So I’m a few weeks into my new job at BuzzFeed. And one thing really stands out about the office:
Reporters at BuzzFeed are obsessed with sharing.
In my previous work, I’ve never put a high premium on sharing. Stories got written because… well, they were important! And because an editor just decided that the story was worthy!
At BuzzFeed, reporters are instead asking: Is this the kind of story I’d want to share with someone else? Is this the kind of story I’d want to have a conversation about?
And if the answers are no, the next question is: Why are we writing about it in the first place?
This doesn’t mean you have to write stories that pander. Or that go after cheap clicks.
All it means is that in whatever stories we tell, we should be thinking about how it’s going to get passed around and discussed.
That’s why we do this, right? To tell great stories that also have an impact? That get seen? That get discussed?
Upworthy’s ‘How To Make That One Thing Go Viral’ Guide.
So with that in mind, here’s a wonderful little presentation about telling better stories on the web. It’s from the guys at Upworthy (which just so happens to be a competitor to my new employer, but whatever).
What they’ve put together is a really good guide to telling stories online. In this guide, they explain how to write more shareable headlines, how to frame a story correctly, and how to think about the social web.
It’s a free guide, and it’s really fantastic. Click here, and read on.
Now get out there and tell some great stories today!