Building viral apps on the social web for fun and profit

I presented “Building Viral Apps on the Social Web for Fun and Profit” last night at the NY Viral Meetup. Thanks to my friend Jon Steinberg for inviting me to present with such a great group and posting the slides (my slides are #4-25):

Phil Michaelson posted some great notes from my talk, so rather than regurgitate what I said I’ll just quote his notes:

  1. Social Action – Enjoyment of the app or experience REQUIRES sharing
  2. Star Vehicle – Usage of the app or product enhances user’s career or social life, perhaps helping them better communicate with fans or friends. For example, Formspring and Twitter offer celebrities and self-promoters a new way to get their message out
  3. Ruckus – The app or product has something special or noteworthy. Perhaps it sparks imagination or disgust. Maybe its first to market. Maybe it has some simple hook that can easily be passed on.   My mom can’t explain why people Tweet, but she knows its a public message of 140 characters or less. People who don’t use FourSquare still know you canannounce where you are and become mayor.