Is the Party Over Now that the FCC Passed Net Neutrality?

As you probably heard by now, the Federal Communications Commission recently approved new rules based on the principles of “net neutrality” that essentially finally put some sort of regulations over Internet usage. Some are calling it the “Equal Opportunity Act” for Internet speeds and access to websites.

But is this ultimately good or bad for the typical Internet user?

First of All, What Is Net Neutrality?

People banter the term “net neutrality” around like they understand what it means, but what the heck is it, really?

Net neutrality is the concept that your Internet provider should be a neutral gateway to everything that’s online. It shouldn’t act as a gatekeeper that decides to load some sites slower than others or try to extract fees for faster service.

Another way of looking at it is that net neutrality is a concept in which Internet service providers (ISPs) can’t discriminate when it comes to Internet traffic.

On February 26, the FCC voted 3 to 2 to adopt net neutrality rules to, as it declared in its announcement of the vote “protect the open Internet”.

Why Do We Need Net Neutrality?

So why should Internet users be concerned with net neutrality of the Internet? There’s plenty of great reasons.

First, without net neutrality, ISPs could, in theory, demand more money from companies like Hulu or Amazon to speed up traffic to their sites. Conversely, they could slow down traffic from sites that aren’t willing to pony up the extra cash.

Is this a big deal? Yes , it is. In fact, it’s a very big deal.

For example, during peak periods in the US about 30% of Internet traffic comes from a single service: Netflix. So let’s say your Internet provider is AT&T. They might tell Netflix, “We want you to pay us double what you pay now or else we are going to slow down your streaming speeds so that people watching ‘House of Cards’ will ditch it because it keeps dropping in the middle of President Frank Underwood’s best scenes.”

Or AT&T could cut a deal with Amazon making them their prime video service and speeding up their delivery to their customers at the expense of slowing down Hulu or Netflix.

At the FCC did was to get rid of all those scenarios and create a more level playing field for everybody.

So What Did the FCC Do, Again?

Technically, what the FCC did was vote to reclassify broadband access as a “telecommunications service under Title II”.

In English, what that means is that the FCC made broadband a utility, which in turn gives the FCC a lot more regulatory power over Internet providers.

This all began back in 2010, when the FCC actually passed rules that made the Internet neutral. But in January 2014, Verizon filed a lawsuit claiming that the federal agency didn’t have the authority to make such a declaration. The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit agreed with Verizon, but added that the FCC could reclassify broadband as a telecommunications service. That way it would have the authority.

FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler did just that. And when Republicans in Congress recently dropped their opposition to the new rules – because the Democrats wouldn’t support it and they didn’t want to be the only ones left twisting in the wind – the stage was set for the FCC’s historic vote.

What Does This Mean for Me?

The FCC’s vote will ban three basic things:

1. Blocking – Broadband providers can’t block access to legal content, apps, services or non-harmful devices.

2. Throttling – Broadband providers can’s impair or degrade lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, apps, services or non-harmful devices.

3. Prioritization – Broadband providers can’t favor some lawful traffic over other lawful traffic in exchange for consideration. The rule also bans ISPs from prioritizing content and services of their affiliates.

This is a big, bold move by the FCC and the consequences for Internet users probably will be felt for years to come.

The Art of Blogging for Viral Shares through Emotional Connections

BuzzSumo recently released a report on the top 10,000 most-shared and viral articles on the Internet. While some of the results were obvious (e.g. having a picture increases your virality), some results are worth taking note of. For instance, did you know that long content with more in-depth research gets more social and email shares than shorter articles? Or that there are certain emotions that you should aim to tap into while creating content to up the content’s viral factor?

It’s true. So aside from the obvious take away about writing some more long-form content, what can you do with your blogs and content to tap into the right emotions to trigger shares?

 

Create Awe

The largest number of viral content shares out there were lumped into the emotional category of awe, 25%. That means that 1 in 4 of the top 10,000 most-shared blogs and articles out there were able to awe their audience. Whether this was with amazing facts, unique photos or breaking news isn’t really the point here, the point is that you need to shock and amaze your audience with your content if you really want it to go viral.

A great way to do this is to present visually stunning graphics with mind-blowing facts and data connected to a personal story that takes the reader’s breath away. You want them to be so struck with awe that their immediate reaction after reading the content is, “I have to share this with so and so.” Of course, not every blog you write can be awe-inspiring; sometimes the info you have to share just isn’t that exciting. But try to approach your content creation from this point of view and if you can figure out an angle, go with it. If not, try being humorous.

 

Evoke Laughter

Humor and laughter came in with 17% of the most-viral content out there, meaning that if you can take your reader away from the mundane life he or she is leading or get their mind off of the mindless drivel you are talking about, do it. Laughter is a great way to get information and data out there, not just for viral purposes, but for creating an impression with the customer as well.

Of course, not everyone can be Adam Sandler and not every situation is appropriate for comedy, but throwing a few funny analogies out there isn’t that difficult. Just make sure they are appropriate and not cliché (nobody wants to hear a knock-knock joke unless it’s clever!). If you want to be subtle about it, you can even just have funny subtitles, like maybe instead of writing “Evoke Laughter” here, we could have written “eVoke Laughter with Funny eMails.”

 

Be Amusing

While laughter and amusement are closely associated, it is noteworthy that BuzzSumo separated the two emotions, with “amusement” claiming stake to 15% of the most-shared content out there. While humor and laughter can be amusing, this isn’t the only way to capture this viral emotion. Quizzes are amusing, in fact, 7 out of every 10 of the most-viral content out there is a quiz. Find different ways to amuse (and involve) your audience through your content and you’ll see a ton of success.

 

Stay Away from Sadness and Anger

Unless you have a strong business model built on sadness and anger, try to stay away from evoking these emotions. For instance, tapping into sadness to get donations to kids in Africa or abused pets will work for virality, as will getting people so angry about ISIS that they share videos, but this generally doesn’t go over well in the internet marketing world.