Virality and network effects drive organic growth.

less than 1m read

·Nov 3, 2024

The best consumer companies incorporate both virality and network effect, which are different concepts but very closely related, in order to grow their user base organically.

Virality is the idea that one user using your product introduces it to other users somehow in the use of your product, whereas network effect is the idea that the product gets better the more nodes in the network exist.

I'll give you an example from Facebook's early days. So, when you took a picture on Facebook and uploaded it, you were prompted to tag your friends, even if they weren't already on Facebook. Those friends would get an email saying, "Hey, someone's tagged a photo of you; sign up to view the photo." That's a viral mechanic.

By uploading the photo and tagging your friends, you spread it to new users. A network effect comes from Metcalfe's Law: the value of the network is the square of the nodes in a network.

What that basically means is the more people who use this thing, the more valuable it gets. So, WhatsApp is a great example of this.

Rewriting a quadratic function from vertex form to standard form | Khan Academy

The Lost City of Chan Chan | Lost Cities with Albert Lin

View All

Plague 101 | National Geographic

[Narrator] Plague is notorious for causing mass sickness and devastation. But as much tragedy as the disease has caused, it also helped drive crucial scientific and social progress. Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. …

Why Millennials Should NOT Invest

What’s up, you guys? It’s Graham here. So, as many of you know, I spend a lot of time on the internet. Like, half my day is spent browsing Reddit, reading up on investments, watching YouTube videos, and reacting to bad spending habits. I do all of this be…

Albatrosses' Life-Long Bond Begins With Elaborate Courtship – Ep. 3 | Wildlife: Resurrection Island

You think that’s fighting? The biggest bird in the world would be quite straightforward. Turns out, no! Here he comes. [Music] That is the biggest bird on the planet. Each one of those wings is as wide as I am tall. The wandering albatross’s wingspan is o…

Aretha Franklin Finds Her Sound | Genius: Aretha

[music playing] That was a wonderful performance. I wish I could stay. I think I sang really well. You always sing well. But we haven’t found it yet, have we? Not for lack of trying. So let’s get you back into the studio and put our heads together. Ham…

TESLA IN THE S&P 500 | NEW $4000 PRICE TARGET??

What’s up you guys? It’s Graham here. So we got to celebrate today because not only is it a super rare occasion that I actually post a video here on a Tuesday, but this one deserves it because it’s officially announced that Tesla is going to be added to t…

Western MBA 1980 Five Years Out Trailer mp4

I think the common experience of working through this extremely demanding program and working through it in groups produces relationships and friendships that last people throughout their entire management career. You see an interesting thing happening at…

Virality and network effects drive organic growth.

More Articles