“THE TROUBLE WITH WRITING (AND POSTING) FOR VIRALITY” in "WRITER@WORK: Stories From A Lone, Urban Girl"

I’ve got to be honest with you. Having been a content writer (and a blogger) for a few years already means dealing with these matters, most of the time. It’s not a complaint, though. I’m just stating the facts as they are.

These days, virality matters. It is the faster, digital version of trend. Everyday, we probably go straight to #trendingtopics to check them out.

As long as many people still discuss, write about, post, and reshare the same thing – especially at the same time, then it still matters.

Of course, these are some of the problems (well, at least what I could think of) :

1. Some people tend to get bored easily.

What’s viral really does last, even for a while. They also quickly fades away, replaced by what’s (considered) more relevant, more ‘in the now’. It’s seconds by seconds to get as much attention as possible.

However, people can still get bored. Imagine you browsing online for articles…and instantly bombarded with the same thing from several other sources. What else is there left to read – at least with an afterthought?

Maybe it’s me, but I feel like there’s hardly a room for diversity – topic-wise, that is.

1. Some people haven’t got enough time and concentration to let the information ‘sink in’.

How come? The flood comes abruptly and then washes away in seconds. Because of its rapid spread (especially in articles from all angles at once), people can get overwhelmed. There’s so little time to process everything more thoroughly before something new comes along.

1. Some people forget faster.

This is related to the previous point. Because it goes viral and faster, some people find it hard to remember. Unless it’s relatable, nobody bothers with yesterday’s – or a few hours’ or minutes’ – old news.

1. The writers can get carried away too; they start writing more for the sake of earning more ‘likes’ and ‘shares’.

Okay, this is nothing new. When you write and post something that you really like, you’re happy if it’s read. You’re even happier if it’s read and liked, read and shared, and read-liked-and-shared.

I admit, I am also guilty of that.

However, anyone can get carried away. It’s true that most journalists and content writers (and sometimes bloggers too) write what the readers want to know about. Most of the time, that’s the only way to get noticed quickly.

Still, a small window of opportunity (regarding virality) means lack of indepth research – even for what’s (considered) trending.

1. Despite their virality, some topics are not even worth discussing.

Alright, this is plainly subjective. You may agree to disagree. For example: you may think that discussing about the bridal makeup of an actress-turned-royal princess after the royal wedding is important. Since I’m not a makeup artist and have no interest in it, then I don’t find that important.

Perhaps you think complaining about the choice of a director and an actor to a movie based on a best-selling, historical literature novel will make any difference. To others, they’ll probably go: “Oh, well. We’ll see.”

Virality does matter, at least to the extent of how many people will notice what you write and find that they too can relate to the topic. To stand out, you still need to think like there’s no box – and be bold in offering something different, although maybe not entirely new.

R.