A single vote. A worldwide impression.
I went to the polls on Tuesday November 4th and arrived ten minutes before they opened, at 5:50AM. The line was already out the door of my local middle school in Stamford, CT. Bored, I started to take photos of the people in line. Not too many, just three of four as I didn’t really want to be “that guy.”
The closer I got to the booth the more I realized “Hey, after New Hampshire’s Dixville Notch and Heart’s Location, I’m going to be one of the first American’s to vote.” As I got more excited I thought; “Why not take a photo of my ballot and send it wirelessly to my facebook account?”
I thought it would be cool in this day of “always on” to share my experience with others – as it happens. Unbeknownst to me, within minutes, my sister-in-law in Brazil, who is a journalist, saw my post on facebook. She forwarded my photo to her friend who is an editor at terra.com.br which is Brazil’s most popular website (5 million unique visitors a day), and the photo of my ballot became the lead story on terra.com.br homepage. It now lives here.
This got me thinking about what constitutes “viral?” It’s a request we hear a lot from clients; “We want something viral.” But it’s been my experience that it’s never something you can plan for, unless you pay for it like Dan Greenberg suggests but that just means it really isn’t viral at all – it’s advertising. And that renders half of his points meaningless.
People want to know what the “rules” are to make something viral. The answer is simple. There are no rules. Of course you need a great idea which is in your control, but more than that you need opportunity, timing and sometimes just plain luck.
 November 4, 2008 6:06 AM |
 November 4, 2008 6:18 AM |
Translation:
- Title: Democrat photographed ballot in ConnecticutA fanatic democrat, a citizen photographed his ballot in the state of Connecticut, which was published exclusively by Terra Magazine. The ballots in the US varie according to the state. On the picture above, you can see the person’s choice for president, congressman and part of the Education Comission in Connecticut. The US citizens attend during this Tuesday the polls, that can became the biggest in the history of US.
(The remainder of the article explains how the system works.)
