SUCCESs(Making Memes Stick)

*Post influenced by the book Made to Stick and a question I posed to Purpleslog about how to gets certain memes to stick*

A meme defined by Wikipedia “comprises any idea or behavior that can pass from one person to another by learning or imitation. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, gestures, practices, fashions, habits, songs, and dances. Memes propagate themselves and can move through the cultural sociosphere in a manner similar to the contagious behavior of a virus.”

What makes an idea stick?

An idea that stick is understandable, memorable, and effective in changing thought or behavior. To breakdown stickiness here is what Chip and Dan Heath have considered what makes memes the stickiest.

SUCCESs

S – Simple

U – Unexpected

C – Concrete

C – Credible

E – Emotional

S – Simple

s – Just misspell SUCCES for clarity sake.

What hinders us most from passing on our very useful and important ideas is the Curse of Knowledge. I’ve expressed my own dissatisfaction at what happens when the CoK hampers the way of tutors and teachers. The CoK happens when we as the ones who understand something are trying to express it to others not as knowledgeable about the subject.  This gap can and will lead to your knowledge being forgotten or dismissed if not adequately presented.

S – Simple

For my military friends, think Commander’s Intent. Simple needs to be the most important thing, like any good journalist you cannot bury the lead. The simple is a combination of core + compact, think of those old proverbs you remember from a child. Sound bites that are profound.

U – Unexpected

It doesn’t have to be as shocking as meatspin.com(DO NOT GO  THERE), but it has to break the person person’s pattern, or guessing machine. Create a mystery. Haven’t we watched a whole crappy movie just to see the ending? Create knowlege gap of curiostiy.

C – Concrete

Abstract is hard to put into tangible terms. For example, they say that 1 out of every 4 students at West Virginia University. Make it more tangible by saying, your friend John will drop out of WVU while you, Jim, and James will stay here. It is all about helping people remembering. Think of your idea as a velcro, the more hooks in your idea the better chance it will stay.

C – Credible

Sometimes facts aren’t enough. Just because you write an excellent paper, with excessive amount of sources, on why the book of Matthew was written in Galilee doesn’t mean people will believe. Nicholas Taleb mentioned in his book The Black Swan, we are far more likely to avoid Central Park in New York City at night if we hear a story on the flight there by the passenger beside us about his friend getting mugged. Appeal to different forms of authority and create realistic examples for your audience.

E – Emotional

Mother Teresa said “If I look at a mass, I will do nothing. If I look at one, I will act.” Also appeal to self-interest, but remember Maslov heigharchy of needs, there are MANY forms of self-interest. Remember the Curse of Knowlege, people usually won’t care as much about an idea as you. Make them care by the power of associations.

S – Stories

You want to people to act on your idea. Think of Jared from the Subway comercials? Use stories to inspire others to act. Think also of stories as flight simulators for others, think Stategic Corporal.

There are plenty of ways to implement this(Influence Warfare?). I used it for my final presentation about Islam Water Extraction, Storage, and Distribution. Quite a boring subject, but it was fun to put theory into practice.

In the end, just read the bloody book. It’s an easy/enjoyable/useful read.