Last week I tuned into a webinar featuring social media guru Dan Zarrella on the topic “The Science of Social Media.” The author of Hierarchy of Contagiousness, Zarrella's talk was super interesting and relevant to many of our clients.

By now, most of us know some key social media maxims: “Engage your followers,” “Listen to feedback,” “Have personality,” “Make a name for your brand,” etc. But Zarrella challenges some social media myths and uses actual data suggest new ideas for Social success.

Myth #1 Ideas spread because they are good.

Two words: Rebecca Black. Black's song Friday went viral not because it was good, but because it was bad (though admittedly catchy!).

Myth #2 Friday/Saturday/Sunday are bad days to publish content.

Study results indicate that people slow down and are able to read and digest more over the weekend.

Myth #3 You must lead to conversation to gain followers.

Data shows that those with the most followers on Twitter aren't always conversational, but focus on sharing links and providing content. Engaging in conversation to help you build your reach is not necessarily the most important thing.