Rich Silverstein said at one point that the best advertising leaves some gaps for people to fill in themselves. Like a dot-to-dot game. Because connecting small points of a story with people's own aspirations, hopes, fears and beyond is what really pulls them in. They enjoy the story more because they're involved.
I thought of this when watching Re/code’s interview with Ze Frank.
The President of BuzzFeed Motion Pictures talked about why some content gets shared more than others. His take is good; that it has less to do with the crafted piece and more to do with what people will use the content for.
Or, in other words, people share something because of what it prompts them to personally express when they share it. A funny video about relationships becomes a representation of couple miscues, which applies to a lot of people. It’s not the specific miscues that are filmed, it’s what they represent.
Which is helpful because there's no mystery behind why people share Epic Split. It's an unbelievable feat.
But Epic Splits are rare.
Ze's insight helps explain the larger lot of videos, and how they can be better thought about for more sharing.