> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://onemanandhisblog.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# When viral marketing eats itself
- URL: https://onemanandhisblog.com/2012/11/when_viral_marketing_eats_itself/
- Published: 2012-11-22T09:52:50.000Z
- Updated: 2015-04-08T15:49:03.000Z
- Author: Adam Tinworth
- Tags: marketing, Social Media, social sharing, viral spread

Last night I tweeted this:

> This is horrible beyond words – force your readers to share your content before they can read it… [codecanyon.net/item/viral-loc…](http://t.co/s57tKcUS?ref=onemanandhisblog.com "http://codecanyon.net/item/viral-lock-like-google1-or-tweet-to-unlock/1486602?sso?WT.ac=search_item&WT.seg_1=search_item&WT.z_author=WESMASHEDIT")  
> — Adam Tinworth (@adders) [November 21, 2012](https://twitter.com/adders/status/271385189144485888?ref=onemanandhisblog.com)

I’m not going to link to the site in question directly from here – you can follow the link in the tweet, if you wish. But I do want to talk about what it represents.

For those who don’t want to follow the link, it’s a chunk of software for WordPress that forces people to share a link to your content before they can read it – a sharegate, if you like. That’s right – they have to recommend this content to their friends BEFORE they’ve actually read it. I find the level of disrespect built into that concept staggering. Let’s look at the reasons:

- No respect for the reputation of your reader. You’re asking them to put their reputation on the line for something they haven’t read.
- Marketing trumps content. You are blatently making it clear that the marketing is more important to you than the value of the content.
- Arrogance – you’re assuming that everything you create is worth sharing
- Say goodbye to authenticity or relationship. This is a straight transaction – their reputation for your content.
- Worse, perhaps, is that you are asking them to swap their friends attention for your content. They – in the short term – aren’t even the ones paying…

This was being actively [promoted by Guy Kawasaki on Google+](https://plus.google.com/112374836634096795698/posts/NvJSMDnbnZ5?ref=onemanandhisblog.com). He’s fallen a long, long way.