Everyone seems to want to generate content that will go “viral” nowadays — to the point where a new site specializing in that kind of content, such as Upworthy or ViralNova, seems to come along every week. Even some traditional media outlets like the Washington Post have launched their own sites to try and ride this wave to the promised land, and they appear to be having some success (depending on how you define success).

That said, however, I would argue that these sites and services are focused on a short-term strategy at best — and one that is ultimately self-defeating. Why? Because they only serve to reinforce the flawed view that traffic is all that matters.

It’s also worth pointing out that generating — or at least finding and sharing — viral content isn’t exactly rocket science: as The Wire pointed out in a recent piece, a twenty-something entrepreneur…