Utilizing networks and digital distribution strategies to create spreadable video content for change

People value what peers recommend, and when we share a video or retweet a link we are, in fact, spreading content to our online friends, or our network. The acts of sharing, retweeting, and “liking” speak directly to our ability to recommend and spread content. Consumers have become powerful brand advocates because they, in part, control the “spreadability” of online content. This thesis explores how spreadability occurs with causes and non-profit videos on YouTube. Network theory helps examine how non-profit organizations and causes can use social networks, in particular YouTube, to achieve spreadability for their content. True spreadable media becomes successful when great content meets a compatible and connected network through a coordinated effort. This thesis outlines the importance of three factors (factor one: video content, factor two: social networks, factor three: video distribution) and how these three factors can be implemented to spread social good videos.

人们向来重视同龄群体的推荐，而分享视频或是转发链接的行为，实则是向线上好友或自身社交网络传播内容。分享、转发与点赞这类举动，直接彰显了我们推荐与传播内容的能力。消费者已然成为极具影响力的品牌拥护者，这在一定程度上源于他们掌握着线上内容的“可传播性”。本论文聚焦探究公益事业与非营利组织视频在YouTube平台上的可传播性生成机制。借助网络理论（Network theory），可分析非营利组织与公益事业如何利用社交网络——尤其是YouTube平台——实现其内容的可传播性。优质内容经由协同运作，契合适配且互联的社交网络，方可成就真正意义上的可传播媒介。本论文阐述了三大核心要素的重要性（要素一：视频内容；要素二：社交网络；要素三：视频分发），并说明了如何通过这三大要素推广公益类视频。