Something amazing happened two weeks ago: the US election saw the 2nd term of a certain Barack Hussein Obama, a returning Democratic candidate in an era which has seen dominance from Republican candidates for over a decade. The way the event played out has now become the stuff of social media legend, as mounting doubts of his reelection grew, and his political opponents played up the historical success of the Republican party. What earlier appeared to be a very close election soon amounted to a clear success, with Obama earning more than the required votes when half of all votes had not yet been counted.
In festivity, Obama shared a very quick snapshot of himself and the First Lady in a celebratory hug. In a matter of a half hour, that picture overtook every one else in Twitter as the most liked (favorited) picture in that platform.
How does one make a picture go viral?
If there’s anything the success of the Obama photo proved, it’s that there is no plan, no definite way to make your photo the most viral photo ever. Obama’s picture quickly overtook the longstanding leader, Justin Bieber, and while there is no end of celebrities richer, more powerful and even more famous than JB, it took that one watershed event for Obama to overtake him. Truth be told, Obama has had more than a few viral pictures before this one as well, so it was not like he was not like his popularity was not tested before.
In this case, everything came together to make this picture go viral, and it was not just about the election results for that night.
To find out where this started, we actually have to go back to the Democratic National Convention, and the revelation that Michelle Obama was a brilliant speaker. Compared to prior public engagement or conventions, Michelle was overtly political, spicing up her speech with campaign points and details. More strikingly, Michelle did an amazing job of painting a picture of her husband as a devoted  father, husband and public servant. She convinced the world that he was very much in touch with the concerns of everyday Americans, and succeeded in highlighting how much they had in common with many Americans, growing up in struggling families, and knowing what it was like for them, as well as their parents.
With that speech, the public now saw the campaign as every bit Michelle’s campaign to win as it is Barack’s. Michelle was invested in it now. At least more publicly. If Barack had lost his reelection bid, analysts would be looking at her speech as a valiant attempt to rally the troops that ultimately proved fruitless.
Michelle’s speech had made no mention of Barack’s opponent once, and yet the comparisons between Barack and Mitt Romney, and by extension, Michelle and Mitt’s wife Ann, were unescapable. Ann had a keynote speech in the Republican National Convention as well to sell the public on her husband as well. Ann tried to play off of her strengths, reaching out to the moms in the audience. She tried to make the case that her husband would make things easier for all families. Ann’s speech ultimately got lost in the heat of several misogynist statements that were both leaked and unwitthingly uttered by major candidates in the party.
And so, as these speeches held up the spotlight to the Presidential wives to be, it attracted attention to how the candidates spoke of them as well. And the difference in how they addressed them when the results were finally revealed was clear as night and day. As Mitt referred to Ann as “the woman I chose to marry”, Obama flipped it around to call Michelle “the woman who chose to marry me”.
The picture was released hours before Obama’s victory speech and Romney’s concesssion speech, which both had those statements, but they definitely got people talking and going back to that picture.
This whole narrative ran in parallel with many others in the course of the campaign, such as the Republican Party’s failure to recapture the Latino vote, how Nate Silver from the New York Times closely predicted electoral results with the power of numbers (particularly poll numbers), how the Democrats successfully campaigned to sway public opinion, Karl Rove’s public breakdown, etc. Unlike these other narratives, it was that much easier to cling on to this one as a human interest story.
I would point to these as the more salient points of the Obama photo that you should consider when making your own content:
1) Make it easily relatable.
Humor is easy to relate to, clever and crass alike. It is also easy to pander to a race or a faith. However, to tell a story everyone, or at least most anyone, can relate to, if not one they have actually lived through, is very effective. Its impact is not just seen in likes and shares, but in something as tangible as electoral votes.
2) Tell a compelling narrative.
It is not just the story that is told in that picture, but the way it is told. You could say that the story starts with Michelle Obama’s speech and ended with the now famous picture. For those who did not follow the details of the election, however, the picture tells a great story on its own.
For practical purposes, you can tell a story in a single picture, one that’s easily familiar and easily recognizable, even if it is worn out.
3) Make it likable.
Some unpopular stories go viral. There is a certain instinct to spread around unlikable narratives, like the guy who was rude to someone who was just doing their job, or that person who said something sexist or racists or unsavory in some way. It inflames emotions and drives them to find others who will also share, who ‘care’.
However, these stories are loaded with negative connotations as well. You share a story like this often, and people will associate you with these undesirable emotions, rightly or wrongly. You want to be known as the person who shares good vibes and makes likable content. They need not be trite or pandering, just something pleasant and sure to attract attention.
What lessons would you take from the Obama hug viral picture? Share your thoughts in the comments below.