What makes something go viral? | Dao Nguyen

Translator: Sylvia He Reviewer: C iff

Last year, some BuzzFeed employees were scheming

舊年（2016）幾個 BuzzFeed 嘅員工

to prank their boss, Ze Frank,

想喺佢哋老細 Ze Frank 生日時

on his birthday.

整蠱佢

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

佢哋決定將成群山羊仔

偷偷放入佢嘅辦公室

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

啱好個時 BuzzFeed 開始用

Facebook 嘅直播功能

and so naturally,

we decided to livestream the whole event on the internet

於是，我哋決定全程直播

to capture the moment when Ze would walk in

錄低 Ze 行入辦公室之後

and discover livestock in his office.

見到啲山羊仔嘅反應

我哋以為成個過程最多 10 分鐘

We thought the whole thing would last maybe 10 minutes,

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

就得幾百個員工喺網上睇下

But what happened?

但點知

Ze kept on getting delayed:

出咗各種意外

he went to get a drink,

老細突然間去買嘢飲

he was called to a meeting,

又突然間去開會

the meeting ran long,

個會仲好長

he went to the bathroom.

跟住佢又去洗手間

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

網上有有越聚越多人來湊熱鬧

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

30 分鐘後，Ze 返到辦公室個時

90,000 viewers were watching the livestream.

已經有 9 萬人喺度睇住曬

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

之後，我哋嘅團隊分析呢條片

and why it was so successful.

點解會咁成功，討論咗好耐

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

其實佢唔係我哋做過嘅最大嘅直播

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

最大嘅喺一條有個芝士噴泉嘅片

But it performed so much better than we had expected.

但喺今次嘅效果比預期好好多

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

今次有咩因素係我哋冇諗到嘅呢？

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

大家提出咗各種合理嘅猜測

Maybe people love baby animals.

可能啲觀眾鍾意小動物

Maybe people love office pranks.

可能佢哋鍾意睇辦公室嘅惡作劇

Maybe people love stories about their bosses

可能大家想睇老細做咩

or birthday surprises.

又或者想睇生日驚喜

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

我哋其實冇關注呢條嘅內容

We were thinking about

我們嘅其實更想知道

what the people watching the video were thinking and feeling.

啲觀眾睇直播時，係度諗同感受乜

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

我哋睇曬大家喺直播時

寫嘅 82,000 條評論

and we hypothesized that they were excited

推測大家對呢條片咁感興趣

because they were participating in the shared anticipation

係因為佢哋覺得就儘管時間好短

of something that was about to happen.

仍然有參與

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

一個即將發生嘅事嘅共同感

佢哋成為咗一個團體嘅一部分

and it made them happy.

所以好開心

So we decided that we needed to test this hypothesis.

於是，我哋決定測試下呢個推測

What could we do to test this very same thing?

要點先測到同樣效果嘅大細呢

The following week,

以後一個禮拜

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

因為我哋知道食物視頻好熱門

we dressed two people in hazmat suits

我哋叫兩個人穿咗危險品防護衫

and wrapped rubber bands around a watermelon until it exploded.

將啲橡筋一條條咁箍住個西瓜

箍到個西瓜爆為止

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Eight hundred thousand people watched

800,000 人睇咗個直播

the 690th rubber band explode the watermelon,

睇到第 690 條橡筋箍炸個西瓜

marking it as the biggest Facebook Live event to date.

呢個直播變成 Facebook 歷史

最多人睇嘅直播

The question I get most frequently is:

經常有人問，你係點令到一樣嘢爆紅

How do you make something go viral?

其實呢個問法本身‘錯咗

The question itself is misplaced;

it's not about the something.

因為個關鍵唔係件事本身

It's about what the people doing the something,

而係觀眾做咩

reading or watching --

睇咩，讀咩時

what are they thinking?

佢哋喺度諗咩

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

宜家好多媒體公司喺度分析數據時

they think about subjects or formats.

會關注件事嘅主題或者形式

It's about goats,

個主題係山羊仔

it's about office pranks,

個主題係辦公室惡作劇

it's about food,

個主題係食嘢

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

係個清單，視頻或者小測試

it's 2,000 words long,

佢有 2,000 隻字咁長

it's 15 minutes long,

佢有 15 分鐘咁長

it has 23 embedded tweets or 15 images.

佢有 23 條推或者 15 張圖

Now, that kind of metadata is mildly interesting,

呢啲元數據可小小用

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

但佢答唔到，一個視頻點解會爆紅

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

倒不如唔再去貼標籤落個視頻或者文章度

what if we asked:

而係問

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

一個視頻對觀眾嘅真實生活有咩影響

Last year, we started a project

舊年，我哋展開咗一個項目

to formally categorize our content in this way.

We called it, "cultural cartography."

將我哋以前發佈過嘅內容咁來分類

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

呢個方法叫做「文化分類」

don't just think about the subject matter;

佢將我哋一直做緊嘅一件事形式化

think also about, and in fact, primarily about,

唔好諗事物嘅本身

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

就係諗你嘅內容對讀者或觀眾有咩影響

Let me show you the map that we have today.

我哋製作嘅圖表係咁

Each bubble is a specific job,

每個泡代表一個特定嘅功能

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

每一組相同顏色嘅泡泡

First up: humor.

代表著相關嘅功能

第一個：幽默

"Makes me laugh."

「令我大笑」

There are so many ways to make somebody laugh.

有好多方法可以令到一個人笑

You can be laughing at someone,

你可以笑人

you could laugh at specific internet humor,

可以係一個網上嘅笑話

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

可以係個咩人都唔得罪嘅笑話

"This is me." Identity.

「呢個就係我」

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

越來越多嘅人用社交媒體來解釋

「呢個就係我，

This is my upbringing, this is my culture,

呢個係我嘅家庭背景同文化，

this is my fandom, this is my guilty pleasure,

我係邊個個粉絲，我鍾意咩，

and this is how I laugh about myself."

我係點去自己笑自己。」

"Helps me connect with another person."

「幫我同其他人產生聯繫」

This is one of the greatest gifts of the internet.

呢個係網路最大嘅優點之一

It's amazing when you find a piece of media

你喺網上發現，有樣嘢好精準咁

that precisely describes your bond with someone.

描述你同另外一個人嘅關係時

你會很興奮

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

呢個係另外一組功能

helps me settle an argument,

幫我處理糾紛

helps me learn something about myself or another person,

幫我了解自己或者人哋

or helps me explain my story.

或者幫我講自己嘅故事

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

呢個係另外一組功能

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

令我覺得好奇，唔開心

或者重拾對人嘅信任

Many media companies and creators do put themselves

好多嘅媒體公司

in their audiences' shoes.

都有從觀眾嘅立場考慮問題

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

喺社交網路時代，我哋仲可以做更多

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

大家通過 Facebook、Twitter 聯繫

and they're increasingly using media to have a conversation

越來越多人通過社交媒體

and to talk to each other.

同朋友傾偈

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

如果我哋可以加深兩個人之間嘅聯繫

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

咁我哋就真嘅有為佢哋創造價值

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

我舉個例子

This is one of my favorite lists:

呢個係我最鍾意嘅一篇文章

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

「32 個你應該要即刻話你家姐知嘅梗」

immediately.

「即刻」

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

比如：「當你偷偷抄緊你家姐啲嘢時

and you hear her coming up the stairs."

你聽到佢上樓嘅聲」

Absolutely, I've done that.

咁嘅嘢我梗係做過啦

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

「睇住你家姐因為你領嘢

and blamed on her."

仲賴埋佢」

Yes, I've done that as well.

咁樣嘅事我都做過

This list got three million views.

呢篇文被瀏覽咗 300 萬次

Why is that?

點解？

Because it did, very well, several jobs:

因為佢有幾點做得好好：

"This is us."

「呢個就係我哋」

"Connect with family."

「同家庭產生連結」

"Makes me laugh."

「令我大笑」

Here are some of the thousands and thousands of comments

呢啲係成千上萬嘅姊妹

that sisters sent to each other using this list.

有關嘅留言

Sometimes we discover what jobs do after the fact.

有時我哋要事發之後先知道佢嘅作用

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

呢個爆紅嘅測試：「你揀套衫，

我來估下你真實嘅年齡同身高」

went very viral: 10 million views.

瀏覽次數：一千萬

Ten million views.

一千萬

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

我哋係唔係真係估測咗一千萬人嘅

of 10 million people?

真實年齡同身高？

That's incredible. It's incredible.

真係令人難以置信

In fact, we didn't.

其實，我哋冇咁做

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Turns out that this quiz went extremely viral

後來先知道，

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

55 歲以上嘅女性最鍾意做呢個測試

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

who were surprised and delighted

一個好驚喜被測為

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

28 歲 和 5'9" 身高嘅群體

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

評論：「我被測到後生咗 34 歲

同高咗 7 英尺啊

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

我每日著衫舒服至上，唔理人哋點睇

Age is a state of mind."

年齡係一種心態來㗎」

This quiz was successful not because it was accurate,

呢個測試好成功，唔係因為佢有幾準

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

而係因為佢使呢啲女性做到一樣

the humblebrag.

好緊要嘅嘢：謙卑咁演嘢

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

宜家，我哋將呢個公式套到

食譜出版業個度

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

食譜通常教你煮中午或者晚黑個餐

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

寫食譜時，你就係咁構思啲餸菜

you figure out what ingredients you want to use,

先諗下要用咩食材

what recipe that makes,

再諗下點煮

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

然後再諗下有咩賣點

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

咁我哋可唔可以掉轉佢，先諗啲賣點

One brainstorming session involved the job of bonding.

賣點就係，使人與人之間關係更加緊密

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

咁點打造一個情感聯繫嘅菜譜？

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

食譜出版業一般唔係咁策劃嘅

So we know that people like to bake together,

我哋知道人鍾意一齊焙烘

and we know that people like to do challenges together,

又鍾意一齊面對挑戰

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

於是我哋決定打造

and we challenged ourselves:

一個兩樣都做嘢嘅食譜

Could we get people to say,

一個會促使以下對話嘅食譜：

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

「喂，老友，不如一齊整嘢食咯。」

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

整出來嘅視頻就係

「世界上最軟熟嘅布朗尼蛋糕」

It was enormously successful in every metric possible --

取得咗空前嘅成功，七千萬瀏覽

70 million views.

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

網上嘅評論的確係我哋要嘅

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

「喂，科萊特，我哋一齊整呢個咯

接唔接受挑戰啊？」

"Game on."

「接定啦。」

It did the job that it set out to do,

呢個視頻達到咗預期嘅目標

which was to bring people together over baking and chocolate.

就係畀人通過焙烘同朱古力加深感情

我好興奮，因為呢個項目好有潛力

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

When we talk about this framework with our content creators,

我哋同內容提供人講呢個框架

they instantly get it,

佢哋無論領域同地區

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

講咩語言

or what language they speak.

都係一點就明

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

文化分類幫我哋有效咁有比例擴大

我哋嘅團隊

When we talk about this project and this framework

我哋同廣告商同品牌商

with advertisers and brands,

講呢個項目時

they also instantly get it,

佢哋亦係一點就明

because advertisers, more often than media companies,

因為廣告商通常比媒體公司更加明白

understand how important it is to understand the job

佢哋要好清楚啲商品

that their products are doing for customers.

為到啲顧客做嘅嘢

我對呢個項目好有期望，因為

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

is because it changes the relationship between media and data.

佢改變咗媒體同數據之間嘅關係

多數媒體公司會諗媒體係我嘅

Most media companies think of media as "mine."

我有幾多粉絲？

How many fans do I have?

How many followers have I gained?

我有幾多擁躉？

How many views have I gotten?

我有幾多瀏覽？

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

我嘅數據庫裡邊有幾多唔重複嘅身份

佢哋忽視咗數據嘅真正價值

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

就係，啲數據係你嘅

如果我哋獲得真係對你有用嘅數據

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

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

我哋可以更加明白我哋喺

你生活裡邊真正嘅角色

in your actual life,

the better content we can create for you,

我哋可以提供更好嘅

更受你歡迎嘅內容

and the better that we can reach you.

你係邊個？

Who are you?

你係點來到咗呢度？

How did you get there?

Where are you going?

你要去邊？

What do you care about?

你關心咩？

What can you teach us?

你可以教我哋咩？

That's cultural cartography.

呢個就係文化分類

Thank you.

多謝大家

(Applause)

（掌聲）