I’m glad Faris Yakob found the time to write a thoughtful post about this. We explain this almost everyday.
We need to forget about trying to make things viral and begin to understand what people would like to spread and why.
I’ve never been able to articulate the psychology behind spreadable media as well as what Faris writes here:
People do not spread things to spread them. Like so much social communication, it has a social function, both phatic and generous. It operates within a gift economy, where value is generated in transference, not purchase.
