Have you ever read an article and thought “Wow…this is really dumb” and then wondered how that article was shared 220,000 times? It seems that popular online media outlets aren’t producing any stimulating, educational content anymore. This is probably because their target audience doesn’t really come onto the internet to learn. There is a large demand for articles (actually listicles) that people can kinda relate to and that have more funny gifs/memes than words.
By now, I have probably lost most of my readers, since they’ve noticed that this is a listicle but there are no images or gifs that help describe my points. So, for those of you still reading, whether you are interested in writing for a new-age media outlet or just want to understand this epidemic of dumb articles, here are some tips on how to make a popular article:
1. An Open Letter to Someone Generic
If you choose to write an open letter, make sure it is very general, with the appearance of being personal. The goal is relatability. If you direct your letter to an ex, people will look at it and want to use it to throw shade at their own ex. If you write it to your dog, people will think about their own pets and share it to be sentimental.
2. Write About Your Greek Chapter
Anyone in the chapter will feel obligated to share to support their sister/brother or to promote their letters. This also works if you write about Greek Life in general (like why you chose to join, or why you love it).
Sometimes the same formula works if you write about your city or school, but it has to be extra relatable in those cases
3. A Common College Experience
Taking an exam, pulling an all-nighter, internships, etc. Just make it simple enough that people can find something that they can connect to. Your goal here is to get someone to say “Hey, I have had a similar experience once! How relatable!” This also works for a specific experience that you know many people participated in (i.e. I guarantee that you will see a “10 Best Moments from April Reign”, or “30 Thoughts during Finals” article in the next month).
You can also try to make these actually funny, but that’s a bit more difficult and less common.
4. The Struggles of Being A Person
People like to know that other people are dealing with the same things they deal with. We also have this strange need to feel disadvantaged (probably to avoid appearing too privileged). Common struggles are what bring people together. Find a common struggle (aka: First World Problems) and you’ll have readers feeling a part of something bigger than themselves. They’ll want to share so their friends know about the things that they’ve always wanted to express but never knew how to put into words. Examples include Tall People Probs, Ambivert Probs, The Struggle of being a Coffee Lover/an Old Soul/a Nerd, etc.
Don’t write about real struggles, like poverty, depression, discrimination or anxiety unless you actually struggle with those things, or have an educated understanding of those issues. Articles about those things are different because they are actually informational and deal with real issues. They require experience and research to write (but who has time for that?) They also tend to be shared less often.
5. Find Out Your Audience's Political Opinion; Say the Opposite
This is probably the most effective, but most susceptible to hate messages.
When you write for a site like The Odyssey or Buzzfeed, your target audience is essentially millennials. Millennials are stereotyped as liberals, for good reason. We tend to be most vocal about things like feminism, equality, #BlackLivesMatter, free/affordable college and health care, Bernie Sanders, etc. We also get upset very easily, especially when you disagree with us (not because we are close-minded, but because…how can you disagree with things like equality?)
If you want to get millennials to share your articles with minimal effort, make an argument against anything liberal. Why we don’t need feminism, why we should say #AllLivesMatter, why you aren’t feeling the Bern or why college is a privilege are good places to start. You will enrage people just enough that we will want to show their friends how dumb you and your argument are. See your article being shared instantly.
So to sum up: for the most popular articles, target a specific group, or be general enough that anyone can connect to your content and want to share. Relatability is key. Make it an easy to read list and use as few words as possible (a picture says 1,000 words. A gif says 2,000). If you are feeling risky, you can try enrage your reader to the point that they need to share your article. Just avoid actually educating anyone, because that is not what the internet is for!
Happy writing!
