The Hidden Psychology of Social Networks: How Brands Create Authentic Engagement by Understanding What Motivates Us

CHAPTER

EVOLVING MEME MACHINES

Five Principles to Maximize Engagement

When social media began to emerge as an advertising channel, it reinvigorated many brands’ hope in scalable word-of-mouth marketing. At the time, Facebook’s pitch to brands was something along the lines of “Come build up your fan page, and your fans will evangelize your brand to their friends!” The concept of word-of-mouth marketing wasn’t exactly new, however. Obviously, word-of-mouth recommendations have been integral parts of our culture that arose organically long before marketing was ever a discipline—they are the natural ways we express what’s valuable to us. One popular ...