So I think it’s time to get better.
How does morality actually happen?
What are the levers behind it?
Because if you understand that, you can hopefully stop chasing viral and start building more predictable growth because algorithms reward engagement, not quality.
So platforms like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube X, all of them, they don’t say let’s promote genuinely useful content.
They promote what keeps people on the platform watching, commenting, sharing.
And often that means shotgun outrage and novelty and mystery, right?
It’s not the most interesting, well researched content and useful stuff to help you grow your business.
For example, like it, that’s that’s not going to do it.
So if you design for algorithmic hooks, you end up designing for sensationalism, which is a seriously dangerous path because human psychology works in the way that we share to look clever or connected, right?
And so think about why you share stuff like you saw something wild maybe, or surprising, and you go, you have to see this.
To me, there’s less about the brand and more about your identity story and how you connected with it.
So if your content is made to go viral, it’s often made to shock, not to solve.
And then people share the shock value, but not your brand proposition.
So therefore, lots of shares, it’s not the same as lots of buyers.
And so the question is, do you care more about going viable or do you care about the quality that you put out there?
Because usually you don’t have both.
I mean, I rarely see genuinely viable posts that are shared because it’s useful and will help you get business because not everything is helpful to everyone, right?
And things that help you get business should be targeted at your target audience.
And that really should only be a few people.
So if you’re going viral, technically something’s gone wrong.
And you know, one of the foundational rules of business is trust leads to purchase.
So if someone shows up by a viral clip and they often aren’t familiar with you, your story and your values and everything, they’re just spectators.
So they might comment occasionally, but they’re unlikely to become paying clients.
And so you might get thousands of eyeballs on your posts, but not thousands of wallets.
And so this is pattern like you get this spike of attention, but then you flatten out unless you have a funnel, an offer or system that converts and then keeps working because that spike is fleeting and even somewhat distracting.
And now whilst the numbers, like the exact numbers are tricky to get because platforms don’t always share them, multiple reports have suggested that most viral posts actually fail to translate into meaning meaningful business outcomes.
For example, like there’s loads of commentary on influencer fails and these stats emphaszse this mismatch.
So unfortunately, the mechanics don’t guarantee business growth.
So I want to now delve into like the dark side of chasing virality because this is where like the myth meets reality.
It’s like, what is the actual cost of chasing virality?
Well, I think there’s a few negative things which happen.
So first is this toxic incentive loop, right?
Creators, entrepreneurs and marketers all fall into this.
What if I just find the next viral hook thing?
They become obsessed with the formula rather than actual value.
They mimic trends, they copy viral formats, they chase algorithmic loopholes.
So this means the content they create becomes hollow and their brand becomes shadow and their quality massively declines without them even noticing it because they’re too busy trying to go viral instead of actually talking to their audience.
And this constant chase doesn’t go away either.
The creators are non-stop looking for reality because it’s in their face all the time on social media, right?
And it’s everywhere around them.
And like their competitors are doing it and even those who purchase engagement are like are, are faking reality.
And, and even though though people know they’re faking it, it still plays an emotional impact on others and they kind of feel like they need to compete and also go viral.
So it’s kind of nuts.
And I’d say that like, the second thing is algorithmic burnout because if you’re chasing viral, you keep pushing for bigger, faster, crazier, and then you end up burning out because the strategy demand constant hits and that’s just not sustainable.
And plus, if your business is built on being viable, then you’re building it on pretty unstable grounds, right?
Which then brings to the next point, I think audience mismatch is a big problem.
Like, so think about what happens when you go viral.
As I said, you attract all sorts of people.
Like I said, many of those were never intended to be audience in the 1st place.
So they may watch the clip, they may share it, but then they often just move on.
Or worse, they might troll you or criticize you.
So you might get your attention, but usually the wrong kind.
And then there’s reputation risk.
Because morality does not care if the coverage is good or bad.
A viral moment can blow up your brand, but in a bad way.
And one mistake, one weird clip and 1 tone deaf moment and it gets magnified.
I look at those creators who generate viral content that feels sensational or fake.
Their credibility takes a serious hit.
So morality can destroy trust and trust is supposed to be your currency.
And there are now so many bullshit tactics behind trying to go viral because since people want this morality, there’s been like an ecosystem of gimmicks that have grown and you’ve probably seen them.
You’ve probably never really thought about it.
But like, as I said, bots engagement for a start, like from bots comment farms, AI, like even like even human engagement pods.
They’re paying other influencers to post on their their posts for them and they’re going viral every single time.
You’re thinking, oh, they must be so good at content.
They’re not.
It’s all fake.
And then the fake stunts and controversies like people stopping people on the street and happens and have something happen or you know, even people who are accusing Mr Beast of fake videos.
I don’t know much about him in that sense.
But you know, I know that in entrepreneurship, like most of these magic moments are just fake and they just don’t happen.
Or even made-up stories that are controversial didn’t happen.
Or even the cliche like comment X in the comments to find out more.
They basically just want you to like boost their algorithm by commenting loads, But really, you know, you could just provide the link straight away and and get them to the right place.
But no, you do this so that you boost your profile.
So it’s a selfish perspective.
You’re making them work harder for it in order to boost your profile.
There’s like this click baity watch on the end hook.
So again, manipulate the algorithm because the longer they spend on the post, then you know that’s better for your post and like Gen general shock content, right, which is designed for retention.
They’re not actually relevance to anything you do.
So people to create these posts, which had nothing to do with the business, but they’re just looking to go viral.
And then like, I’ve seen people doing like weird stuff by a mean page and already there’s all this sort of crazy stuff going on.
But you know, honestly, these things are nuts.
And like these tactics might trigger a spike, right?
But they don’t build a brand and they often lead to audience fatigue or regret or worse, they they expose you as inauthentic.
And so in short, the Bible hack mentality is basically marketing laziness.
It tries to bypass building the fundamentals, the offer, the audience of value, the trust and all that stuff.
And instead it relies on shortcuts and shortcuts rarely hold.