How we went viral by exploiting the Daily Mail to help Calais migrants - and how you can too
Being Human, Going Viral: A How To Guide
You might have already seen this, if you've been following me on Twitter or if you read the Independent, the Huffington Post or the Guardian. In case you haven't...
Last month, Beth's gran spotted a promotion in her Daily Mail for £1 return ferry tickets to Calais. Knowing that we have been travelling there regularly, taking warm clothes, shoes and tents for the migrants living there, she suggested we take advantage of the offer.
Little did she think that we'd not only accept the Daily Mail's humanitarian largesse, but also write a viral thank-you letter that would inspire tens of thousands of Likes on Facebook, thousands of shares and re-tweets, hundreds of comments discussing the issue and dozens of ordinary people going over to Calais to see for themselves the squalor in which our fellow human beings live.
Watching the views, shares and comments stack up has been inspirational - but action is more important. STRIKE! magazine took a bunch of people over to Calais last weekend, which resulted in a proliferation of more blog posts and articles about Calais. Many others have been in contact with us about taking their own trips - including UN workers, journalists and ordinary people who want to see the reality behind the headlines.
This was what inspired us to write the original letter. We didn't (just) want to poke fun at the Daily Mail; we wanted to encourage others to just go and see for themselves. Calais is a couple of hours away, so why not?
How To Go Viral
Be funny.
Be Robin Hood: steal from the rich (Daily Mail) to feed the poor (migrants).
Have partners who will share your story. That early momentum is critical.
The first two of those you have total control over and are pretty obvious. The third one is interesting.
Both me and Beth are on Twitter. I don't have much of a following (~100) and, while Beth is more popular (~400), she is still hardly a power user. For the first few days, we worked on our Twitter contacts and I was pretty pleased when we got over 400 views on Wednesday, mostly from Twitter. Then views dropped off over Thursday and Friday. And I thought it was all over.
Then STRIKE! magazine got in touch with someone at the Independent and suggested it for the i100. On Saturday we got over 2,200 hits on our original letter, 1,200 on Sunday and over 400 each on Monday and Tuesday.
But what was interesting about these numbers is that they didn't come from the Independent or the Huffington Post (who joined the party on Saturday). They came from Facebook (over 70%). Neither me nor Beth are on Facebook.
What did we learn?
LESSON 1: When something goes viral, it goes viral with or without you. We pushed on Tuesday and Wednesday, on Twitter, and got a good response, but it wasn't viral.
LESSON 2: Mainstream news sources will jump on something they think has viral potential, but they will keep the traffic for themselves.
LESSON 3: More important are influential partners on social media. They will give the article the initial push it needs and won't take all the traffic for themselves. But this isn't enough for viral; many tens of thousands of people shared our piece.
In some ways it is the perfect metaphor for effective action: Alone we are voiceless; together we can create real change.
How to Help Calais Migrants
Book a ferry ticket, usually around £25 each way.
Pack up a backpack or load up a car with tents, blankets, (men’s) shoes, winter jackets and a couple of sets of dominoes. If you have none of these things, take a warm hug and a friendly smile.
Visit the migrant camp at Impasse des Salines or the “Jungle” along Rue des Garennes. If you want to support activists in Calais, contact Calais Migrant Solidarity on +33 75 34 75 159.
If you're interesting in finding out more about the situation in Calais and you live anywhere near Manchester, then come along to this film and info night hosted by some lovely friends of mine. I'll be there too! Wednesday 18th of February at 19:00 in a place called SubRosa: 27 Lloyd St South, Moss Side, M14 7HS.
Peace, solidarity and see you there!
d
ps: I'm ditching my mobile phone for thirty days starting on Tuesday. Why? Glad you asked.