An Interview With VIRAL LOOP Author Adam Penenberg
Adam Penenberg is one of the most prolific non-fiction writers of our age. His insights into the inner workings of the world are priceless. In his latest book Viral Loop, he discusses what has changed since the emergence of the Internet and social media. He also posits its now easier to put a price on your social network.
YOU write for magazines and papers like Fast Company, the New York Times, Forbes, Wired News and Playboy, where do YOU get the ideas to be able to write for such a diverse field?
A: Ideas come from everywhere. As a freelance writer, you don't eat if you don't publish, so that's a tremendous incentive to come up with salable ideas. When I was first breaking in--in the mid 90s--I'd research a topic I found fascinating: Human cloning, music piracy gangs, criminal subcultures on the Internet, hackers, what would happen to the world economy if an earthquake shattered Tokyo. Then I'd break it into different pieces for different pitches to magazines and newspapers. Nowadays I read a lot, and talk to as many smart people as possible. Usually somewhere in there is a great idea for a story. It's just a matter of identifying it.
What's the key to being a great investigative reporter?
A: Curiosity and a willingness to keep looking even when you think there may not be anything there.
Tell us more about YOUR latest book, Viral Loop. What was YOUR original motivation in writing the book?
A: It sprang from a cover story I wrote for Fast Company magazine. I was interviewing Marc Andreessen, the guy who created Mosaic, the first mass-use web browser and a co-founder of Netscape. We were discussing his latest venture, Ning, and he used the term "viral loop" in explaining how it was growing so fast. He explained that virality had been etched into the business plans of some of the most iconic companies of our time--Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, eBay, PayPal, Hotmail, Skype, and many more. I'd never heard of a viral loop before, but Andreessen assured me that in Silicon Valley, many venture capitalists were not only hip to it, they were investing gobs of money into viral companies. When I returned to NY I asked a number of colleagues and people into technology, and none of them had heard of it either. When the cover story came out I put together a book proposal. My agent sent it out on a Tuesday and five publishers began bidding on it the very next day. So I knew I was on to something very special.
In your research, what's the best way for a company to build a brand today?
Create a product so useful and good that consumers will happily spread it for you.
How can each of us maximize social media to build better lives?
Social networking is something we humans have always done. The difference is that the broadband-infused Web makes it faster and more efficient than ever before. Studies show that people who have friends live longer than those who don't. They also get fewer colds and flu than those who are lonely. The surprising thing is that these friends, according to the studies, need not be in the same room. They can be friends you talk to over the telephone, or through letters, email or social networks. The upshot of that is that social networking is a biological need. It doesn't replace face-to-face communication, but can be a wonderful addition. So don't be shy: Express yourself.
What can we expect from YOU next?
For the next many months I'll be pimping by book and building my business based on the book. There's the Viral Loop Facebook application (apps.facebook.com/viralloop) that tells you what you're worth to Facebook, based on your level of engagement, the number of friends and their level of activity, and your influence, which is defined, in part, by how well you spread the widget. The idea behind it is that social network users have value. By adding friends, sharing photos and video links, chatting, messaging, posting to the newsfeed, etc. we increase Facebook's value. Look at it this way: If Facebook only had 3 million users, would it have a valuation of $6.5 billion? I'm worth about $116 to Facebook, according to the app. We are about to announce partnerships with companies so that Viral Loop app users could redeem their money for real things. Discounts on rental cars and movie tickets, or appliances. I think when people can actually spend their Viral loop currency on real things the app will go totally viral.
What is the future of book publishing?
My personal belief is that many books will become multimedia experiences in the years to come. For example, say you have a biography of Amelia Earhart. Not only would you have the text, you'd have video of newsreel footage from the 1930s, schematics of her plane, maps of her routes, interviews with aviation historians. Publishers could also re-release their entire catalogs of books in this new form, and profit mightily. It could be like it was for the music industry when it transitioned from records to compact discs. People restocked their entire collections. I think the book industry could experience the same bonanza if it plays its cards right. After all, publishers and authors own the content.
What's YOUR favorite book?
Too many to name. I read a lot, everything from novels to non-fiction business and tech books.
What does curiosity seeker mean?
What do you think it means?
Who are YOUR personal heroes? Why?
The people who take care of their families and make the world a better place.
What are YOU hungry for?
A more peaceful, less dyspeptic political culture.
About Adam Penenberg
Adam L. Penenberg is a journalism professor and assistant director of the Business and Economic Program at New York University. A contributing writer to Fast Company, he has also written for Inc., Forbes, The New York Times, Slate, Wired, Economist, Playboy and Mother Jones. A former senior editor at Forbes and reporter for Forbes.com, Penenberg garnered national attention in 1998 for unmasking serial fabricator Stephen Glass of The New Republic.
His latest book is Viral Loop: From Facebook to Twitter, How Today's Smartest Businesses Grow Themselves (Hyperion, 2009) has been excerpted in Fast Company and TechCrunch in the U.S. and in Wired magazine in the UK.
In addition to the Today Show, he has appeared on CNN's "American Morning" and "Money Line," ABC World News and News Now, FoxNews, MSNBC, CNBC, and NPR and been quoted about media and technology in the Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Wired News, Ad Age, Marketwatch, Politico, etc.
YOU can follow him on twitter @ http://twitter.com/Penenberg.
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