Choose a writing structure that’s more likely to get shared

Features go viral more often, says Reuters Institute

While news stories make up the bulk of the content on three European news sites, most of the most-shared stories are features.

Or so says Satu Vasantola, Journalist Fellow at Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.

85% of the articles Helsingin Sanomat publishes are news stories, and just 15% are features. But 34% of the most shared stories were features.

Vasantola analyzed the most-shared stories from three European news sites:

• The BBC
• Helsingin Sanomat, the largest subscription newspaper in Finland
• Yleisradio, a Finnish media company

Features most shared.

Here’s what she learned:

• Features were the most shared articles at Helsingin Sanomat. 34% of the most-shared stories were features. But 85% of the articles the newspaper publishes are news stories, and just 15% are features.
• News articles and videos were the most shared at the BBC. 23% of the most-shared pieces were feature articles.
• Features were the most-shared Yleisradio pieces. 55% of the most-shared pieces were features.

Want to get shared more often? Vasantola suggests that you write stories that:

• Combine personal angles with national or international perspectives. People want stories about individuals as well as facts and statistics.
• Evoke feelings — especially positive ones. “Pure facts and figures are not enough; people want the facts to be served with emotions and stories of individuals, but stories that cleverly combine (inter)national and personal details,” Vasantola says.
• Make it relevant. Touch on everyday topics such as health, children and money.

“Interesting,” Vasantola writes, “is the new important.”

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Source: Satu Vasantola, “Do you think it is sex? You are wrong! This is what people share most on social media,” Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, 2014-2015