viral-analysis
Viral Analysis
Viral analysis uses story friction: the pressure that makes an audience continue because a specific person, action, choice, or refusal sits under visible tension, with a consequence or unanswered question.
Treat content as a first promise, not as information. The audience does not owe attention to an idea; they follow a situation. This applies to any content surface where someone decides whether to continue: video, post, essay, ad, pitch, email, landing page, script, lesson, or product narrative.
Steps
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Build the evidence stack before judging. Collect the target content, its primary surface, available performance/context, creator or account context, 2-5 working comparables, and 2-5 category or culture comparables. If a linked video needs direct inspection, download it with
yt-dlpand analyze the file, not only the page metadata or thumbnail. Prefer the creator's own winners over generic best practice. If working examples are missing, say that the comparison is category-based. Completion: every judgment has at least one of these anchors: target evidence, creator winner, category pattern, or culture pattern. -
Name the package before judging quality. Identify the asset, visible package, intended audience, cold-viewer or cold-reader first promise, and comparison set. Completion: one sentence says, "This is being packaged as X, while its stronger opportunity is Y."
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Diagnose the first promise. Read the first screen, line, beat, frame, or section as if no outside context will be read. Strong promise: concrete person, behavior, choice, refusal, relationship, contradiction, consequence. Weak promise: topic, mood, nostalgia, worldview, abstract debate, polished beauty, explanation. Completion: one sentence says, "The opening says X, not Y."
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Extract the working pattern. Compare the target against the working comparables on first promise, visible conflict, specificity, relationship dynamic, open loop, payoff, and cultural fit. Do not copy the winner's surface; name the mechanism it proves. Completion: write "The winners do A -> B -> C; this piece does X -> Y -> Z."