By Dario Cavallaro · Published · Updated
Why Content Spreads: What the Research Shows and What It Does Not
Nobody can guarantee a hit. Research can help you ask better questions about sharing, and platforms explain some of their recommendation signals. Neither gives you a formula for the reach of your next post.
What makes something spread
- Emotion. Berger and Milkman studied New York Times articles in 2012. Awe, anger and anxiety were associated with greater sharing; sadness with less. Their article-sharing findings are not a prediction for modern short-video feeds.
- Relevance. Ask whether someone in your intended audience would recognise the situation you describe.
- Novelty. Test a fresh explanation or a surprising, verified fact instead of assuming novelty alone will earn attention.
- Visible traction. Engagement counts describe activity already recorded. They do not establish that momentum will continue or explain what caused it.
- Practical value. Make the usefulness specific: what can someone understand or do after reading or watching?
- Timing. Use a current event when you have a relevant contribution. Timeliness alone does not guarantee distribution.
The part most people skip
TikTok describes personalised recommendations using user interactions, content information and user information. For the For You feed, examples include likes, shares, comments, watching in full or skipping. It says interactions, including time spent watching, generally carry more weight for most users. These are examples of signals, not published weights or a guaranteed distribution threshold. Check the platform’s current explanation before treating advice as a rule.
Why chasing virality is the wrong goal
A viral post is a spike you do not control, and chasing it pulls a brand toward whatever is trending and away from what makes it distinctive. The durable game is a clear perspective consistently expressed. Judge that work by relevant audience response and useful next steps, rather than treating a spike in views as proof of business value.
The honest version
The planning questions above are suggestions to test, not universal laws. Choose a clear idea, make its value understandable and compare the response across your own posts. Keep reach, shares, qualified visits and purchases separate when you evaluate the result.
Sources and scope
Berger and Milkman, What Makes Online Content Viral? (2012) examines news-article sharing. TikTok’s explanation of recommendations describes its own systems. Sources checked 2 October 2026; neither promises results for your brand.
Frequently asked questions
Can you engineer virality, or is it random?
Nobody can guarantee viral reach. Research on sharing can suggest questions to test, but findings from one audience, format or platform do not predict the results of an individual post.
What emotions make content most shareable?
In Berger and Milkman’s 2012 study of New York Times articles, awe, anger and anxiety were associated with greater sharing, while sadness was associated with less. These findings do not establish a universal ranking of emotions for short videos.
Why do people share content?
Reasons vary by person and context. To plan a post, ask who might pass it on, to whom, and why it would be useful or relevant. Treat your answer as a hypothesis to test with your audience.