What Makes Content Worth Sharing

Content becomes worth sharing when it provides the sharer with something they want to pass on.

Sharing is one of the most powerful forces in content, because shared content reaches new audiences through the trusted recommendation of the sharer. The content that gets shared extends its reach beyond the creator's own audience, reaching the audiences of those who share it, multiplying its reach through the sharing. But content does not get shared because the creator wants it shared; it gets shared because the sharer wants to share it. Understanding what makes the sharer want to share what makes content worth sharing from the sharer's perspective reveals how to produce content that gets shared, extending its reach through the sharing.

Content Creation System Framework

This matters because sharing is one of the most effective ways content reaches new audiences. The shared content reaches new people through the trusted recommendation of the sharer, which is more effective than the creator reaching those people directly, because the recommendation carries the sharer's trust. The content that gets shared extends its reach through these trusted recommendations, reaching new audiences that the creator could not have reached directly. Understanding what makes content worth sharing is what allows the creator to produce content that gets shared, accessing the powerful reach that sharing provides.

What Is Content Distribution?

Sharing Serves the Sharer

The key to understanding shareable content is that sharing serves the sharer.

People share content because the sharing serves them in some way it expresses something about them, provides value to their audience, or serves their relationships. The sharer shares not to help the creator but to serve themselves, and the content that gets shared is the content that serves the sharer's purposes in sharing. Understanding why sharing serves the sharer reveals what makes content worth sharing: the content that serves the sharer's purposes is the content they share.

What Is An Audience?

This reframes shareable content from the creator's perspective to the sharer's. The creator who wants content shared thinks about why they want it shared; the content that gets shared is shared because the sharer wants to. The shift from the creator's perspective to the sharer's reveals what makes content worth sharing not what the creator wants from sharing, but what the sharer gets from it. The content that serves the sharer's purposes is the content worth sharing.

What Is Content Creation?
The sharer's purposes are several expressing identity, providing value to others, serving relationships. Each is a reason the sharer shares, a purpose the sharing serves. The content that serves one or more of these purposes is worth sharing to the sharer, because it serves their purpose in sharing. Understanding these purposes reveals what makes content worth sharing from the sharer's perspective.

Why Some Content Connects And Most Gets Ignored

Purpose One: Expressing Identity

The first purpose sharing serves is expressing the sharer's identity.

People share content that expresses something about them their values, their interests, their identity. Sharing content is a way of expressing identity, signaling to others what the sharer values and who they are. The content that lets the sharer express their identity that says something about them when they share it is worth sharing, because the sharing serves the sharer's purpose of expressing identity.

What Is A Personal Brand?

The content that expresses identity well gets shared as identity expression. Content that articulates what the sharer believes, represents what they value, or signals who they are lets the sharer express their identity by sharing it. The sharer shares it to express their identity, and the content gets shared as a result. The content that lets the sharer express their identity is worth sharing, because the sharing serves the identity-expressing purpose.

What Is An Audience?

This is why content that articulates beliefs or values gets shared. The content that articulates what the sharer believes saying well what the sharer thinks lets the sharer express their beliefs by sharing it, serving the identity-expressing purpose. The well-articulated belief or value gets shared because it lets the sharer express their identity. The content that articulates identity is worth sharing, because the sharing expresses the sharer's identity.

What Is Storytelling?

Purpose Two: Providing Value to Others

The second purpose sharing serves is providing value to the sharer's audience.

People share content that provides value to others useful information, helpful insight, valuable resources they want to pass on. Sharing valuable content is a way of providing value to the sharer's audience, helping them by passing on something valuable. The content that provides value the sharer wants to pass on that helps the sharer's audience when shared is worth sharing, because the sharing serves the sharer's purpose of providing value to others.

What Makes Content Worth Sharing

The content that provides value worth passing on gets shared as value provision. Content that is genuinely useful, helpful, or valuable lets the sharer provide that value to their audience by sharing it. The sharer shares it to provide value to their audience, and the content gets shared as a result. The content that provides value worth passing on is worth sharing, because the sharing serves the value-providing purpose.

Quantity vs Quality Content

This is why genuinely valuable content gets shared. The content that provides genuine value real usefulness, real insight, real help is content the sharer wants to pass on to their audience, serving the value-providing purpose. The genuinely valuable content gets shared because it lets the sharer provide value to their audience. The content that provides value worth passing on is worth sharing, because the sharing provides value to the sharer's audience.

Education vs Entertainment

Purpose Three: Serving Relationships

The third purpose sharing serves is serving the sharer's relationships.

People share content that serves their relationships content they send to specific people, content that connects them to others, content that serves their social bonds. Sharing content is a way of serving relationships, connecting with others through the shared content. The content that serves the sharer's relationships that they want to send to specific people or that connects them to others is worth sharing, because the sharing serves the sharer's purpose of serving relationships.

What Is An Audience?

The content that serves relationships gets shared as relationship service. Content that the sharer wants to send to a specific person, that connects them to others who share the interest, or that serves their social bonds lets the sharer serve their relationships by sharing it. The sharer shares it to serve their relationships, and the content gets shared as a result. The content that serves relationships is worth sharing, because the sharing serves the relationship-serving purpose.

Why Some Content Connects And Most Gets Ignored

This is why content that resonates emotionally or connects people gets shared. The content that strikes an emotional chord, that the sharer wants to share with someone who would appreciate it, or that connects people who share the response serves the sharer's relationships when shared. The emotionally resonant or connecting content gets shared because it serves the sharer's relationships. The Content Creation System produces content that serves the sharer's purposes expressing identity, providing value, serving relationships producing content worth sharing that extends its reach through the sharing.

(Insert product CTA: The Content Creation System)

The Practical Reading

Content becomes worth sharing when it provides the sharer with something they want to pass on. Understanding the sharer's purposes reveals what makes content worth sharing.

The first move is to recognize that sharing serves the sharer. People share content because the sharing serves them expressing their identity, providing value to their audience, serving their relationships. The content that gets shared serves the sharer's purposes in sharing, not the creator's desire to be shared.

The second move is to produce content that lets the sharer express their identity. Content that articulates beliefs, represents values, or signals identity lets the sharer express their identity by sharing it, serving the identity-expressing purpose.

The third move is to produce content that provides value the sharer wants to pass on. Genuinely useful, helpful, or valuable content lets the sharer provide value to their audience by sharing it, serving the value-providing purpose.

The fourth move is to produce content that serves the sharer's relationships. Content that the sharer wants to send to specific people, that connects them to others, or that resonates emotionally serves their relationships when shared, serving the relationship-serving purpose.

Content Creation System Framework

Content becomes worth sharing when it serves the sharer's purposes expressing identity, providing value to others, serving relationships. The creator who understands the sharer's purposes produces content that serves them, content the sharer wants to share, extending its reach through the trusted recommendations that sharing provides. Understanding what makes content worth sharing is what allows the creator to access the powerful reach that sharing provides.

Related Reading

What Is Content Distribution?
Why Some Content Connects And Most Gets Ignored
What Is An Audience?
Content Creation System Framework

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What makes content worthsharing?

Content becomes worth sharing when it serves the sharer's purposes: expressing their identity (content that articulates their beliefs or values), providing value to their audience (genuinely useful content they want to pass on), or serving their relationships (content they want to send to specific people or that connects them to others). The content that serves these purposes is what the sharer wants to share.

Why do people share content?

People share content because the sharing serves them in some way it expresses something about their identity, provides value to their audience, or serves their relationships. The sharer shares not to help the creator but to serve their own purposes. Understanding why sharing serves the sharer reveals what makes content worth sharing from the sharer's perspective.

How does sharing extend content's reach?

Sharing extends reach because shared content reaches new audiences through the trusted recommendation of the sharer. The shared content reaches the sharer's audience, who receive it with the sharer's trust attached, which is more effective than the creator reaching them directly. Sharing multiplies reach through these trusted recommendations, reaching new audiences the creator could not reach directly.

Why does content that expresses identity get shared?

Content that expresses identity gets shared because sharing it lets the sharer express who they are their values, beliefs, and interests. Sharing content is a way of signaling identity to others. Content that articulates beliefs, represents values, or signals identity lets the sharer express themselves by sharing it, serving the identity-expressing purpose that makes content worth sharing.

What kind of content provides value worth sharing?

Content provides value worth sharing when it is genuinely useful, helpful, or valuable something the sharer wants to pass on to their audience. The sharer shares it to provide value to others, helping their audience by passing on something valuable. Genuinely valuable content gets shared because it lets the sharer provide value to their audience, serving the value-providing purpose.

How do you make content more shareable?

Make content more shareable by serving the sharer's purposes: produce content that lets the sharer express their identity (articulating beliefs and values), content that provides genuine value they want to pass on (real usefulness and insight), and content that serves their relationships (worth sending to specific people or connecting people emotionally). Content that serves these purposes is what the sharer wants to share.