First Viral Facebook Post

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At what point does a post reach viral status? Is it 500,000 (half a million) views? One million? Two million? How about six million?

On September 6th, Stacy posted a simple picture on James’ Facebook page:

 

James sits in a wheelchair outdoors on a grassy area, wearing a red‑and‑black plaid shirt and looking upward. Green grass and softly blurred trees fill the background. Text over the image reads: “Instead of ‘don’t stare’," “Let’s start teaching,” “‘SAY HELLO’,” and “www.facebook.com/fansofjames.”

 

Simple, right? She had no idea of how powerful that post would be. Or how many people it would reach. In the first 24 hours, it had reached over 14,000 people:

 

A screenshot shows Facebook post insights for a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson. The thumbnail includes an image with the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” The insights panel shows the post reached 14.6K people with 2.1K engagements. Engagement details list 1,260 reactions, 122 comments, 195 shares, 90 photo views, and 391 other clicks. Under negative feedback, there is one “Hide Post.”
Post Insights September 7, 2019

 

Less than 12 hours later, that number had doubled. Note that Stacy mistyped the dates in the collage below. She put in 8/7/19 and 8/8/19 instead of 9/7/19 and 9/8/19.

 

Two Facebook Insights screenshots are shown side by side. The left screenshot is labeled “8/7/19 @ 9pm” and displays metrics for a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson: 14.6K people reached, 2.1K engagements, 1,260 reactions, 122 comments, 195 shares, 90 photo views, and 391 other clicks. The right screenshot is labeled “8/8/19 @ 7am” and shows the same post with increased numbers: 32.5K people reached, 3.8K engagements, 2,187 reactions, 233 comments, 421 shares, 215 photo views, and 746 other clicks. Both thumbnails include the image with the text “Instead of don’t stare SAY HELLO.”
Post Insights 9/7 at 9 pm and 9/8 at 7 am

 

 

Twelve hours after that, or 48 hours from when it was first posted, it really started taking off.

September 8th at 7 pm: 174,300 people reached:

A screenshot displays Facebook post insights for a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson. The thumbnail shows an image with the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” The insights panel reports 174.3K people reached and 17.9K engagements. Engagement details list 9,855 reactions, 1,031 comments, 2,369 shares, 1,151 photo views, and 3,479 other clicks. Under negative feedback, nine users selected “Hide Post.”
Post Insights 9/8

 

September 9th at 7 am: 343,600 people reached:

Two screenshots of social media post insights are shown side by side. The left screenshot, labeled “7pm 9/8,” shows a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson with 174.3K people reached and 17.9K engagements. Engagement details list 9,855 reactions, 1,031 comments, 2,369 shares, 1,151 photo views, and 3,479 other clicks, with nine hides under negative feedback. The right screenshot, labeled “7am 9/9,” shows updated metrics for the same post: 343.6K people reached and 34.5K engagements, including 19,187 reactions, 1,991 comments, 4,358 shares, 2,251 photo views, and 6,761 other clicks. Negative feedback includes 21 hides and seven hides of all posts.
Post Insights 9/8 at 7 pm and 9/9 at 7 am

 

September 9th at 7 pm: 556,900 people reached:

Two social media insights screenshots appear side by side against a background of colorful vertical stripes. Handwritten‑style labels read “7AM 9/9” on the left and “7PM 9/9” on the right. The left screenshot shows a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson with 343.6K people reached and 34.5K engagements, including 19,187 reactions, 1,991 comments, 4,358 shares, 2,251 photo views, and 6,761 other clicks. The right screenshot shows updated numbers for the same post: 556.9K people reached and 58.6K engagements, with 32,582 reactions, 3,864 comments, 7,982 shares, 3,191 photo views, and 11,394 other clicks.
Post Insights 9/9 at 7 am and 9/9 at 7 pm

 

September 10th at 8 am: 806,300 people reached:

A mobile screenshot displays social media post insights. At the top, the device shows 8:22 AM, 75% battery, and an AT&T connection. Below, the “Post Insights” header appears above a thumbnail of a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson featuring the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” The post shows 806.3K people reached and 86.1K engagements. Engagement details list 48,272 reactions, 5,876 comments, 10,054 shares, 4,897 photo views, one link click, and 17,062 other clicks. A section titled “Learn about updates to link clicks” appears above the partially visible “Negative Feedback” heading.
9/10 at 8 am

 

September 10th at 5 pm: 1 million people reached:

A social media analytics summary shows a post by Stacy Fulkerson titled “Photo only post,” with a small preview image containing the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO.” Large blue lettering across the graphic reads “ONE MILLION PEOPLE REACHED!” Below it, the metrics list 1M people reached and 108.8K engagements. Engagement details include 60,935 reactions, 7,620 comments, 12,578 shares, 6,003 photo views, one link click, and 21,630 other clicks. The background is decorated with colorful star shapes in pink, blue, green, yellow, and purple.
Post Insights 9/10: 1 million people reached!

 

September 11th at 3 pm: 1.5 million people reached:

A screenshot shows social media post insights for a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson. The thumbnail includes an image with the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” The insights display 1.5 million people reached and 164.1K engagements. Engagement details list 92,430 reactions, 11,352 comments, 18,539 shares, 8,903 photo views, one link click, and 33,051 other clicks. The layout is a standard analytics view with white background and simple interface elements.
Post Insights 9/11 at 3 pm: 1.5 million people reached

September 12th at 9 pm: 1.8 million people reached:

A mobile screenshot shows social media post insights under the heading “Post Insights.” At the top of the device screen, the time reads 8:55 PM with a 72% battery and AT&T service. The post shown is a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson, featuring a thumbnail with the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” A purple heart is drawn around the metric “1.8M People Reached.” Next to it, “198.7K Engagements” is displayed. Engagement details list 112,148 reactions, 13,837 comments, 21,134 shares, 10,782 photo views, three link clicks, and 40,944 other clicks.
Post Insights 9/12 at 9 pm: 1.8 million people reached

 

September 13th at 2 pm: 2 million people reached:

A social media analytics summary appears against a dark blue background with small star‑like patterns. At the top is a thumbnail of a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson, featuring the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” Below it, the metrics display “2M People Reached” and “226.1K Engagements.” Engagement details list 127,675 reactions, 15,567 comments, 24,119 shares, and 12,288 photo views. A gold banner at the bottom reads: “THANKS A MILLION FOR SHARING & SUPPORTING ME & MY MESSAGE.”
Post Insights 9/13: 2 million people reached!

 

September 15th at 2 pm: 2.5 million people reached:

A social media analytics summary appears with a thumbnail of a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson featuring the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” The metrics show 2.5M people reached and 295.5K engagements. Engagement details list 166,852 reactions, 20,072 comments, 31,066 shares, and 16,249 photo views. The bottom section has a gold glitter background with bold black text reading “THANKS A MILLION FOR SHARING & SUPPORTING ME & MY MESSAGE.”
Post Insights 9/15: 2.5 million people reached!

 

September 16th at 9 pm: 3 million people reached:

A social media analytics summary shows a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson, with a small thumbnail displaying the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” The metrics list 3M people reached and 346.1K engagements. Engagement details include 196,167 reactions, 23,260 comments, 35,460 shares, and 18,831 photo views. Large text at the bottom reads “THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.”
Post Insights 9/16: 3 million people reached!

 

September 20th at 5 pm: 4 million people reached:

A social media analytics summary shows a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson, with a thumbnail featuring two people and the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” The metrics list 4M people reached and 474.4K engagements. Engagement details include 268,153 reactions, 31,631 comments, 47,912 shares, and 26,209 photo views. Large text at the bottom reads “THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING.”
Post Insights 9/20: 4 million people reached!

 

September 23rd at 7 pm: 5 million people reached:

A social media analytics summary shows a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson, with a small thumbnail displaying the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” The background includes colorful triangular confetti and a purple circle with the word “Thanks.” The metrics list 5M people reached and 575.4K engagements. Engagement details include 325,656 reactions, 38,182 comments, 57,497 shares, 32,615 photo views, eight link clicks, and 121,435 other clicks.
Post Insights 9/20: 5 million people reached!

 

September 27th at 1 pm: 6.1 million people reached:

A social media analytics summary shows a photo‑only post by Stacy Fulkerson, with a small thumbnail displaying the text “Instead of ‘don’t stare’ SAY HELLO” and “Let’s start teaching.” The metrics list 6.1M people reached and 697.4K engagements. Engagement details include 395,315 reactions, 45,724 comments, 69,441 shares, and 39,794 photo views. The background is dark blue with scattered gold star‑like shapes, and the bottom of the graphic features the phrase “THANKS A MILLION.”
Post Insights 9/27: 6.1 million people reached!

 

Who knew that one little picture with a simple statement would have such a big impact. In three weeks, that post has reached over 6 million people…and it’s still going!

While most of the comments have been positive, there have been a few negative ones. Negative is not really the right word. Mean. Hurtful. Ignorant. Those are better words to describe some of the bad comments. I have chosen not to publish them here at this time, but I may do so in the future. The post is still spreading like wildfire so I’m sure there will be plenty more idiotic and stupid comments coming. Until then, we just wanted to say thanks to all of you that left positive comments, liked or loved it, and shared it. It’s been really amazing to see how many people it has touched.