Teach

Teach how things go viral

Six exercises for marketing, media and communication courses. Real cases, dated evidence, 1,292 events in an open dataset.

  1. 1Find patient zero

    45 min · No account
    1. Read Very Demure's timeline. Mark the seed, the first amplifier, each platform jump and the first press.
    2. Do the same for Wordle. It has no first amplifier on record. Who should it be, and what would prove it?
    3. Put both curves side by side. Which beat moved attention most?
    Very demure, very mindfulWordle

  2. 2Name the mechanic

    40 min · No account
    1. Read the mechanic definitions and their tests.
    2. Tag KPop Demon Hunters blind: two to five mechanics, each with the event that proves it.
    3. Compare with our tags. Where you disagree, whose evidence is better?
    MechanicsKPop Demon Hunters

  3. 3Time the backlash

    30 min · No account
    1. On Very Demure and Wordle, find each backlash event and count its days from the peak.
    2. Did attention fall after it, or rise?
    3. When does criticism end a spread, and when does it feed one?
    Very demure, very mindfulWordle

  4. 4Argue with the score

    60–90 min · Spreadsheet
    1. Read how the Spread Score weighs reach, contagion, breadth, velocity and longevity.
    2. Find two cases with near-equal scores and very different parts. Which spread more?
    3. Propose your own weights, recompute every score, and report what moved most.
    MethodDataset

  5. 5Mind the sample

    60 min · Spreadsheet
    1. Compare median scores by origin platform and by origin (organic, seeded, stunt, paid).
    2. Every case here spread. What can this sample tell you, and what can it never tell you?
    3. Design the study that would answer what it can't.
    Dataset

  6. 6Brief from precedent

    One week · Free account
    1. Take a brief: a snack launch, a museum show, a local election.
    2. Find three precedents that share one mechanic and differ in everything else.
    3. Write a one-page plan that cites each precedent by its permanent ID.
    LibraryCollections

Students

A free account opens every case's full timeline and chart. Sign-in is one tap with Google.

Citing

Each case page has a Cite button. Permanent IDs keep a reference working after a rename.

Data

1,280 cases as CSV, CC BY 4.0. Download

Fresh cases for your next class, weekly. Using it in a course? Tell us.