Member-only story
The Article That Will Make You Popular
Controversial and meta texts are a sign of a growing and dynamic community
It seems to me that the popularity of articles online is driven by a few basic factors.
First, there must be some kind of controversy or an area with uncertainty in order for people to feel compelled to read about it and form their own opinions on the topic. For example, certain political topics are very popular because there are many different sides to a differing opinion that people want to hear about and debate.
This leads me to my next point, which is that people want articles about topics they have a personal connection with. Many of the most popular online articles are those relating to motherhood or parenting because it can directly relate to the reader and their own life as a parent.
In my opinion, the reason that people enjoy reading online articles is that it gives them a sense of control over their lives and their own problems. If they are struggling with something like parenting or work, then they can read an article about someone else going through the same thing and try to draw parallels between…