Bill has been a busy man, appearing on Facebook feeds up and down the country, leading by example with his behaviour and etiquette. His dedicated Facebook page has 1.5 million fans and counting.
Now you may or may not want to “be like Bill” – his memes definitely split opinion. What cannot be argued though, is that there’s been plenty of social sharing – he’s been trending regularly over the past couple of weeks.
But what are the reasons for this? Why are people hitting that share button? What are the triggers? Here are some answers:
Bill shares popular views. Whether users had these views already, or just happened to agree with them once they had read them, they definitely struck a chord. And with a large number of users too.
Bill makes people laugh. Actual LOL. To some, he is a very funny guy (sorry, stickman). If humour isn’t a reason for sharing, what is?
Bill makes it easy to be passive aggressive. Communicating grievances through Bill, rather than directly to another user, is an attractive option for many.
Bill allows us to tell others how to act. Rather than de-friending a user or hiding their updates, we love to set social media rules.
Bill is the best content we have to share. On a slow news day, with nothing of interest to share with the world, Bill is one of our only options.
Bill allows us to annoy other users. The more people dislike Bill, the more motivation there is for his fans. Think Justin Bieber.
Bill is a way to fit into the crowd. Rather than being the odd one out, posting about Bill is a way to stay part of social circles and join in conversations.
Bill helps us to maintain our online persona. His etiquette tips, or the way they’re displayed, may fit perfectly into the type of posts that some users share.
If you have read this far and you don’t like Bill, I applaud you. Thank you. If you do like Bill, do you have different reasons to those above?
Hopefully they help to explain why this set of memes has proven so popular recently, certainly from a social sharing perspective.
Keep an eye out for other humorous trends throughout 2016 and ask yourself if any of the above points apply and contribute. We may not be waiting too long…
