I stumbled across this video Q4 2022 and fell in "love". I watched it to the end, and then a few times, which is something I rarely have time, nor TAKE the time for. It may have been the mountains in the background, symbolism that means something to me. It was about the math, and the results of said math.
I read a post from Jason Feifer, of Entrepreneur, about trust regarding social media views. I agree with him in general, but not in totality. Here's why:
Feifer said he didn't trust an individual due to disconnect between likes & comments. I'm paraphrasing. He is brilliant, in his position for a reason, so when you dig into the details, I'm sure there were other clues he saw & recognized, which contributed to his assessment that the person's Likes weren't real. He also mentioned their associations, which yes, is a great filter (they were claiming connection to a convicted felon).
I want to comment on a subset of semi-public figures, where there may be a disconnect between followers/likes v comments. I'm one of them, but I'm not the only one, as my favorite high profile creative geniuses, seem to be similar to this, too.
I initially wanted to grow a following from relationship writing, 2004-2009. I started to get traction, but my market was the wrong demographic. I was writing about the SCIENCE of RELATIONSHIPS + PREFERENCES. It was research. It was also a little bit dark comedy. It was for grad studies + a social commentary. My followers ended up being polyamorous Burning Man folk, where to each their own, but I'm out of alignment w/their relationship behaviors (I'm a straight serial monogamist, independent yet protective of people & relationships). I ended up deleting the blog, which I thought was valuable, after some mentally ill poly men who also used poly tech to stalk, were pissed I said NO to them. (The writing is always on the wall.) This was my first taste at a smaller but still significant Bay Area following.
My real success, came next, in 2010, when I invested in Celebrity Chef Cooking Classes to 12/31/12 when the company closed. We went out to 1M+ people & kept doing promotions of that size for 2yrs. I was also writing as part of HARO, earning 170+ media publications in 1yr 2011-2012. My followers got up to Influencer Level.
In 2012, a crime occurred, and I'd worked with the DA in SC in 1998, but this time it was different. I ended up choosing caution when it came to publicity, doing several things. I cleaned up my online followers, blocked many people, who might have associated with individuals who had records of convictions. I also kept writing, but no longer had a budget for a marketing team. Which means, I stopped interacting with any followers. No interaction, and people learn not to comment.
Other creatives I know, who are int'lly acclaimed, also have a following, but little interaction, because they're creative, not marketers, a lower budget, less bandwidth.
Algorithms can also get real likes. Tom Scott, he's cool.
