The results of research into the psychological motivations behind facebook sharing (literature review) with an effort to understand how "good deeds" can be made more shareable by mission-driven organizations. The full (boring?) version is here: http://www.slideshare.net/jkatz81/sharing-altruistic-behavior-on-facebook

1. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.1
5
rules
for
helping
good
deeds
go
viral
June
2012
Jon
Katz,
University
of
California
Berkeley
It
is
now
widely
accepted
that
peer
influence
is
a
powerful
tool
shaping
our
behavior
both
online
and
offline.
Facebook,
Twitter,
and
many
other
online
social
tools
provide
ample
evidence
of
how
sharing
influences
others,
and
for
the
first
time
these
tools
are
allowing
us
to
track
what
is
being
shared
amongst
friends
and
why.
As
many
have
lamented
before
me,
there
are
far
too
many
cat
pictures
on
the
Internet.
There
is
also
a
lot
of
conspicuous
consumption
being
shared:
fancy
meals,
fancy
trips,
and
fancy
gadgets.
Aside
from
measurably
driving
traffic
and
purchases,
this
reinforces
certain
cultural
norms
around
behavior.
One
kind
of
behavior
that
is
not
shared
very
often
is
behavior
driven
by
altruistic
or
moral
intentions.
Though
we
do
see
them,
there
are
not
a
lot
of
updates
that
read:
“I
just
volunteered”
or
“I
just
called
my
congress
person
to
ask
that
they
overturn
Citizens
United.”
Before
you
start
thinking
about
times
you
or
your
friends
have
shared
such
things,
consider
these
search
results
from
Facebook:
V.
source:
Facebook
retrieved
6-­‐7-­‐12
or
V.

2. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.2
source:
Facebook
retrieved
6-­‐7-­‐12
Feel
free
to
play
around
yourself
and
let
me
know
what
you
come
up
with.
Some
of
the
differences
surely
have
to
do
with
incentive
programs
and
promotional
budgets,
but
that
doesn’t
explain
all
of
it.
Educating
users
how
important
sharing
is
to
a
cause
is
a
good
thought,
and
some
use
this
tactic:
source:
causes.com
source:
Avaaz.org
However,
information
alone
rarely
has
as
much
impact
as
reason
would
suggest.
In
order
to
increase
sharing
rates,
we
have
to
look
beyond
the
cause
and
examine
the
motivations
behind
sharing.
Why
people
share
Though
academic
studies
of
Facebook
are
limited
by
a
short
half-­‐life
and
incomplete
methodologies,
the
literature
seems
to
agree
that
the
three
largest
reasons
for
sharing
on
Facebook
are:
1. Build
and
maintain
an
aspirational
identity
(project/disclose)
2. Create
and
maintain
relationships
(interact)

3. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.3
3. Provide
information
or
entertainment
to
others
others
(help)
In
addition,
the
vast
majority
of
people
claim
that
they
are
not
motivated
by
the
desire
to
exert
influence
over
others.
Unfortunately,
that
is
exactly
what
well-­‐intentioned
social
marketers
are
hoping
they
will
do.
There
are
also
several
barriers
to
sharing.
The
most
important
is
potential
damage
to
reputation
or
relationships.
This
potential
damage
is
the
primary
limiting
factor
of
Facebook
sharing.
The
other
is
the
cost
of
time
and
effort,
which
is
fairly
minimal.
Studies
have
also
shown
that
users
tend
to
share
on
Facebook
in
order
to
maximize
expected
rewards.
Anyone
trying
to
maximize
sharing
should
focus
on
ensuring
the
three
motivations
above
are
met
and
the
potential
damage
to
a
user
is
limited.
Given
these
motivations,
what
factors
of
a
post
induce
users
to
share?
I
have
condensed
my
findings
into
5
rules
for
increasing
the
sharing
of
moralistic
behavior:
Rule
#1:
Segment
before
softening
A
primary
takeaway
from
Facebook
studies
is
that
different
people
have
different
comfort
levels
with
what
they
share
and
with
whom
they
share
it.
Where
possible,
identify
those
users
who
are
dedicated
and
ask
the
most
of
them.
The
following
four
rules
suggest
different
ways
to
make
sharing
more
appealing
to
constituents
who
are
not
otherwise
willing
to
share
their
beliefs
or
behaviors
more
broadly.
In
many
cases,
this
weakens
the
impact
of
the
message,
but
is
better
than
no
share
at
all.
If
somebody
always
signs
petitions,
but
never
shares
petitions
with
their
friends,
perhaps
a
lighter
touch
needs
to
be
applied.
Many,
more
complicated
segmenting
rules
can
be
applied,
but
this
first
one
is
the
most
impactful.
Rule
#2:
Highlight
social
success
and
normalcy
People
want
to
appear
socially
successful
and
normal.
Perceived
success
is
socially
attractive
and,
there
is
a
social
cost
to
being
different
from
your
audience.
Studies
(and
experience)
have
shown
that
we
are
prone
to
dislike
those
who
disagree
with
us,
so
avoiding
disagreement
is
socially
desirable.
There
is
also
a
widespread
defensive
backlash
against
any
action
or
speech
that
can
be
interpreted
as
judgmental
or
“holier
than
thou”.
For
these
reasons,
people
choose
to
avoid
potentially
controversial
topics,
and
this
acts
as
a
barrier
to
sharing.
Here
are
some
ways
to
overcome
these
barriers:
Tone
down
contraversy
Anyone
hoping
to
generate
a
politically
oriented
or
“moralistic”
message
should
make
an
effort
to
“defang”
the
message.
This
may
limit
the
intensity
of
the
message,
but
will
ensure
faster,
broader
sharing.

4. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.4
To
illustrate
this
point,
consider
if
an
occupy
supporter
who
works
in
Silicon
Valley
would
prefer
to
share
with
coworkers
that
they
were
at:
this
rally
or
this
one?
Affiliate
with
socially
desirable
qualities
and
social
status
If
the
altruistic
behavior
is
not
consistent
with
social
norms
a
potential
strategy
is
to
affiliate
the
behavior
with
what
is
considered
normal
or
socially
desirable.
PETA
recently
attempted
this,
with
a
campaign
suggesting
that
vegan
men
are
studs
in
bed.
(Side
note:
In
line
with
recent
history,
PETA
also
managed
to
make
the
campaign
extremely
offensive).
Change
what
is
normal
Lastly,
it
can
be
helpful
to
temporarily
change
the
norms
by
manufacturing
a
fad.
Kony2012
did
this
effectively
through
their
creation
of
a
“twitter
bomb”—effectively
taking
over
the
twitter
trends
for
a
short
period.

5. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.5
Rule
#3:
Communicate
indirectly
Nobody
writes
on
their
profile
“I
am
well-­‐rounded
and
popular.”
Instead
most
people
try
to
demonstrate
this
by
showing
rather
than
telling.
Studies
have
shown
that
pictures
and
testimonials
from
friends
are
far
more
persuasive
than
blatant
self-­‐promotion.
They
are
also
safer—potentially
avoiding
the
backlash
associated
with
self-­‐promotion
or
disagreement
with
a
message.
For
this
reason,
the
vast
majority
of
Facebook
disclosures
are
indirect,
through
pictures,
affiliations
and
second-­‐hand
quoting
or
sharing.
Unlike
conspicuous
consumption,
an
altruistic
act
is
itself
positive,
and
thus
requires
an
extra
layer
of
camouflage
to
avoid
backlash.
This
is
hard
for
a
donor
to
share:
This
is
easier:
Here
are
some
tips
for
camouflaging
the
message
to
help
potential
sharers
avoid
blatant
self-­‐promotion:

6. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.6
Use
vague
messaging
In
the
same
way
that
achievements
are
currently
shared
on
Facebook,
altruistic
behaviors
or
qualities
should
be
reflected
indirectly
and
mirror
what
is
already
being
shared,
for
example:
• Share
an
article
about
people
who
made
transitions
to
low-­‐energy
lifestyles
with
the
comment,
“Inspiring”.
• Share
a
vegan
recipe
without
explicitly
saying
it
is
vegan
• ‘Like’
Habitat
for
Humanity
(Not
as
popular
as
Febreze,
but
still
indirect)
• Ask
the
question,
“Is
it
true
that
using
hot
water
in
your
washing
machine
is
unnecessary?”
Include
visual
cues
Like
LiveStrong
bracelets
and
pink
breast
cancer
ribbons,
online
visual
symbols
can
provide
the
perfect
balance
between
content
and
style.
Here
are
some
examples
that
work
online:
• Pictures
of
events
(volunteering,
voting,
etc.)
• Changing
your
profile
picture.
Two
recent
successful
examples
of
this
include
users
posting
pictures
wearing
a
hoodie
for
Travyon
Martin
and
blacking
out
their
profile
picture
to
protest
SOPA:
source:
http://www.blackoutsopa.org/
Divert
Attention
In
addition
to
creating
subtle
messages,
users
can
promote
altruistic
behavior
while
avoiding
social
backlash
by
crediting
others
for
their
altruism.
source:
causes.com

7. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.7
One
can
applaud
the
efforts
of
friends
who
have
done
good
deeds,
publicly
ask
friends
to
do
favors
for
them,
or
publicly
invite
friends
to
share,
thereby
giving
friends
a
“free
pass”
to
promote
their
behavior.
Ask
your
friends
to
tell
about
a
time
they
helped
somebody
older
than
them…
A
successful
example
is
the
Wish
feature
on
Causes.com.
This
lets
users
ask
their
friends
to
publicly
donate
on
their
behalf
as
a
birthday
wish,
wedding
wish,
etc.
Removing
any
obvious
altruism
from
the
sharer’s
action
might
make
this
even
more
effective.
For
example:
Rule
#4:
Create
safe,
rewarding
spaces
There
is
a
strong
incentive
to
preach
to
the
choir.
People
are
much
more
likely
to
share
behavior
with
like-­‐minded
individuals.
This
has
a
lot
to
do
with
the
issues
of
normalcy
described
above.
A
study
of
an
environmental
app
of
Facebook
found
that
environmentally
conscious
users
were
much
more
likely
to
share
when
the
community
was
limited
to
environmentalists,
in
part
because
they
were
lauded
for
their
actions
rather
than
derided.
In
addition,
a
study
of
product
recommendations
found
that
strong
communities
were
found
to
lead
to
higher
rates
of
sharing
and
communication.

8. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.8
Help
users
target
Organizations
would
benefit
from
suggesting
safe,
meaningful
sharing
recipients
for
individuals.
Most
mainstream
users
are
not
interested
in
joining
a
group
dedicated
to
a
cause.
Rather
than
manufacturing
a
community,
organizations
can
promote
sharing
with
connections
that
have
taken
similar
actions
or
sharing
with
close
connections.
Studies
show
that
close
connections
are
much
more
likely
to
have
sympathetic
viewpoints
AND
more
likely
to
be
impacted
by
a
users’
input.
Help
users
find
community
Organizations
should
give
users
the
option
of
inviting
their
connections
into
the
process,
or
finding
new
connections
with
similar
interests:
or
Because
sharing
norms
in
a
community
reinforces
norms
within
the
community
(important),
but
does
not
directly
spread
ideas
outside
a
community
(bad),
refer
to
Rule
#1.
Rule
#5:
Spice
up
what
is
being
shared
People
see
what
they
share
as
a
reflection
of
themselves.
For
this
reason,
they
curate
carefully
what
they
will
promote
and
not
promote—not
merely
on
the
basis
of
politics,
but
on
the
basis
of
perceived
utility
to
others.
They
ask
themselves,
“Is
this
content
important,
exciting,
digestible,
and
relevant
enough?”
I
recently
ran
a
sharing
experiment
among
classmates,
and
though
I
garnered
a
respectable
21%
share
rate
(among
108
respondents1),
here
were
the
most
typical
explanations
from
people
who
chose
not
to
share:
It
was
more
that
this
just
[didn’t]
seem
like
an
important
enough
thing
to
share...
Felt
others
would
think
spammy
I
only
post
REALLY
interesting/important
things
to
FB.
Didn't
seem
worth
it.
1
All
colleagues
of
the
author
at
the
Berkeley
Haas
school
of
business

9. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.9
Many,
many
others
have
studied
and
written
about
what
makes
content
viral,
so
I
won’t
harp
on
it
too
much2,
but
suffice
it
to
say
this
is
one
area
where
creativity
can
add
tremendous
value.
The
following
post
is
not
going
to
be
shared
or
reflect
well
on
the
user,
no
matter
how
correct
it
may
be
(see
Rule
#3:
Be
indirect):
Making
a
music
video,
however,
led
to
5
Million
views:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zulEMWj3sVA
In
fact,
in
the
space
of
morality
motivated
content
there
is
a
new
organization,
called
Upworthy,
which
takes
important
political
information
and
disguises
it
in
attention-­‐
grabbing,
humorous,
and
easily
digestible
costumes.
Figure 1 From Upworthy.com's Facebook stream (https://www.facebook.com/Upworthy, accessed 6-11-12)
2
Here
are
some
from
Mashable
alone:
http://mashable.com/2012/04/11/viral-­‐video-­‐seedwell/
http://mashable.com/2010/10/19/viral-­‐video-­‐science/
http://mashable.com/2012/04/04/viral-­‐brand-­‐videos-­‐how-­‐to/

10. Good
Deeds
go
Viral
Katz
p.10
In
doing
so,
they
copy
many
of
the
features
of
the
inane
viral
content
that
spreads
quickly
online.
The
byline
from
their
website
is:
“Make
your
friends
accidentally
think”.
See
Mashable’s
cover
of
their
launch
here.
Conclusion
Sharing
on
Facebook
represents
an
enormous
opportunity
for
good
behavior
to
spread,
but
given
the
dominant
motivations
and
norms
for
sharing,
altruistic
content
is
less
likely
to
be
shared.
But
it
doesn’t
have
to
be
this
way.
Though
Upworthy
is
new,
early
results
have
been
remarkable.
According
to
TechPresident,
in
just
one
week
Upworthy
generated
over
a
250,000
views
of
an
existing
Obama
campaign
ad
mostly
by
changing
the
headline.
And
making
content
more
entertaining
isn’t
the
only
way.
Organizations
should
experiment
with
the
paths
described
above
to
increase
the
sharing
of
altruistic
behaviors
on
Facebook.
The
solutions
proposed
in
this
paper
are
far
from
exhaustive;
as
with
many
organizational
challenges,
success
lies
in
paying
close
attention
to
the
motivations
and
needs
of
your
clients
and
developing
innovative
solutions
to
ensure
those
needs
are
met.
Jon
Katz
is
a
recent
MBA
graduate
from
the
Berkeley
Haas
School
of
Business.
Prior
to
that,
he
managed
strategy
and
development
of
online
marketing
tools
at
Yahoo.
LinkedIn
profile
http://www.linkedin.com/in/katzjon.
Contact:
jon_katz@mba.berkeley.edu