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.

If NASA Wasn't Broke

Jessica Livingston at Female Founders Conference 2014

View All

Rising Seas Are Swallowing This North American Island | National Geographic

We’re having constant washouts. We’re having constant basements flooded because of the water rise. Our roads are being threatened because of erosion. And they say there’s no climate change. When I first came to live here, we had the children out playing …

How to Drive with One Arm (AND NO LEGS) - Smarter Every Day 158

Hey, it’s me, Destin. Welcome back to Smarter Every Day! I just learned a lot about a really cool gym here in Dallas. More about that later, but for now I’m going to get a ride from Kenny, right? Oh yeah! And what’s magical about you riding me somewhere? …

Sanskrit connections to English | World History | Khan Academy

In the 18th century, you start to have significant interaction between the English and the Indians, especially in the East Indian Company. And as part of that, you start to have Western scholars start to really study Sanskrit and the Vedas. As they do the…

Exploring Dog-Human Communication

What if you could communicate with your pet? If they could just tell you how much they love you, how when you leave the house to go to work, it feels like they’ve just spent a week without you? In the 1970s, a gorilla named Koko learned sign language. Wi…

10% Rule of assuming "independence" between trials | Random variables | AP Statistics | Khan Academy

As we go further in our statistical careers, it’s going to be valuable to assume that certain distributions are normal distributions or sometimes to assume that they are binomial distributions. Because if we can do that, we can make all sorts of interesti…

Tarpit Ideas: The Sequel

When some of the people ask me, “Oh, is my idea a tarpit?” I’ll be like, “Hey, well, have you talked to any users?” And they’re like, “No, I just—no, I thought you would tell me, though.” Like, it’s funny. It’s like, “How you been watching the videos?” I …

Virality and network effects drive organic growth.

More Articles