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.

WHAT'S A DONG?

Playing in the Mud Never Gets Old for These Two Cave Explorers | Short Film Showcase

View All

Paralysed Rats Made To Walk Again

We have all heard of mind over matter, but is it possible that the right motivation can actually help repair spinal damage? I have come to Lausanne, Switzerland, to find out about some innovative research being done to repair the spinal cords of rats usin…

Escape to the Stunning Wilderness of Ontario | National Geographic

A spirit is everywhere. Spirits in the water, spirits in the land, spirits in the animals. You know, it’s not empty. There’s no such thing as an empty earth, empty land, as the spirits are still learned. So that energy still learned, that life. To me, to …

Encryption and public keys | Internet 101 | Computer Science | Khan Academy

[Music] Hi, my name is Mia Gilner. I’m majoring in computer science at UC Berkeley, and I work for the Department of Defense where I try to keep information safe. The internet is an open and public system. We all send and receive information over shared …

Information Overload is Killing Us

Pollution. When you hear that word, what do you think of? Perhaps dangerous gases are being emitted into our atmosphere, garbage floating around the ocean, sick animals due to toxic food. But there’s another pollutant lurking in our society: an invisible …

Female Founders Conference - New York

[Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Okay, let’s see here. Hi, hi everyone! Good afternoon! I think we’ll get started. You’re nice and cool inside, thank goodness. I lived in New York more than 20 years ago at this poi…

This video is about your mom..

[Music] The adipose tissue in your female parent is so abundant that once she dons elevated footwear, she is able to unearth reserves of petroleum. In other words, your mom is so fat that when she wears high heels she strikes oil. And not to offend you or…

Virality and network effects drive organic growth.

More Articles