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In an attempt to go viral I have created a card with some of the Internet’s favorite things, such as; cats, a Kardashian and Pizza. It’s not a secret that these things are popular, just last month (October) there were 75 news headlines worldwide dedicated to cats according to Google Trends. The “Break the Internet” campaign is designed to make people laugh. I secretly hope to achieve the Internet version of Kim K style fame. The best way to do that is to make something that is unique and makes people laugh. While that may not become the Internet’s next hottest viral content creater, the campaign is meant to reflect on things that have made their way into popular culture, in a fun way. I used some tongue-in-cheek humor to showcase things that have gone viral with the “one does not simply go viral” meme that I created. This sort of approach will resonate with Pinterest users who are searching through the humor category. My card fits in with the type of content that lives in that pocket of Pinterest. The content that gets tagged in the #humor category usually has a bit of a satirical tone. It seems like going viral in today’s internet culture would be easy, but with the vast amount of material on the web it wont be a simple task. I hope that by combining fun images in a new and unique way with a bit of added irony, the card will appeal to the Pinterest audience.

I will use the simplest aspect of viral marketing to promote my pin. It’s so simple it’s the definition: I will encourage others to pass along my content. Viral marketing is a buzzword through out social media and the communications industry. This Viral Content Challenge is just an example of how important it is to understand the art of making something sharable. Our worn out phrase “word of mouth” has now made it to social media and what we actually are describing when we say “social word of mouth” is viral marketing. There are sites, like Buzzfeed, dedicated to hosting content that will become widely popular, if not viral. The eight key elements of viral content, according to Newhouse Social Media Professor Jennifer Grygiel and The Next Web are: positive emotions, awe inspiring content, humor, valuable and long-form content, promotion and engagement, and rich media. I believe I have included enough of these elements to make my content card sharable. The card is positive, it’s a little surprising and curious looking, it’s funny, it includes a photo (rich media) and I plan to promote it constantly. If these elements really are what make something viral, I’ve given my best effort.

I did some testing of my image in real life and I was pleased with the responses. I plan to promote my pin using a fun and lighthearted approach to draw people in since that is what seemed to work in real life. I will include calls to action such as, retweet, or repin, directly in the copy in hopes of driving engagement. My main focus on Twitter is intriguing the viewer to want to go out and engage on Pinterest. The card is funny and visually interesting, I will be successful if I promote the content properly and engage with those who show interest.