How to Swipe a Viral Idea Without Stealing It
Founder and Head of Growth, White Label Comedy
One of the fastest ways to create a post with a real shot at going viral is to swipe a proven idea and make it better, usually by making it funnier. This is not copying. You take an idea that has already worked, understand why, and then write your own original, funnier version of it.
Swiping is not stealing
First, the important bit. Do not copy someone else's post. Changing a few words with a thesaurus is still stealing, and it will not do you any favours anyway.
Swiping is different. You look at a post that is clearly resonating, work out the idea and the message underneath it, and then build your own version from scratch. Done properly, your version should be so distinct that if the original author saw it, they would not think you stole it. They would just think you happen to think alike, and maybe follow you.
Why funnier is the improvement
The reason this works is that most viral posts win on the strength of the idea, not the execution. If you take a proven idea and add the one thing most people leave out, humour, you get the best of both: an idea that is already known to land, delivered in a way that is more likely to be shared.
Almost all of the most viral content on any platform contains humour. So "a proven idea, made funny" is close to a formula for a post with a genuine shot at travelling.
How to do it in practice
Find a post in your world that is performing well. Strip it back to the core idea and message, ignoring the exact wording. Then rewrite it in your own voice and add a couple of jokes, a relatable aside, or a meme that stops the scroll.
It takes minutes once you know how, and the result is a genuinely original post that carries a proven idea. You are not reinventing the wheel; you are putting a funnier tyre on it.
Meet Brian
Spotting a proven idea and turning it into your own funnier, original version is exactly the kind of thing Brian is built for. He is our AI-powered comedy marketing machine, made to help you add the humour that gives a good idea a real shot at going viral.
Take Brian for a spin and start improving on what already works.
Adam Hunt
Founder and Head of Growth at White Label Comedy. He spends his days convincing serious brands that funny is the most profitable thing they're not doing.
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