTE“SIX DEGREES. THE SCIENCE OFA CONNECTED AGE”, WHICHEXPLAINS VIRAL PHENOMENATHROUGHNETWORK THEORY OR “GRAPH”THEORY.
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YOU KNOW THAT MOMENT WHEN AN ENTIRE CONCERT HALL STARTS TO CLAP IN SYNCHRONICITY? THAT’S WHAT HAPPENS ONLINE. IT ISCALLED AN “INFORMATION CASCADE”.
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“DURING SUCH AN EVENT, INDIVIDUALS IN A POPULATION ESSENTIALLY STOP BEHAVING LIKE INDIVIDUALS AND START TO ACT MORE LIKE A COHERENT MASS.”
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“WHAT ALL INFORMATION CASCADES HAVE IN COMMON, HOWEVER, IS THAT ONCE ONE COMMENCES, IT BECOMES SELF-PERPETUATING; THAT IS, IT PICKS UP NEW ADHERENTS LARGELY ON THE STRENGTH OF HAVING ATTRACTED PREVIOUS ONES.”
SOUNDS INTERESTING, BUT HOW DO THESE CASCADES THEY ORIGINATE?
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BECAUSE “THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU CONTROL YOUR MIND”.
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SOURCE: WASHINGTON POST
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“THE PROBABILITY OFCHOOSING OUTCOME AINCREASES SLOWLY WITH THE FRACTION OFNEIGHBORS CHOOSING A,BEFORE JUMPING RAPIDLYONCE A CRITICAL TRESHOLDHAS BEEN EXCEEDED”
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THE TRESHOLD DEPENDS ON:1. THE “VIRALITY” OF THE MESSAGE OR BEHAVIOR2. THE # OF NEIGHBORS “INFECTED”
BUT HOW DOES THAT EXPLAIN “THE DRESS”?
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WELL, IT EXPLAINS WHY THE DRESS IS BOTH POSSIBLE AND EXTREMELY RARE.
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THIS EXPLAINS WHY TRUE VIRALITY IS SO RARE: “(...) ONE OF THE MOST INTRIGUING FEATURES OF THE CASCADE PROBLEM WAS HOW MOST OF THE TIME THE SYSTEM IS COMPLETELY STABLE, EVEN IN THE FACE OF FREQUENT EXTERNAL SHOCKS.”
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PROBLEM 1: OUR CLUSTER IS NOT CONNECTED ENOUGH. THE SHOCK CAN’T PROPAGATE ANY FURTHER.
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PROBLEM 2: CLUSTER IS SO CONNECTED THAT NO INNOVATION OR NOVELTY CAN EXCEED THE TRESHOLD.
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BUT VERY RARELY, A MEME HITS A POCKET OF PEOPLE - A CLUSTER OF PEOPLE WHO ARE ABLE TO “SWITCH ON” OR “LIGHT UP” THE ENTIRE NETWORK.
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THIS CLUSTER HAS TO HAVE SPECIFIC, AND EVEN CONTRADICTORY CHARACTERISTICS. FOR ONE THING, IT HAS TO BE BOTH CONNECTED ENOUGH, BUT NOT TOO CONNECTED.
WHAT DOES THIS TELL US ABOUT THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE?
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“IT COULD JUST BE THAT SOME INNOVATIONS—HARRY POTTER, RAZOR SCOOTERS, BLAIR WITCHPROJECT—HIT JUST THE RIGHT VULNERABLECLUSTER, WHILE MOST DO NOT. AND INGENERAL NO ONE WILL KNOW WHICH ONE ISWHICH UNTIL ALL THE ACTION IS OVER.”
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WRITE THIS DOWN:“AND SO IT IS APPARENTLY WITH CULTURAL FADS, TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS, POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS, CASCADING CRISES, STOCK MARKET CRASHES, AND OTHER MANNERS OF COLLECTIVE MADNESS, MANIA, AND MASS ACTION. THE TRICK IS TO FOCUS NOT ON THE STIMULUS ITSELF BUT ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE NETWORK THAT THE STIMULUS HITS.”
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BUT, WASN’T THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE SPECIAL? YES, TO SUCCEED IN BECOMING TRULY VIRAL, IT HAD TO BE QUITE GOOD AT WHAT IT DID. BUT IT WASN’T THAT SPECIAL. WHAT MADE IT DIFFERENT WAS THAT IT GOD LUCKY TOO.
IT’S MURPHY’S LAW IN REVERSE.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR PR PROFESSIONALS?
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1. MAP THE NETWORK
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ASK YOURSELF: WHO INFLUENCES MY INFLUENCERS. THE “DRESS” WAS GETTING SO MUCH ATTENTION BECAUSE JOURNALISTS SAW THEIR PERSONAL FACEBOOK PAGES AND TWITTER FEEDS FLOODED WITH “THE DRESS”. THIS LED THEM TO WRITE STORIES ABOUT IT, WHICH CAUSED MORE PEOPLE TO TAKE NOTE. AS WATTS SAYS: ONCE THE CASCADE GETS GOING, IT JUST KEEPS GOING, AND GOING AND GOING.
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2. FLOOD THE NETWORK
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RELATED: TRY TO HIT A SPECIFIC CLUSTER HARD AND FAST. TRY TO “SWITCH ON” A CLEARLY DEFINED SEGMENT OF INFLUENCERS AND EARLY ADOPTERS ACROSS DIFFERENT PLATFORMS. (NOTE: THIS IS NOT THE SAME AS “SPRAYING AND PRAYING”.)
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3. CREATE VELOCITY
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CREATE VELOCITY: MAKE SURE YOU TIME YOUR CAMPAIGN SO THAT YOU FLOOD THE NETWORK ALL AT ONCE. DON’T DRIP YOUR CONTENT INTO A NETWORK, BECAUSE IT WILL NOT HAVE IMPACT.
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IF YOU DO PLAY IT RIGHT, THE ALGORITHMS WILL TAKE OVER...
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AND THEN THE MEDIAWILL GET IN ON IT
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SOCIAL NETWORKS AND NEXT GENERATION NEWSROOMS LIKE MASHABLE, HUFFINGTON POST, BUZZFEED, ETC. WERE BUILT BY PEOPLE WHO READ DUNCAN WATTS’ BOOK “RELIGIOUSLY”
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THE APP IS CALLED VELOCITY.
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THIS IS THE IDEA BEHIND “THUNDERCLAP” - THE QUESTION IS: DOES THUNDERCLAP SUCCEED IN REACHING THOSE “INFLUENCERS OF THE INFLUENCERS” (NOT SURE).
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4. VALUES: THINK ABOUT WHY THE CLUSTER MUST SHARE YOUR INFORMATION
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SEEDING: 35 INFLUENCERS
> 1181 FB SHARES
MAPPINGTIMINGVALUES
What PR actually is ...
Audience
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What PR actually is ...
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What PR actually is ...
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What PR actually is ...
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What PR actually is ...
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What PR actually is ...
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What PR actually is ...
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5. DON’T HOPE FOR AN ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE
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“REMEMBER: I JUST GOT LUCKY.”
ABOUT US
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