What makes people share content?
People share content when the act of sharing does something for them socially or emotionally.
Sometimes the content is useful and they want to help someone. Sometimes it expresses an opinion they already hold more clearly than they could. Sometimes sharing makes them look informed, funny, generous, discerning or part of a group.
Sometimes it gives them a safe way to say something indirectly: “This is what I meant.”
That means shareable content is not only about quality. It often has a strong social function. A useful test is: what does someone communicate about themselves by sending this to another person?
Specificity helps. So does emotional recognition. “Five ways to communicate better” may be useful; “the sentence managers use when they want feedback without actually wanting honesty” gives people a reason to send it to a colleague.
Shares often happen when content becomes a tool for a relationship, not merely information.