From the Book - First Simon and Schuster hardcover edition.
From the Book - First Simon & Schuster trade paperback edition.
Introduction: Why things catch on. Why $100 is a good price for a cheesesteak...Why do some things become popular?...Which is more important, the message or the messenger?...Can you make anything contagious?...The case of the viral blender...Six key STEPPS -- 1. Social currency. When a telephone booth is a door...Ants can lift fifty times their own weight...Why frequent flier miles are like a video game...When it's good to be hard to get...Why everyone wants a mix of tripe, heart, and stomach meat...The downside of getting paid...We share things that make us look good -- 2. Triggers. Which gets more word of mouth, Disney or Cheerios?...Why a NASA mission boosted candy sales...Could where you vote affect how you vote?...Consider the context...Explaining Rebecca Black...Growing the habitat: Kit Kat and coffee...Top of mind, tip of tongue --- 3. Emotion. Why do some things make the Most E-Mailed list?...How reading science articles is like standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon...Why anger is like humor...How breaking guitars can make you famous...Getting teary eyed about online search...When we care, we share ---
4. Public. Is the Apple logo better upside down than right side up?...Why dying people turn down kidney transplants...Using moustaches to make the private public...How to advertise without an advertising budget...Why anti-drug commercials might increase drug use...Built to show, built to grow
-5. Practical value. How an eighty-six-year-old made a viral video about corn...Why hikers talk about vacuum cleaners...E-mail forwards are the new barn raising...Will people pay to save money?...Whey $100 is a magic number...When lies spread faster than the truth...News you can use
6. Stories. How stories are like Trojan horses...Why good customer service is better than any ad...When a streaker crashed the Olympics...Why some story details are unforgettable...Using a panda to make valuable virality...Information travels under the guise of idle chatter
Epilogue. Why 80 percent of manicurists in California are Vietnamese...Applying the STEPPS.