You are dumb at the internet. You don't know what will go viral. We don't either. But we are slighter less dumber. So here's a bunch of stuff we learned that will help you be less dumb too.

1. s
‘
10 WAYS TO WIN THE INTERWEBS
Through Sexier Shares and Epic Visuals*

3. and

4. buckets

5. o
f

6. testing
tons!

7. with

8. links

9. to

10. hits!
optimized

11. but
l

29.
with

30. specia Click

31. to

32. see

33. @
Sara Critchfield Adam Mordecai

34.
@saracritchfield @advodude
Netroots Nation 2012 @
#NNUPFTW @upworthy if you are inclined to tweet
1

35. ?
Click

36. to

37. see

38. our
story

39. @

47. .
2

48. Our Founders
Eli Pariser Chris Hughes
Peter Koechley
3

49. Blend It All Together
ches

50. March

51. 26th,

52. 2012
Laun
=
As

53. of

54. June

55. 11th,

56. 2012,

57. 77

58. days

59. later:
35,000

60. Facebook

61. fans

62. and

63. 7,300

64. Twitter

65. followers
4

66. What Makes Us Fancy Experts?
@ @
Sara Adam
Critchfield Mordecai
Upworthy Editor Upworthy Curator
BA in Visual Communications Worked on the Dean campaign
from Drexel and maybe caused the scream?
MA in Non-Profit Management Used to build websites for Non-Profits
From U of Pennsylvania and stuff
Did time at Move-On as their Been screwing around on the
Community Director internet for decades
Helped build their Social Sharing platform Can imitate muppets
Is a *shudder* socialist Is a shrill progressive
5

67. Definition of Upworthy
Mitt Romney
Rumor that Mitt
Getting Tied
Romney
To His Roof*
joked about tying
the middle class
to his roof.*
A video of
a middle class
person catching
Romney saying the
Mitt Romney
roof thing.*
Tied His Dog On
The Roof
*as far as we know this HAS NOT HAPPENED. Yet.
6

68. POP QUIZ - Pick A Headline!
The West Wing learns that the map they’ve known for
centuries is a lie and that Africa is way bigger.
A. We Have Been Mislead By An
Erroneous Map Of The World
For 500 Years
B. You Know That Map Of The
World You First Saw As A Kid?
That's Wrong.
Which headline wins?
Answers at the end.
7

69. POP QUIZ - Pick A Headline!
The West Wing learns that the map they’ve known for
centuries is a lie and that Africa is way bigger.
Click

70. to

71. see

72. @

73.
8

74. So Finally
10
Interwebz
Things To Know
For The Winning
9

75. 1. Nobody Knows Anything.
You do not know how to make
your video go totally viral.
Also, we do not know how to
make your video go totally viral.
Unless you harness the magical
powers of a unicorn horn, you
will never know how to make all
your stuff go totally viral.
10

76. 2. Virality Can Be Complex
11

77. Math Is Hard
Shares Clicks
x
View Share
=virality
Shares per
View
Clicks per
Share Viral?
LOW LOW nope
HIGH LOW kinda
LOW HIGH so-so
HIGH HIGH Hell Yeah!
To

78. get

79. clicks,

80. you

81. MUST

82. focus

83. on

84. Headlines

85.
12

86. 3. This Headline Is More
Important Than This Talk
Obama Blasts Obama's Evasive Stance
On Gay Marriage Great

87. joke,

88. but

89. now

90. I

91. know
what

92. it

93. is

94. and

95. don’t

96. need

97. to

98. click
Obama Says Same-Sex Marriage
Should Be Legal
BOOORING.

99. Already

100. done.
Now THIS Is Why I Voted
For Barack Obama
What’s

101. THIS

102. mean?

103. I

104. MUST

105. KNOW!

106. Click...

107. click...

108. click....
13

109. Upworthy’s Editorial Process
1. You HAVE to crap out 25 headlines for
every piece of content
2.You WILL write some really stinky headlines.
3. Once you start getting desperate, you start
thinking outside the box.
4.So you HAVE TO WRITE 25 HEADLINES.
5. #24 will suck. Then #25 will be a gift from the
headline gods and will make you a legend.
6.Accept that not every headline will be perfect.
7.Then write 25 headlines.
8. With practice, you’ll be writing 25 in 15 minutes.
Then I will give you permission to lower your limit.
SO PLEASE WRITE 25 HEADLINES
14

110. YOU WILL WRITE
25
HEADLINES!1!!!1
Otherwise, people won’t click your links.
so I’d write 25 headlines.
15

111. POP QUIZ - Pick A Headline!
One of our biggest hits was an infographic on media
consolidation. Guess which headline won?
A. Who Controls 90% Of
Everything Americans Watch,
Hear, And Read?
B. The Real Reason They Still
Play 'Mrs. Robinson' On The
Radio
Which headline wins?
16

112. POP QUIZ - Pick A Headline!
One of our biggest hits was an infographic on media
consolidation. Guess which headline won?
Click

113. to

114. see

115. @

116.
17

117. Also...
Not sure if we mentioned this yet but you should write 25 headlines unless you want the terrorists to win.
18

118. Guess The Winning Headline
CALL TO ACTION: Show Your Support For The Very First Gay Father's Day Ad
What Heroic Thing Did JC Penney Do After Being Targeted by An Anti-Gay Group?
This might seems hilarious, but think deeper
Top 10 reasons why men shouldn't be ordained
One Of The Greatest Love Stories I've Ever Seen In 1 Minute And 41 Seconds
One Of The Greatest Military Homecomings I've Ever Seen In 1 Minute And 41 Seconds
19

119. Guess The Winning Headline
3X

120. clicks @
3X

121. clicks @
2X

122. clicks @
20

123. When People Share
Anger
The
Sweet
Spot
Relaxation Happiness
Don’t share
“just chill,
we’re all gonna
die anyways.”
Sadness Click

124. to

125. see

126. fancy

127.
NY

128. TIMES

129. Study
21

130. 4. Make It Easy To Share
Click

131. to

132. see

133. @

134.
22

135. We Write Many Thingers
23

136. We Write Many Thingers
24

137. Click

138. an

139. image The Share Image Is
to

140. see

141. it’s

142. page
Kind Of A Big Deal
Secrets...

154. Secrets...

167. Secrets...
close

168. up

169. humans
Improvise

170. when Curiousity?

171. WTF? Hero/villain Photoshopped?

172. nope. Curiousity?

173. WTF?
image

174. is

175. hard... 25

176. Then we kick our curators- er-
tires...
Does it leave them wanting more?
Is it framed to share?
Is it ready to go?
Do we need an A/B test?
26

177. Case Study: Zach Wahls
written

178. by
Zach Wahls Speaks About
Family (youtube title)
(~1M views)
Text
Two Lesbians Raised A
Baby And This Is What
They Got (moveon title)
(~17 million views)
Click

179. to

180. see

181. @

182.
27

183. Case Study: It’s Time
The PERFECT Argument For Gay
Marriage
Click

184. to

185. see

186. @
Watching This Video Is Like 10

187.
Years In Therapy
They Fight. They Love. They Live.
Also, They’re Gay.
If This Makes You Uncomfortable,
You Make Me Uncomfortable
share

188. image

189. takes

190. it

191. to

192. 11
28

193. Case Study: Get The Facts
Click

194. to

195. see

196. @
Original: Stephanie Cutter: Get the facts
on Mitt Romney, Big Oil, and the Koch

197.
Brothers
It's About Time: Obama Campaign
Calls Out Right Wing Lies
Truth In A Campaign Ad? I'm As
Surprised As You Are.
300,000 Views
This Is How You Kill An Attack Ad
23x

198. the

199. clicks
29

200. 5. I Know Your Boss Thinks
It’s A Waste Of Time
but, I have an idea.
You should write 25 headlines
and make it easier to share.
Then people will want to “click”
on your “stuff” and bring “traffic” back to your
“website.” Then your boss will “finally get it.”
30

201. 6. Optimize Prime
Your website is the gateway drug
to sharing. Make sure it shares
properly.
You should always be testing,
always adapting, always
challenging what works
@

202. artists

203. site
Art by Tim Doyle of Nakatomi Inc
31

204. If you don’t this will happen...
32

205. Design Case Study: Share
Floating Original
Link
1
Floating FB
Link
2
Floating
Overlay
Links
+ Links Above
33

206. Design Case Study: Share
Floating 2
Overlay
142%
Links
+ Links Above
Increase
in sharing
Click

207. to

208. see

209. @

210.
34

211. Design Case Study: Share
Floating Original
Link
Floating
Hover Overlay
Links
+ Links Above
35

212. Design Case Study: Share
Floating
Hover Overlay Click

213. to

214. see

215. @
Links

216.
+ Links Above
398%
Increase in WINNING!
36

217. 7. Prioritize For Where
The People Live
good

218. luck,

219. if

220. hey

221. ladies! not

222. that

223. impressive
you

224. crack

225. it

226. you Pix

227. please! but

228. they

229. like

230. facts
are

231. a

232. god.
37

233. 8. Facebook:
If You Aren’t There, You Lose
Photo posts Links on photo posts Making an ask
have 3-4 x to your content get increases interaction
the engagement. 10-30% increase in (DO NOT FEEL
clicks GUILT IF YOUR CAUSE
IS RIGHTEOUS!)
38

234. Links on Photo Posts...
1. Post a link to your content on 2. Make a photo post related to your
your site. Wait a bit... content and link it back to the site.
Click

235. to

236. see

237. @

238.
39

239. 9. Always. Be. TESTING.
Optimize.ly
Google Twitter Analytics
A/B Test constantly
Bit.ly + Facebook + Delete Button
Intuition
40

240. 10A. SERIOUSLY,
YOU ARE DUMB
We are slightly less dumb than you.
Our 2 biggest hits were written up by interns.
You will be wrong 90% of the time. Accept it, move on.
If you find any unicorn horns let me know.
No, we can’t make your thinger go viral.
41

241. 10B. Always Make An Ask.
Also, can I ask a favor?
see

242. @
Clic k

243. to

245.
Like us on Facebook
follow @upworthy, @saracritchfield, @advodude on Twittter
Share our stuff
Ask us some questions... make sure to test things...
and always write 25 headlines.
and if you downloaded this as a PDF, you can find the internets version here .
Upworthy's 10 Ways To Win The Internets by Upworthy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://facebook.com/upworthy.
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