Although web content has a greater possibility of becoming viral due to the greater accessibility over the Internet, what are the reasons that render content viral in the first place? To find out where the possible answers lie, the issue of why certain content goes viral and other does not can be approached in two ways.

Ask yourself why people share information in the first palace and what kind of information do they typically share? By answering these questions you can get a clearer picture of what people want to know about and what interests them the most.

We know why videos and articles go viral in the first place, as these include those that engage and interest the public serving a definite purpose. Content that is boring and irrelevant will definitely not go viral. To discover what it is that entertains and interests the large majority of the public, marketers work hard on surveys and research work.

Research is conducted by using statistical patterns and feedback forms, as well as other scientific surveying methods; however, these results are not exhaustive taken alone. In fact not much is really understood as far as the pattern of viral content is concerned, as there does not seem to be a particular group of interest that will generate viral content for sure. All you can do is find out what common interests and traits people share the most and work from these.

Ask yourself why it is people share words, images and videos? The answer is that this makes them feel well and accomplished. It is a human trait we all share, as we like to receive a certain gratification for what we are showing, even though we do not know anything about the people looking at what we have to share.

Self-esteem is a major psychological trait we all share and this drives us to share in order to receive compliments. People need to be respected by others and they want to feel they belong to a group and social sphere. Many people use tweets to help them with this need as a survey carried out by the Consumer Insight Group proved that people share because they need to define themselves as a specific tier of the community as well as to enrich their lives.

Although this may be pretty general as a concept, you can delve deeper and study the different tier of the communities and specific interests they share. The main traits remain, as people usually share to promote their profession or activity, or others want to let the public know about a certain cause. Whichever their purpose social networks are used as they offer a larger span of understanding and sharing, while standard blogs or websites are either too specific or subject orientated.

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Journalism is the reporting of news.  It reports the news, not only in newspapers but in other avenues such as, interviews and written editorials.  Reporting the news entails, accuracy, truth and diplomacy.  The role of a journalist is to provide information to their readers by investigating stories and getting facts.  This is similar to the role of content writers for the internet, to provide content that is relevant and truthful.

If you are a provider of information via the internet, you have the opportunity to reach millions of people.  You should not take this lightly and must take steps to ensure that you are providing accurate information, in an interesting manner.  You can use some of the following journalistic techniques.

• Have a compelling first sentence.  This will engage the reader and they will read your post in its entirety.

• Use an active voice because it is more interesting than a passive voice.

• Use a positive tone.  State positive elements of your post topic, not the negative ones.

• It is imperative that you have proper punctuation and grammar, as well as error free spelling. This should be a no brainer.  However, many people do not think of it.  In order to be taken seriously by the general public your posts need to be well-written.

• If you are writing about something new, such as about a new technology, you must verify your information.  For example, in your research you come across a blog that has some information on your topic, don’t take what they said as fact.  You don’t know for sure, how much they know about the topic, or if they are using any facts.  Verify their information before reporting it.

• Provide original content that readers have not already read.   Do not ever copy what someone else has written.
• Interviews are always interesting and new.  If you are going to interview someone, be prepared. Get a list of questions together.  Make sure that the questions are worded properly to get a response.  You don’t want a bunch of “yes” and “no” answers.

• Use ethical writing.  If you are writing reviews, make sure to tell all details, good and bad.  This enables the reader to make their own decision.  If you are being paid to write a review, be careful.  Do not write a review if you are told not to include relevant facts that the public would want to know.  This would not be ethical writing.

It is possible for everyone writing on the internet to work together to provide information.  They can make the web a responsible, intelligent and interesting source of information.

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A Brief Explanation about Facebook Comments

There was way too much hype about Facebook Comments.  It was difficult to fathom the reason for the creation of Facebook Comments.   TechCrunch became the first organization to use Facebook Comments. It allows for posting on any website using your Facebook identity.

Facebook Comments–a bad idea?
Many in world have lost their privacy. Everything is tracked. Information is given out to numerous organizations.  Granted, there are some things that should be out in the open. However, some comments on-line should not be anonymous.
If you comment on something on a webpage, should this be kept anonymous? Perhaps, you would be more frank if your name and your reputation were not attached. What about websites that are inflammatory or publishing incorrect information? Should not someone leave a comment on those websites without the possibility of being tracked? Also, in many countries putting comments on a government sponsored website may land you in jail. What about in counties that do not have freedom of speech? Are there some instances, where anonymity might be warranted? In these cases, maybe being anonymous is a good thing and being identifiable a bad thing.

Facebook Comments – a good idea?
You don’t have to go far on the Internet to see the downside of the lack of systems like Facebook Comments. For example, the comments on YouTube are often mindless.  If these commenters had a searchable identity, do you think they would have posted such garbage?
If you replaced anonymous posting with Facebook Comments would this be mindless, at best or insulting language, at its worse, decrease. Would the Internet become a more ‘friendly’ place? This might be a possibility with Facebook Comments.

Should a Website use Facebook Comments?
The site WatchingWebsite gave some advice for website publishers concerning if they should encourage Facebook Commenting.  For controlling spam, Facebook Comments might be a way for larger website to take control of this issue. Sites such as Hotels.com, TechCrunch, Examiner, L.A. Times and Technology blog, are already using the system. For those websites, which are attempting to establish real connections with their readers, Facebook Comments may be a tool in achieving this.
Less Junk and More Quality
The bottom line is the difference that Facebook Comments will make on the overall operation of the Internet. It would seem its adoption for those websites wanting more quality comments.  But, there may be some websites where being the ability to be anonymous is a plus.  So, like other developing trends on the Internet, we will have to wait and see.

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Almost Perfect Blogger

Runs his blog, almost perfectly.  He follows the ideals of what blogging initially set out to do.  To share information with readers about a certain topic.  His mission is to supply interesting, important, and relevant information.  He writes his information in a way that allows the reader to form their own opinion with respect to his advice.   He has no hidden agenda, is not trying to make easy money or sway anyone’s opinion.  His readers can count on him to upgrade his blog regularly, with useful tips and strategies.   He is very anal about his blog and spends a lot time working on it.  He enjoys being useful to his readers.

Paris Hilton

In this blogger’s universe, they are the only one that matters and everything is all about them. They have no interest in providing anything useful to the reader.  In fact, they don’t really care if anyone reads it.  It is simply a means for them to write about whatever they feel like talking about.

Their topics are not even remotely enlightening and are mostly self-sacrificing.  Surprisingly, though, they do have an audience.  However, if the reader were asked why they read it, they probably would not have a definitive answer.  Similar to how people paid attention to Paris, for no reason.

The Content Thief

This blogger may be a good writer, but is lazy and not really interested in blogging,  They are only looking for notoriety and don’t want to actually work for it.  They search the internet looking for the latest story that they know will get a lot of searches.  Then they creep around the internet stealing content from other blogs.  Then they tweak it a bit and post it as if it were their own.

They can be successful with this for a little while.  But it is only a matter of time before people catch on.

Nancy Grace

This blogger has an opinion, wants to share it, and has no interest in whether or not the reader has one.  Once they get on a topic of interest to them, they rarely stop writing about it.  While their words are well-written, they do not feel the need to go into great detail about anything.   Persuading the reader to agree with their opinion is all that matters to them.

No topic is open for discussion or debate, ever.   After a while, the reader gets bored.  Unless, of course, they agree with every word.

The reasons why people blog are varied.  One has to wonder why some even bother, but it is a free internet.  Perhaps having an avenue to speak their mind, knowing that others may one day read it, is their way to feel connected.

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