What Makes A Tweet Go Viral? A Look At The Top Most Liked Tweets

Twitter is one of the leading social media platforms and has the potential to take your business to the next level by making your tweets viral. Viral tweets consist of such content which, at a rapid pace, can draw the attention of more Twitter users. These tweets are re-tweeted, liked, quoted, and then shared by multiple users on various social media platforms. However, making your presence felt on Twitter takes work. It is one of the leading social media platforms and has the potential to take your business to the next level. 

You’ve probably seen people you’ve never heard of going viral on Twitter and wondered how someone with a barely mentioned online profile gained attention in such a short span of time. Well, going viral on Twitter is no Rocket science, as every day new people gain mass attention in the form of viral tweets which cover different topics. Many others mass tweet just to gain attention for different reasons. 

In this article, we will cover the causes of tweets going viral and the different components that play a role in boosting one’s position in the algorithm.

Factors That Make A Tweet Go Viral

Tweeting On Newsworthy Topics

Twitter has become the center for sharing knowledge and newsworthy content. Most viral tweets talk about ongoing events and share genuine information quickly because; you must be the first to break the news to gain virality.

Another thing is that tweets that share news are re-tweeted more often than tweets that don’t. Researchers found that tweets that have a headline style were retreated more often than others. Tweets based on newsworthy topics usually have a killer hook that draws people in with creative writing and flashy headlines. News and current affairs are at the top of people’s minds, so they are more likely to generate attention because of their timely nature.

An example of one such tweet informing of news is based on the death of actor Chadwick Boseman, which amassed 6.9 million likes and 1.9 million re-tweets (6th June 2023) as it was newsworthy and posted on time, which made this tweet the most liked tweets of all time. 

Sharing Personal Stories

Sharing a true story would help your tweets go viral. People often tend to relate to true and personal stories, hence why personal stories that captivate a person’s attention gain virality more often than not. One such story was shared by Amanda Goetz, a single mom, and marketer living in Miami. She talks about how she left work early to meet her kids and informed her colleagues firsthand without feeling guilty about hiding anything. It received about 15.2k likes and over 1500 retweets as many people could relate to it. 

Another example of a personal story going viral is by Amanda Nell Edgar, which gained about 621k likes and 77k re-tweets. This goes to show that, you can’t go wrong by telling a personal story, which is why tweets of people sharing their experiences gain a lot of attention. The same goes for witness experiences, which often spark interest, as stated before, due to current affairs always being in people’s minds.

Humorous Tweets

Everyone loves an entertaining Twitter handle that knows how to make a joke. Hence, tweets that have a humorous tone to them are more likely to be interacted with by those who it reaches. Humour is a great tool to gain attention on the platform, as a good sense of humor helps tweets to be re-tweeted many times, whilst earning likes and replies.

The use of humor in tweets usually starts a viral thread. In fact, some of the most viral tweets include an element of humor, and they aren’t super complex either. One example is this tweet by Elon Musk, stating that he would buy the Coca-Cola Company and put cocaine in Coke, as it used to be back when it was first made. This tweet gained 4.6 million likes, becoming one of the most liked tweets of all time, whilst demonstrating how a little bit of simple humor can attract a lot of attention from people.

Using Hashtags

Hashtags are important elements of social media content. They allow you to join in the discussion of a trending topic, in which one can share their opinions and experiences. If used right, a person can be recognized for what they tweet and amass attention. This makes hashtags an important factor in tweets going viral.

Conclusion

By looking at these, it could be reasoned as to how tweets gain virality, and what factors captivate the attention of the common man. Keeping this in mind, you can easily understand how a tweet gained attention or how it could, and maybe use this reasoning to boost your social media profile. While there is no surefire formula to gaining virality, understanding these factors and consistently making high-quality, compelling content can increase the chances of a tweet resonating with a wide audience and gaining momentum.