The AOL Community Info Blog

It’s a common occurrence these days: You are online and a buddy sends you a link to a hilarious video of two students lip-syncing to a love-inspired pop hit. Their performance is captured by a Web cam.

Perhaps the students recorded the video in order to cheer up a friend. Maybe it was an audition performance for a television show. Whatever the original purpose of the video was, it somehow made its way onto the Internet and onto your computer screen. How did it spread like wildfire across the Web? We can't tell you the exact path that video took across the Web, but we can tell you why it spread the way it did. It was the right recipe of ingredients and execution.

There are several lessons we can learn from the lip-synched Backstreet Boys video. Below are the four must-have ingredients for making your message/content spread faster than news about Janet Jackson’s “wardrobe malfunction.”  

Content and Subject Matter Are Everything
Basically, if the content isn’t interesting, no one is going to want to read it. That pseudo Backstreet Boys clip had entertaining content. If the video were just four minutes of two students doing their homework, it wouldn’t have spread across the Web the way it did.

Let’s say you want to create a public blog. If you want others to read it, the content has to capture your audience’s attention right away. What are some topics you think your friends would be interested in? Is your goal to debate an issue? Is it to make readers laugh? This goes for videos, message board communities, chats and e-mail as well.

Quick Circulation Is Key
Once your content is developed, take advantage of every online communication method available to spread the word about your blog, community, message board or chat.

Off the top of my head, I can think of six different ways for content to spread quickly across the Web.

E-Mail
Billions of e-mails are sent every day. A few years ago, I received an e-mail from a buddy that included a link to a Web site -- one click was all it took before I spent several minutes browsing the entertaining site.

Remember, you don’t want to spam others, so only share with people who would be interested in your content. Make sure to include a sentence or two to encourage the recipient to forward the e-mail to anyone else they think would be interested in it.

IM
I received the pseudo Backstreet Boys video linked earlier in this article via IM from a buddy. I sent it to about three other people, who probably IM’d or posted the link elsewhere.

Blogs
If your content is part of your blog (or is your blog, for that matter), make sure to link up with other bloggers and ask them to write an entry that includes a link to your content. This way, you now have the regular readers of your blog and new, “referred” readers of your blog.

RSS Feeds
Blogs and RSS feeds go a hand in hand. Every time you publish your blog, an RSS feed is updated. If readers subscribe to your feed, they will receive your post almost immediately. Talk about fast!

Chat
If you are an AOL member and use chat, you can’t post a clickable hyperlink in an AOL chat room, but you can post the Web address. Keep in mind that spamming chat rooms is a TOS violation. Make sure that you only mention the URL if it pertains to the topic/conversation at hand.

Message Boards
One of the great things about posting to a message board is that it is almost like instant Web page publishing. As soon as you click “post,” your message goes live for millions to see. Similar to Chat, you’ll want to make sure that you only mention the URL if it pertains to the topic/conversation at hand. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself violating TOS.

Be Persistent
Don’t give up on spreading the word about your content. Remember, if it is interesting, compelling stuff, you are sure to get several bites.

Capture Your Audience
Once you have an audience for your community, make sure you have something more for them to digest so they want to keep coming back for more. If you have successfully grown your message board community, make sure to keep the topic interesting and the environment pleasant.

If you are a blogger, you can do several things. John Scalzi gives some great writing suggestions. Check his tips out.

If you are using RSS to spread your content, make sure to update regularly, otherwise you may find that people end their subscriptions.

OK, now that you are armed with six different ways to spread your content like a virus, hop to it! There are also a couple of links you may find useful.

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