What makes something go viral? | Dao Nguyen

翻译人员: Huang Haisu 校对人员: Yulin Li

Last year, some BuzzFeed employees were scheming

去年，网络新闻媒体公司 BuzzFeed的一些员工在谋划

to prank their boss, Ze Frank,

在他们的老板 哲·弗兰克 生日那天

on his birthday.

搞一个恶作剧。

They decided to put a family of baby goats in his office.

他们决定把一窝小羊羔 放到他的办公室里。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Now, BuzzFeed had recently signed on to the Facebook Live experiment,

BuzzFeed不久前刚刚加入了 脸书的直播试验项目，

and so naturally,

所以顺理成章地，

we decided to livestream the whole event on the internet

我们决定在网上直播这场恶作剧，

to capture the moment when Ze would walk in

扑捉哲走进办公室，

并发现里面有活物的那一刻。

and discover livestock in his office.

We thought the whole thing would last maybe 10 minutes,

我们预期这个过程 可能会持续大约10分钟，

and a few hundred company employees would log in for the inside joke.

并且几百名公司员工 会登录看到这个内部笑话。

But what happened?

但是后来怎么样了呢？

Ze kept on getting delayed:

这个过程一直被推延：

he went to get a drink,

一会儿他去喝了点饮料，

he was called to a meeting,

然后去开了个电话会议，

the meeting ran long,

会议很长，

he went to the bathroom.

过后他又去了趟洗手间。

More and more people started logging in to watch the goats.

越来越多的人开始 登录观看那些小羊羔。

By the time Ze walked in more than 30 minutes later,

直到半个多小时后哲进去时，

90,000 viewers were watching the livestream.

已经有9万名观众在 观看这次直播。

Now, our team had a lot of discussion about this video

我们团队对视频进行了很多讨论，

and why it was so successful.

讨论它为什么会这么火。

It wasn't the biggest live video that we had done to date.

它并不是我们曾经做过的 最大的直播视频。

The biggest one that we had done involved a fountain of cheese.

我们做过最大的现场视频里 有个奶酪喷泉。

But it performed so much better than we had expected.

但是这个视频的效果 远远超越了我们的想象。

What was it about the goats in the office that we didn't anticipate?

关于那些办公室里的小羊羔， 我们有哪些漏掉的亮点？

Now, a reasonable person could have any number of hypotheses.

一个正常人会有许多假设。

Maybe people love baby animals.

也许是人们爱小动物。

Maybe people love office pranks.

也许是人们喜欢办公室恶作剧。

Maybe people love stories about their bosses

也许是喜欢关于他们老板们的故事，

or birthday surprises.

或者生日的惊喜。

But our team wasn't really thinking about what the video was about.

但是我们的团队并没有考虑 这个视频是关于什么的。

而是在想，

We were thinking about

what the people watching the video were thinking and feeling.

观看视频的人在想什么 和他们感到了什么。

We read some of the 82,000 comments that were made during the video,

我们读了直播期间留下的 82000条评论，

and we hypothesized that they were excited

而且我们假设人们感到兴奋，

是因为他们在参与一个共享的期望，

because they were participating in the shared anticipation

of something that was about to happen.

期望一件就要发生的事情。

就在那一刻，他们是 一个整体的一部分，

They were part of a community, just for an instant,

and it made them happy.

这让他们感到很开心。

So we decided that we needed to test this hypothesis.

所以我们决定要测试这个假设。

What could we do to test this very same thing?

要如何来测试相同的一件事呢？

The following week,

在接下来的几周里，

armed with the additional knowledge that food videos are very popular,

依据我们已有的信息， 关于食物的视频很受欢迎，

我们让两个人穿上化学防护衣，

we dressed two people in hazmat suits

and wrapped rubber bands around a watermelon until it exploded.

往一个西瓜上套皮筋，直到西瓜爆裂。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Eight hundred thousand people watched

80万观众看到了

the 690th rubber band explode the watermelon,

第690个皮筋把西瓜挤爆，

marking it as the biggest Facebook Live event to date.

让这个视频成为至今Facebook 直播活动里最火爆的一个。

The question I get most frequently is:

我最经常被问到的问题是：

How do you make something go viral?

你是如何让一件事情 像病毒一样迅速传播的？

The question itself is misplaced;

这个问题关注的点错了：

it's not about the something.

这不是关于某件事情。

It's about what the people doing the something,

这是关于人们在做这件事的时候，

reading or watching --

无论阅读还是观看，

他们在想什么？

what are they thinking?

Now, most media companies, when they think about metadata,

很多媒体公司，当他们思考元数据时，

they think about subjects or formats.

想的是主题或者格式。

It's about goats,

视频是关于羊羔的，

it's about office pranks,

是关于办公室恶作剧的，

it's about food,

是关于食物的，

it's a list or a video or a quiz,

是一列清单，或者一个视频， 亦或者一个小测验，

it's 2,000 words long,

2000个词，

it's 15 minutes long,

15分钟的长度，

嵌入了23个推特更新或者15张图片。

it has 23 embedded tweets or 15 images.

Now, that kind of metadata is mildly interesting,

那种元数据是有那么点儿意思，

but it doesn't actually get at what really matters.

但是它并不能指出 到底什么是最重要的。

What if, instead of tagging what articles or videos are about,

与其贴上这个文章 或者视频是关于什么的标签，

what if we asked:

如果我们问道：

How is it helping our users do a real job in their lives?

它是如何帮助我们的用户在 生活中切实完成一件事情的？

Last year, we started a project

去年我们启动了一个项目，

去正式地用这种方式 把我们的内容分栏。

to formally categorize our content in this way.

We called it, "cultural cartography."

我们把它命名为，“文化制图”。

It formalized an informal practice that we've had for a really long time:

它把我们长久以来 随意的做法正规化了：

don't just think about the subject matter;

不要只想主题是什么，

think also about, and in fact, primarily about,

还要去想，应该说是主要去想，

the job that your content is doing for the reader or the viewer.

你的内容对读者 或者观众产生了什么影响。

Let me show you the map that we have today.

让我给大家展示 我们目前的一张地图。

Each bubble is a specific job,

每个泡泡是一件具体的工作，

and each group of bubbles in a specific color are related jobs.

每个颜色的泡泡组是相关的工作。

First up: humor.

第一个：幽默。

"Makes me laugh."

”让我笑”。

让一个人笑有很多种方式。

There are so many ways to make somebody laugh.

You can be laughing at someone,

你可以是在嘲笑某个人。

you could laugh at specific internet humor,

你可能在笑某个网络幽默。

you could be laughing at some good, clean, inoffensive dad jokes.

你可能在笑一个轻松的， 毫无冒犯但不太好笑的笑话。

"This is me." Identity.

“这就是我。” 身份。

人们越来越多地 用媒体去解释，“这就是我。

People are increasingly using media to explain, "This is who I am.

This is my upbringing, this is my culture,

这是我的成长经历，这是我的文化，

这是我的粉丝， 这是我让人内疚的快乐。

this is my fandom, this is my guilty pleasure,

and this is how I laugh about myself."

还有，这是我如何笑我自己的。“

"Helps me connect with another person."

”它帮助我跟另一个人联系起来。“

This is one of the greatest gifts of the internet.

这是网络给我们的最大馈赠之一。

It's amazing when you find a piece of media

令人惊喜的是，你还会 在某个媒体上找到

that precisely describes your bond with someone.

对你和另一个人联系的精确描述。

This is the group of jobs that helps me do something --

这是一组帮助我做事情的工作，

helps me settle an argument,

帮助我化解一个纠纷，

帮我更了解我自己或者别人，

helps me learn something about myself or another person,

或者帮我解释我的故事。

or helps me explain my story.

This is the group of jobs that makes me feel something --

这是一组让我感觉到了什么的工作，

让我好奇或者悲伤， 或者让我恢复对人性的信念。

makes me curious or sad or restores my faith in humanity.

Many media companies and creators do put themselves

许多媒体公司和创造者确实

in their audiences' shoes.

会去考虑观众的感受。

But in the age of social media, we can go much farther.

但是在社交媒体的时代， 我们可以走得更远。

人们在脸书，在推特上联系，

People are connected to each other on Facebook, on Twitter,

and they're increasingly using media to have a conversation

而且他们越来越多地使用媒体来

and to talk to each other.

进行交流。

If we can be a part of establishing a deeper connection between two people,

如果我们可以成为建立人与人之间 更深联系的一部分，

then we will have done a real job for these people.

那我们将为这些人真正地做点什么。

Let me give you some examples of how this plays out.

我给大家举几个例子， 看看这是如何操作的。

This is one of my favorite lists:

这是我最喜爱的清单之一：

"32 Memes You Should Send Your Sister Immediately" --

“这32个表情包，快转给你姐妹看看”，

immediately.

立即。

For example, "When you're going through your sister's stuff,

例如，”当你偷偷地 搜你姐姐的东西的时候，

and you hear her coming up the stairs."

你听到她上楼来的声音。“

Absolutely, I've done that.

我当然干过这种事儿。

"Watching your sister get in trouble for something that you did

”看到你姐姐因为你惹的祸

and blamed on her."

而且受到责备。”

Yes, I've done that as well.

对，我也干过。

This list got three million views.

这列清单得到了3百万次阅读。

Why is that?

为什么？

Because it did, very well, several jobs:

因为它出色地完成了这样几件事：

"This is us."

”这是我们。“

”与家庭联系。“

"Connect with family."

"Makes me laugh."

”让我笑。”

Here are some of the thousands and thousands of comments

这些是姐妹间使用这个清单发送的

that sisters sent to each other using this list.

成千上万个评论中的一部分。

Sometimes we discover what jobs do after the fact.

有时我们是在事后才发现我们的工作 到底起了什么样的作用。

This quiz, "Pick an Outfit and We'll Guess Your Exact Age and Height,"

这个小测验，“选一件外装， 我们会猜到你的真实年龄和身高。”

went very viral: 10 million views.

迅速传播开了：1千万的阅读量。

Ten million views.

1千万次阅读。

我是说，我们真的决定了1千万人的

I mean -- did we actually determine the exact age and height

of 10 million people?

真实年龄和身高了吗？

That's incredible. It's incredible.

那样的话就太难以置信了。 简直是不可思议。

In fact, we didn't.

事实上，我们没有猜到。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Turns out that this quiz went extremely viral

后来我们发现这个小测验

among a group of 55-and-up women --

在55岁以上的女性中疯速地传播。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

who were surprised and delighted

她们很惊讶并且很开心，

that BuzzFeed determined that they were 28 and 5'9".

因为BuzzFeed认为 她们才28岁而且身高1米75。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

"They put me at 34 years younger and seven inches taller.

“他们把我猜得 年轻了34岁而且高了7寸。

我穿衣习惯舒适，而且根本 不在乎别人如何评论我。

I dress for comfort and do not give a damn what anyone says.

年龄只是一种心态。”

Age is a state of mind."

This quiz was successful not because it was accurate,

这个小测验的成功 不在于它的准确性，

but because it allowed these ladies to do a very important job --

而是它允许这些女士 去做一件重要的事，

谦虚自夸。

the humblebrag.

Now, we can even apply this framework to recipes and food.

我们甚至可以把这个框架 用到菜谱和食物上。

A recipe's normal job is to tell you what to make for dinner or for lunch.

一个菜谱的作用是告诉你 晚餐或者午餐做什么。

And this is how you would normally brainstorm for a recipe:

这是你通常如何 为一个菜谱去做头脑风暴：

you figure out what ingredients you want to use,

你想到要用什么配料，

what recipe that makes,

打造一个什么样的菜谱，

然后，也许你决定最后把它推销出去。

and then maybe you slap a job on at the end to sell it.

But what if we flipped it around and thought about the job first?

但是如果我们反过来， 先考虑这个卖点会怎么样呢？

One brainstorming session involved the job of bonding.

头脑风暴的一个阶段涉及到了 联络感情这个任务。

So, could we make a recipe that brought people together?

那么，我们是否能够出个 菜谱把人们拉到一起呢？

This is not a normal brainstorming process at a food publisher.

在一个食品出版商那里， 这可不是一个正常的头脑风暴过程。

So we know that people like to bake together,

我们都知道人们喜欢一起烘焙，

and we know that people like to do challenges together,

还知道人们喜欢一起接受挑战。

so we decided to come up with a recipe that involved those two things,

所以我们决定编出一个可以把 这两件事连起来的菜谱，

and we challenged ourselves:

我们挑战了下自己：

Could we get people to say,

我们是否可能让人们去说，

"Hey, BFF, let's see if we can do this together"?

“嗨，亲爱的，我们一起试试啊？”

The resulting video was the "Fudgiest Brownies Ever" video.

我们最后打造出了 《史上最好吃的布朗尼》这个视频。

It was enormously successful in every metric possible --

它火得一发不可收拾，

70 million views.

7千万次观看。

And people said the exact things that we were going after:

而且人们说了和我们 事先预料的一模一样的话：

"Hey, Colette, we need to make these, are you up for a challenge?"

“嗨，克莱特，咱俩得做这个， 你想挑战下吗？

"Game on."

”当然，赶紧开始吧！“

It did the job that it set out to do,

它达到了我们想要的目的，

which was to bring people together over baking and chocolate.

那就是用烘焙和巧克力 把人们拉到一起。

I'm really excited about the potential for this project.

我对这个项目的潜力很兴奋。

When we talk about this framework with our content creators,

当我们跟负责内容创建的 同事解释这个框架时，

they instantly get it,

他们马上就明白了，

no matter what beat they cover, what country they’re in,

无论他们具体负责哪个方面， 他们在哪个国家，

or what language they speak.

或者讲什么语言。

So cultural cartography has helped us massively scale our workforce training.

所以文化制图已经帮助我们 大规模地培训了我们的工作团队。

When we talk about this project and this framework

当我们把这个项目和框架

讲给广告商和品牌商时，

with advertisers and brands,

they also instantly get it,

他们也立刻就明白了，

because advertisers, more often than media companies,

因为广告商常常比 媒体公司更能够明白

understand how important it is to understand the job

去理解围绕为客户服务的产品的

that their products are doing for customers.

工作是多么重要。

But the reason I'm the most excited about this project

但是我对这个项目最感兴趣的理由

is because it changes the relationship between media and data.

是它改变了媒体和数据的关系。

Most media companies think of media as "mine."

大多数媒体公司认为 媒体是关于“自己”的。

How many fans do I have?

我有多少粉丝？

How many followers have I gained?

我获得了多少个追随者？

How many views have I gotten?

我得到了多少次阅读？

How many unique IDs do I have in my data warehouse?

我的数据库里有多少个独特的身份？

But that misses the true value of data, which is that it's yours.

但是这些问题忽略了那些数据的真正价值， 也就是属于“用户”的那些价值。

If we can capture in data what really matters to you,

如果我们在数据里扑捉到 什么是真正对你重要的，

and if we can understand more the role that our work plays

而且如果我们能更加理解我们的工作

in your actual life,

在你的真实生活里扮演的角色，

the better content we can create for you,

我们将可以为你创造出更好的内容，

and the better that we can reach you.

也将能用更好的方式 把内容传递到你那里。

Who are you?

你是谁？

How did you get there?

你是怎么到那儿的？

Where are you going?

你去哪儿？

What do you care about?

你关心什么？

What can you teach us?

你能教会我们什么？

That's cultural cartography.

那就是文化制图。

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）