3 Wondertacular Rules for Going Viral From The Most Viral Site on the Web

This morning Upworthy.com, which crested at 30 million unique visitors in May thanks to a runaway viral hit, announced that they've started piloting sponsored posts to generate revenue, and shared with Fast Company a bit of their secret sauce. Founded 14 months ago by Moveon.org's Eli Pariser and Peter Koechley of The Onion, with Chris Hughes of Facebook (who's since left to take over The New Republic), Upworthy set out with the quixotic goal of making green-vegetable topics like gay rights, climate change, and cancer awareness as addictive as Doritos Tacos Locos and as shareable as LOLcats. And they've been really good at it, they revealed today. A social analytics company called SimpleReach reported that Upworthy's posts, helped along by 2 million Facebook Likers and 1 million email signups, were driving a startling 20% of all the social sharing they were tracking of published content on the web. And a separate company called Scanvine rated them #1 of the top 25 most shared sites. Take these mystery metrics with a heavy grain of salt, or say they just got lucky, but take note that a site made up of 80-90% reshared videos, most made by amateurs and activists and posted to YouTube, is pulling in some serious traffic. Here, according to Pariser and Koechley, are the top three rules they've arrived at through their testing that are different from what traditional media does. Spend half your time on the headline "People put way too much emphasis on the specifics of the... Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2013-07-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #gay rights #climate change #revealed today #social sharing #traditional media

Other Publishing stories related to: '3 Wondertacular Rules for Going Viral From The Most Viral Site on the Web'


9 Popular Sites Become Core of New Adweek Blog Network

A diverse collection of industry blogs previously owned by Mediabistro today has been integrated into Adweek.com as the new Adweek Blog Network. Purchased by Adweek's parent company in 2014, the sites largely will remain the same in content and structure. Most visibly, their Web addresses will... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-01-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #clio awards #successful year #editorial expertise #media professionals


Buzzfeed's New Publisher Says Data Shows Emotional Content, Shareability Key to Viral Success

  Photo: Alfred Maskeroni Specs Who Dao Nguyen New gig Publisher, BuzzFeed Old gig Vp of growth and data, BuzzFeed Age 41 Twitter @daozers What do you do as publisher? Publishing is literally the act of making information available to the public. For a purely digital operation like... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-01-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #shed light #paid media #ve found #brand affinity #pop culture #buddhist nun


Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer rides his replacement's success to $3 billion windfall

Microsoft's history books will undoubtedly remember 2014 as the year of Satya Nadella. But Steve Ballmer, his predecessor, is the one reaping the majority of the benefits of the new CEO's popularity. Sure, Nadella hit a $90 million jackpot when we took the top job at the world's second most... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal

[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2015-01-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #history books #satya nadella #top job


New Books Rule In November

David Foenkinos’s "Charlotte," the story of a German painter who died at Auschwitz at the age of 26, rose six spots to hit #1 on France’s fiction list in November. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #hit #1 #fiction list


DRM-Free Site Humble Bundle Generated Over $4 Million in 2014

Over the last year, Humble Bundle, the promotional site that lets readers pay what they wish for bundles of DRM-free content, released 18 bundles that generated $4.75 million in revenue. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-12-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #$4 million #humble bundle #promotional site #drm-free content


Supreme court to rule whether ban on abuse memoir threatens free speech

Rights groups back challenge, claiming injunction on British performing artist’s book is serious risk to freedom of expressionA British performing artist who has been prevented from publishing his memoir as a result of legal action brought by his ex-wife is to ask the supreme court to overturn... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #supreme court #free speech #leading writers #injunction imposed


As New Bloomberg Business Site Approaches, Company Eyes Larger Audience

Bloomberg L.P. has spent the last year pouring money and resources into its media arm -- which still labors in the shadow of the terminal business that made Michael Bloomberg a billionaire -- to better attract audiences and advertisers. Now the most visible results of its work are about to... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2014-12-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #attract audiences #big feature


Zoella retreats from web amid row about ghostwritten novel Girl Online

YouTube blogger Zoe Sugg asks fans for patience while she takes a few days off, saying book controversy was ‘clouding up my brain’The YouTube blogger Zoella has revealed she is temporarily quitting the internet amid controversy over her record-breaking debut novel.Zoe Sugg’s Girl Online, about a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-12-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #girl online #book controversy #record-breaking debut #zoe sugg #american musician #week -


Prison book ban ruled unlawful

The High Court has deemed the government’s ban on sending books to prisoners unlawful. Mr Justice Collins today (5th December) declared the ban unlawful saying he could see “no good reason” for the rule, “in the light of the importance of books for prisoners.” New measures were brought in in... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #sending books #prisoners unlawful #high court #good reason


Campaigners 'thrilled' by prison books ruling

Campaigners and prominent trade figures, including many high-profile authors, have expressed their delight with the High Court’s decision to rule the government's ban on sending books to prisoners unlawful. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-12-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #high-profile authors #high court #sending books #prisoners unlawful


Author C.J. Daugherty on Adapting Book-to-Web Series

Author CJ Daugherty discusses the release Night School the Web Series based on her bestselling YA novels — the first of its kind in the UK. The post Author C.J. Daugherty on Adapting Book-to-Web Series appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-12-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this |


In Russia, One Textbook Publisher Rules Them All

In Russia, a recent tender for school textbooks was so lopsided, with Prosveshcheniye dominating, that several competitors are already announcing lay offs. The post In Russia, One Textbook Publisher Rules Them All appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-12-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #school textbooks


Vice Launching Sci-Fi Site

Terraform, Brooklyn-based Vice Media Group's first standalone literary platform, will be dedicated to original pieces of science fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #science fiction


Fall of the Banner Ad: The Monster That Swallowed the Web

Twenty years ago last month, a team of well-meaning designers, coders and magazine publishers inadvertently unleashed on an unsuspecting world one of the most misguided and destructive technologies of the Internet age: the web banner ad.   If th ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-11-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #banner ad #internet age


Top 10 Web Series Videos: Halloween Scares Up Prank Video

Prank scares got an extra boost this past Halloween week as online audiences sought out viral videos that would provide thrills and frights. YouTuber SA Wardega, who has had video success in the past with his scare tactics, led the prank wars with his Zombie Apocalypse Halloween Prank. Undead... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2014-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #young son #videowatch chart #chart tracks #pure views #data sources #proprietary score #helps judge #recommended videos


Authors on the Air November 3, 2014: Simon Rich

Simon Rich, author of 'Spoiled Brats' (Little, Brown, 9780316368629), will appear on WNYC’s 'Leonard Lopate Show' on Monday, November 3, and NBC’s 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' on Tuesday, November 4. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-11-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #late night #seth meyers


PW Picks: Books of the Week, November 3, 2014

This week: new Richard Ford, how music was captured, and classic children's books get gnarly. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #richard ford #classic children


Court ruling secures future for Germany's Suhrkamp

A ruling by the District Court in Berlin has put an end to one of the most acrimonious power struggles in the history of German publishing and secured the future of one of the country’s best-known literary publishers - Suhrkamp.  The company can finally now go ahead with much needed reforms,... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-10-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #district court #german publishing #insolvency protection #german law #stay afloat


Al Jazeera Web Comic Looks at Big Data and the Future of Privacy

Al Jazeera America has released Terms of Service, an online graphic novel that is the part of the network’s strategy of tapping into new forms of storytelling.  Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big data


Reversal of Fortunes: What a Recent Appeals Court Ruling Holds for Academic Fair Use

On October 17, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a key fair-use ruling in a long-running case over digital course readings on college campuses. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-10-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #circuit court #long-running case #college campuses