What Can Newspaper Coverage of the Spanish Flu Teach Us About Going Viral (Online)?

I have a morbid fascination with viruses.

You could say I'm a collector of sorts.

Like you know how some people obsessively collect teacups or comic books or wine? 

Well, my tastes are a little unorthodox. 

I collect infectious diseases. Well, not exactly. Let me explain.

There’s Tik Tok Viral. And Then There’s Viral

I spend more time than I probably should admit reading about viruses, how they spread and impact daily life and what we're doing to stop them. And it fascinates me in an I-should-look-away-but-can't kinda way. Not unlike people who enjoy squeezing blackheads. I know you're out there.

And while my hobby might not make for polite dinner conversation, I like to think it's interesting. Through my collecting, I've learned that Ebola can live in a survivor's semen for more than two years. Which some scientists believe is what sparked the latest outbreak in DRC. Isn’t that incredible?

I can also tell you that to vaccinate its colonies against smallpox, the Spanish government gave a group of Spanish orphans cowpox and then set sail for the Americas. The idea was that once someone had cowpox, they were essentially immune to smallpox. And so once the boat docked, doctors could lance the cowpox sores that covered these orphans and start vaccinating people. Fascinating and effective.

Then there's the forgotten pandemic, the Spanish Flu, which only got a footnote in the history books because it was largely overshadowed by WWI. Until now, that is. With the current pandemic in full swing, the Spanish Flu is making headlines. It's the cool kid (evil stepmother?!) again. You could even argue for the first time.

News Coverage in the Time of The (Forgotten) Pandemic

In my digging and reading and collecting, what struck me most about the Spanish Flu (besides the fact that it never really went away) was how authorities in the U.S. got the general public to toe the line and wear masks. How do you communicate the enormity of such a pandemic effectively? How do you really grab people's attention and get them to act while there’s a war raging on? 

In some senses, there's an uncanny similarity between news coverage of the Spanish Flu and what we see during the current pandemic. Sentiments like: "Wear a Mask and Save a Life" and "Use Your Handkerchief and do Your Bit to Protect Me". And yet, a deeper look paints a different picture.

Much of the language used during the Spanish Flu has a sense of urgency. There's nothing playful or fluffy about the copy or the type. It's fear-mongering at its best. During the time, it wasn't uncommon to see signs that said: things like: "Spit Spreads Death" or "Wear a Mask or Go to Jail ''. There were even cartoons that said things like "Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases: As Dangerous As Poison Gas Shells". Then there were the newspaper PSAs which alarmingly urged people: "Do not take any person's breath." 

Interesting, it turns out mask-shaming was also a thing during the Spanish Flu pandemic with people being warned that: “The man or woman or child who will not wear a mask now is a dangerous slacker”. Worth noting that during WWI, the term ‘slacker’ was a derogatory way of referring to someone who avoided military service and wasn’t contributing to the war effort. And it goes without saying that no one wanted to be labelled a slacker. Even if it was just a none-mask wearing kind.

The sheer panic and sense of overwhelm people were feeling during this time is palpable from the newspaper coverage of the pandemic. And when I look at the copy and language usage, I feel like I’m waiting for some boogie man to jump out at me when I least expect it and hit me over the head. Dramatic perhaps, but I get it. 

The Spanish Flu was a lot more terrifying than what we’re living through for the simple reason that they had less information. It was like being surrounded by some invisible enemy you know nothing about. Consider this: It took scientists a decade to genetically sequence the Spanish Flu. How long did it take to sequence COVID-19? Well, by January 12 2020, Chinese scientists had already shared the genetic sequence of this virus. And perhaps this may explain what newspaper coverage of the Spanish Flu was so desperately trying to communicate.

If It Bleeds, It Goes Viral?

As someone who writes A LOT of copy and more social media posts than I can count, the language used to manage the spread of the Spanish Flu got my attention. But not in an Ogilvy kind of way. It made me wonder: Could we learn anything from this style of communication about standing out online? And could this approach to copy teach us anything about going viral (online)?

Because like it or not, the copy and messaging from this time stands out. It certainly made me pause. And it made me want to open a window and wear a mask even though right now I’m home alone with no one but a snoring 7-year-old dog to keep me company. But more than anything, it filled me with a mixture of shock and disbelief so much so that all I wanted to do was tell someone about it. I wanted to share. Kind of like people do with these Zoom court videos. And anything else that goes viral. I think the newspaper coverage of the Spanish Flu was powerful, and we could all learn something from it.

Here are 10 things coverage of the Spanish Flu can teach us about social media posts:

1. More than short, sweet and to the point you want to be direct
2. Get to the point and do so quickly
3. Use active language
4. Fear-mongering is never sexy. But evoking emotion is powerful
5. Understand the pain points of the people you’re talking to
6. Don’t shy away from descriptive language
7. Use language that touches your audience
8. Be confident and unshakable
9. Have something to communicate
10. Give people a reason to read and care

Bottom line: We all stand to learn from the coverage of the Spanish Flu. And while this might not teach us the A-Z of going viral (can anything really?!), it shines a light on what it takes to stand out online. It teaches us the importance of writing copy that’s so strong it stops people in their tracks.

The coverage of the Spanish Flu is a good example of what kind of copy gets people to really listen. And it's this copy that will make your social media posts stand out. It may even help you go viral. And if not, at the very least your social media posts will have some impact no matter how small.

All images are from History.com: 'Mask Slackers' and 'Deadly' Spit: The 1918 Flu Campaigns to Shame People Into Following New Rules