Tap Into the Viral Internet

There are some stories that are so shocking, interesting, funny and weird that they are certain to be told, shared and commented upon.

One such story is this one: “Police Device Used To Steal Your Cell Phone Data During Traffic Stop“.

This qualifies as a “shocking story” that has garnered a lot of attention from the public-at-large.

This small story was posted less than two days ago, and it already has 5,427 FaceBook Likes and 2,156 comments on the thread.

Interestingly, we are not seeing a bunch of spam comments on this thread, but rather people are lining up to comment on this 136-word story. If one had tried to post the same story to EzineArticles.com (EZA), the article would have never passed the editorial standards at EzineArticles, yet its limited word count does not detract from the story being told.

The one factor that has driven this story further than most stories on the web is that it addressed an interesting topic about technology, but it also veiled the conversation in an emotion as strong as “fear”.

Are the cops really abusing our rights when they utilize this technology to download the content of our telephones? I doubt it.

I doubt it because I seriously doubt that the cops are using the technology to snoop on “everyone”. Rather, they are most likely using it in conjunction with arrests on drug complaints and other felony arrests, etc.

So the headline pulls us in with a suggestion of wrong-doing by police officers and an implied threat that our personal, private information is not safe from the prying eyes of law enforcement.

The story also mentions the ACLU, which always implies that our civil rights are under threat.

The only police agency mentioned in the story is the Michigan State Police, yet by reading the title of this story, it would seem that our local police agencies are probably using this tool also.

Once you dig into the story, it does not offer much information, beyond what the technology is capable of retrieving from our cell phones.

So in all honesty, it is mostly a footnote in the news.

I am more impressed in the story, due to the success the author had in getting eyeballs and inbound links for his blog post, and less about the story told.

I think if we take the time to break apart some of these viral stories, we will learn better how to duplicate its successes in our own businesses.

Consider how powerful your blog could be if you followed the lessons learned from this post, rather than having filled your blog with auto-content.

You are in the drivers’ seat. We can develop our own viral marketing skills, if only we take the time to study those who are more successful than we are at finding a large audience.

When I see something with this much viral power, I take the time to study it to see how I can employ the basic concepts in my own marketing. I hope you will too.

Bill Platt