The Ghost Influence Podcast: How Viral Happens On Reddit Brian Swichkow: Social Engineering, Digital Empathy, Community Marketing

In search of himself, Andy Mai sought to take a more conscious look at... his look. He was one of the early adopters to jump into the /r/malefashionadvice subdreddit, also known as 'MFA', that has since grown to be one of Reddit's staple communities with over 500K readers. Andy's passion for expression extends beyond himself as he encourages people to experiment with their self image. Leading by example he constructed the now legendary prompt "let's have some fun" and submitted it to Reddit. Four years later he still gets questions from people seeking a supportive voice and is always there to answer the call. This episode is guaranteed to make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.


Andy's infamous "Let's have some fun." submission to MFA
Andy's "Fanny Cat" post that he's also known for
Andy Mai, Creative Director — Website & Portfolio
Chronicled — Collect & Trade 100% Authentic Sneakers
Andy Mai, @veroz, on Twitter

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Music: ‘Splashed - Her Smile (Original Mix)'

By the time Bernie Sanders officially announced his candidacy for president in April 2014, Aidan King had already been preparing (and hoping) for five months. Aidan is one of the Co-Founders of the subreddit /r/SandersForPresident, a moderated community on Reddit geared toward political activism and digital grassroots organizing. This community is more than a place to post updates, it's become a powerful network of supporters around the nation working together for a common goal and it's inspiring to see. Regardless of your political interests, Aidan's insights on leading a community are an illuminating education into the human psyche.

EDIT: Shortly after this episode was published, Aidan stepped down as a moderator of the /r/SandersForPresident subreddit and accepted a position as Digital Staff for Bernie 2016. At the age of 22 and with no formal experience in politics, Aidan King was recruited to be a part of a presidential campaign. The creation of the subreddit wasn't a ploy designed to land him a job, it was purely his passion for the cause and the community supporting it — the rest happened naturally. THAT is how you Reddit.


Bernie Sanders speaking directly to the /r/SandersForPresident community
/r/SandersForPresident banding together to support his message
150,000 subscriber milestone reached in April 2014
User /u/rawrmaan keeping close watch on Hilary's marketing

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Music: ‘Schyzox - My World'

With 29K subscribers on YouTube, 590K fans on Vine, and 2.5M followers on Twitter you might think that someone as prolific as Ali Spagnola wouldn't be impacted by a little content theft — you'd be wrong. Ali shares the brilliance behind her creative process and what it's like when the content you've invested so much of yourself into creating gets stolen. Crucial lessons for anyone building a personal brand.


Ali's now infamous 'How to make a mimosa' Vine
Ali's stolen Vine, turned gif, and submitted to /r/unexpected
Ali's 'I'm The Mimosa Girl Dangit' response video
Ali's content submitted all across Reddit
Ali Spagnola's 'Power Hour' drinking game
Ali Spagnola on Patreon
Ali's Reddit AMA
Mention alerts

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Music: ‘PKR - Ignite (Original Mix)'

Laid off from his 9-5, Sandy Gordon decided it was as good a time as any to start his career as a Pixel Artist and submitted his first game, Don't Get Wet, to iTunes with his partner Tudor Iancu. With nothing but passion and dedication, he shared his story in a brilliantly eloquent submission to Reddit's /r/gaming community. Striking a nerve with other designers and programmers seeking to make their passion their paycheck, his story took off and eventually hit the front page. 


Don't Get Wet, submitted to Reddit's /r/gaming
Don't Get Wet mini-postmortem, stats and more
Dashing Knight, submitted to Reddit's /r/gaming
Sandy's story and stats, submitted to Reddit's /r/gamedev
Sandy's top Reddit submissions
Spaceboy Games on Twitter
Sandy Gordon on Twitter
Woody Harrelson's atrocity of an AMA


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Music: 'Progressive House — Valuo'

Passionate magician, fantastic human, and COO for Ellusionist — the 'The World's First Online Magic Retailer' — it wasn't abnormal for Adam Wilber to conceive of something as magnificent as a wrist mounted, fully concealable flame thrower. Making it's way to Reddit organically, it generated sales far beyond what they ever expected. A year later, while launching the second (even more concealable) version their ignorance got the better of them and they were banned from /r/gadgets for inadvertently gaming the system by campaigning to their email list for votes. The story of the Pyro is one of success on accident, failure on purpose, and (finally) success on purpose.


Pyro Fireshooter promotional video
Pryo Fireshooter submission to /r/gadgets
Pyro Fireshooter (free press) on USAtoday
Pyro Mini promotional video
Pyro Mini successfully submitted to /r/shutupandtakemymoney
Ellusionist site submissions to Reddit
Rick Lax — Deception Expert on Facebook

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Music: 'Dan Porcaro - Shadows'

Responding to the prompt to discuss "the weirdest encounter you've had that's ultimately led to sex", Sean Thomas saw an opportunity to share his virginity story. Channeling his screen writing background, he detailed the epic as vividly as he remembered it. His comment generated more traction than the submission it was posted to and three years later it became the inspiration for his YouTube channel 'Based On A Crude Story'. In this episode Sean shares how he generated 9K subscribers in a week.


The Original Virginity Story
The Birth Of "Based On A Crude Story"
'Based On A Crude Story' YouTube Channel
Sean's Submission History On Reddit
Alone: Oculus Rift Game Review by Markiplier

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Music: 'KOOA - Don't Stop (Extended Mix)'