When we look at this through an evolutionary lens, it becomes obvious that there are selection pressures that dictate that if you know something important (like which berries are poisonous) you'd better share it with everyone in your community. The social exchange theory of proverbs hints at this, as does my research into email chain letters and urban legends.

Sharing content that other people might have missed also means that the friends you saved from ignorance are more likely to share key information with you, another popular motivation mentioned by respondents to my survey: reciprocity. One user specifically said: "I share, they share back, in case I miss something good," and another said "It encourages them to share with me too so I find even more things that I would otherwise miss."

Sharing content like this also shows the recipient that you were thinking about them and that you value them enough to make sure they're not left in the dark, relationship building of this type was specifically mentioned by almost 10% of respondents.

This means that for marketers looking for a viral effect, the "they might miss it" idea can be a powerful call to action. This can take the form of a subtle indication that the reader is in possession of valuable information that others don't have, or a more blatant "be sure to pass this on to your friends who might not have seen it."

This is a small part of the large data presented in the full report I did on the results of my survey, if you want to know more, be sure to read the rest of my viral content sharing report (and don't forget to pass this on to your friends who might have missed it).

Dan Zarrella is a social and viral marketing scientist, you can read his blog here or follow him on Twitter here.

And the winner is…
… Becky Haycox - followed closely by Dan - an avid collector Air Jordans, Air Maxes, and Air Force Ones - he’s a true sneaker head

IM-NY along with IM-SF and some awesome sponsors are throwing the party at SES San Jose.
WHEN: Monday, August 18th 8:00 - Midnight or ??
Cost: $40 donation to charity
OPEN BAR! Light appetizers and good booze from 8:00 p.m. to Midnight
WHERE: Agenda Lounge - 399 S. 1st st. (right behind the conference center!)
WHY: Because of the great generosity of people like…

* Jon Kelly from Surehits.com,
* Neil Patel and Aneil Weber of ACSSEO,
* Greg Hartnett, and Brian Prince from BOTW.org, and
* head ninja from We Build Pages

…we are able to get together and network for a good cause.
Talk to your favorite internet marketing folks including:

• John Marshall and Michael Stebbins of Market Motive
• Chris Winfield of 10e20.com
• Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim and TrackUR
• Jeremy Schoemaker and Dave Dellanave of Shoemoney Media Group
• Todd Freisen aka Oilman
• Greg Boser aka Web Guerrilla of 3 Dog Media Group
• Michael Gray aka GrayWolf
• Frank Watson aka Aussie Webmaster of Kangamurra
• Brent Csutoras - BrentCsutoras.com
• Todd Malicoat of Stuntdubl.com
• Lauren Vacarello of lvlogic.com
• Jon Kelly from Surehits.com
• Neil Patel and Aneil Weber of ACSSEO
• Greg Hartnett and Brian Prince from BOTW.org
• Jim Boykin, CEO from WeBuildPages.com

Please get tickets/ donate in advance if you’ll be there -
At the charity party donations page

1. Introductions and SE Ranking Factors
2. Basics/ Browser Tools
3. Domain/Server level information
4. Keyword information
5. Competitive information
6. Ranking checkers
7. Backlink/ Off-page Information
8. Link building tools
9. On Page Optimization tools
10. Spidering & Index-ability information
11. Local search tools
12. Tracking and Analytics
13. Communication
14. Productivity
15. Domainer
16. Reputation management
17. Tools for fixing duplicate content
18. Publishing (wordpress) tools/plugins
19. Social media tools
20. Other tools