Publisher told BuzzFeed that makes content virality

About how BuzzFeed command creates attractive user tests, lists, and video, as well as a new method of interaction with the audience - cultural mapping.

Dao Nguyen

BuzzFeed publisher, directs data analytics and everything related publications.

Last year, several employees BuzzFeed conceived to make fun of your boss Ze Frank on his birthday. We decided to put in his study of kids and arrange a live broadcast, when Ze go down and find them at home. We thought that it would take no more than 10 minutes and broadcast look only a few hundred employees. But it all went wrong. Ze delayed: he was summoned to a meeting, it was delayed, then he went to the restroom. More and more people have started to connect, to see the kids. Half an hour later, when Ze finally went to his office, watched the broadcast of 90 000 people.

Then we discussed a lot with the team this video and the reason for its success. It was not the most popular of our broadcast, but nevertheless it is a compelling story. It would be possible to put forward many reasonable hypotheses: people love small animals; people like office fun; People love stories about bosses and birthday surprises.

But we, in general, did not think about what the video. We tried to understand what viewers thought and felt.

We have read some of the 82,000 comments left during the broadcast, and concluded that people felt excitement, because together anticipating the upcoming event. Briefly they felt part of the community, and this has made them happier.

We decided to test this hypothesis and the following week had a translation of how two people in protective clothing watermelon wrapped rubber band until then, until it burst. This broadcast watched 800,000 people.

I am very often asked, how do the viral content. But this is the wrong question, it's not in the content. The fact, what those people who watch or read the content, think. Most media companies, talking about metadata, called themes and formats. It's about goats is an office sweepstakes, it's about the food, this is the list, this is a test, this is an article in 2000 words, the video lasts 15 minutes, in this post 15 pictures. Such metadata are of some interest, but does not help us to understand the most important thing. It is more important to ask: "What is good for our audience?"

Therefore, we have divided the content of functions.

1. Humor: "this is funny". You can laugh at anything: on a person or on specific jokes from the Internet.
2. Identification: "it's about me". People are increasingly using the media to explain: "It's me. This is my environment, my culture, my fandom, my secret passion, that's how I laugh at myself. "
3. unity"It helps me to feel the connection with the other person." This feature - one of the greatest benefits of the Internet. Is not it amazing happens when you find a post describing your ideal relationship with others?
4. practical aid. This includes everything that, for example, helps to settle the dispute, to understand something about themselves or others, tell their story.
5. Feelings. Here, the content that helps to feel something: awakens curiosity, causing sadness or restores faith in humanity.

People are increasingly using the media to communicate with each other. And if we can help them to communicate, then we'll do something really important to them.

This approach changes the relationship between media and data. Most media companies believe the media his"How many of us subscribers? How we scored views? How many of us unique users in the database? "But such an approach loses sight of the fact that the data belongs to users. If we, the publishers, we will better understand the role our content plays in the life of users, we can create even better.

Therefore, we try to ask: "Who are you? What brings you here? What do you seek? What is important to you? What you can teach us? "This is what we call cultural cartography.