How my great-aunt became a hit on the Internet.
Posted on Thu Feb 26 2009 UPDATE: Shortly after posting this item, I learned that my great-aunt, Genny Spencer, passed away this morning. My family and I would like to thank each of you who have expressed an interest in Genny's life and writings.
I've always been baffled by the randomness of what goes "viral" on the Internet. And over the past month, I've gotten a first-hand look at how rapidly it can happen for even the most obscure project.
On Jan. 1, I started posting my great-aunt's line-a-day diary from 1937 on Twitter. It was just a fun side project that I thought might interest my friends and family. I wrote about it on this blog at the end of January, when the Twitter account had a respectable audience of about 50 followers.
A month later, her diary has more than 2,300 followers. It has been highlighted by Twitter's co-founder, linked by dozens of blogs and referenced by other Twitter users an amazing number of times.
That's great, but if you're like me, you're wondering how the heck this happened. As with all viral phenomena, it's a strange mix of networking, luck, timing and content.
After the jump, I take a look at the time line of Genny's popularity:
Jan. 1, 2009 — I begin posting Genny's diary, starting with the Jan. 1 entry from 1937.
Jan. 28 — I write about the project on The Social Path.
Jan. 29 — London-based PR pro Melanie Seasons (a contact of mine on Twitter) writes about the Genny account on her blog, Fake Plastic Noodles.
Jan. 30 — Mental Floss magazine (a personal favorite) is inspired by Melanie's post and writes about the Genny project on its blog.
Jan. 31 — Twitter superstar Leo Laporte praises the Genny project in a post to his 90,000+ followers. He also reads some of Genny's entries on his tech podcast.
Feb. 2 — Twitter co-founder Biz Stone links to my blog post about Genny.
Feb. 3 — Thanks to Biz Stone's link, The Social Path sets a new record for daily traffic — by 7 a.m. The final tally would more than double my highest traffic to date. (Not that this site is ad-supported or anything, but it was still cool.)
Feb. 6 — I get my first conspiracy theorist.
Since then, things have quieted down quite a bit. A few people have complained about the diary's dry content, but far more people have said wonderful things about how the diary gives them a compelling contrast to today's culture and economy.
I'd like to tell you this is a testament to my savvy as a social media marketer, but I'm the first to admit that it would be tough (if not impossible) to recreate the passive success of a project like this. I'm flattered that so many people have found the idea creative and insightful, but it's hard to take credit for much more than the stenography of putting this diary on the Web.
That said, I think it does show the strength and potential of networking. This whole explosion began with one Londoner noticing my post and writing about it. Just goes to show that you never know which one of your contacts could be the one that makes a star out of you. Or at least out of your octogenarian relative.
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I'm so sorry to hear that she passed, David. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Take care.
Posted by: Melanie Seasons | February 26, 2009 at 02:26 PM
Very sorry to hear of Genny's passing. Was she aware of your project and if so, what were her thoughts about it? My mom is in her early 80's and she doesn't really have a frame of reference to understand what the internet is, let alone twitter.
I hope you consider keeping the project alive. I'd miss seeing those tweets popping up every afternoon.
Again, very sorry for your loss.
Posted by: Pete S | February 26, 2009 at 04:13 PM
David,
Not only is this a great exercise / experiment in a new medium, but a loving (and lovely) living tribute to your great-aunt. So rarely do we show true appreciation for those in our lives.
My condolences to you and your family on your loss. Looking forward to reading the rest of her diary.
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