Herd Mentality

Hey, welcome back to The Strategy Archive.

Humans are memetic creatures.

If they see someone doing something for an extended period of time, then they will do the same thing too.

If you have ever seen why those cringy "Twitter is a free university" tweets went viral on X, this is the reason. Even entrepreneurs like Figure AI's Brett Adcock used such cringy tweets to get the engagement going.

People see what others are tweeting and then just follow them to the T.

That's why it is hard to get your 1st few clients, 1st few jobs, 1st few sales or 1st few testimonials but once you get the ball rolling and other people tweet about you, then everyone starts buying from you.

Some people fake it and get away with it. They provide fake references to get their 1st job because nobody wants to hire a newbie for a great salary no matter their skill level. Some get away with fake testimonials or get their friends and family to provide them with testimonials.

Because let's be honest, nobody has the time to check the validity of the testimonials they read. Think about the last time you bought a product. Did you check if the testimonial was valid? Of course not because humans are mostly trust-worthy.

This works in getting upvotes or likes on your posts as well. If 5 people like your tweet, 5 more people will like it. But if 0 people like it, then it won't get anymore likes either. This is true for upvotes as well.

This is social proof and bandwagon effect in action.

"Social proof is one type of conformity. When a person is in a situation where they are unsure of the correct way to behave, they will often look to others for clues concerning the correct behavior."

~ Social Proof, Wikipedia

"The bandwagon effect is a psychological phenomenon where people adopt certain behaviors, styles, or attitudes simply because others are doing so."

~ Bandwagon Effect, Wikipedia

This is why all big celebs hire PR companies to get the ball rolling on their posts to get the engagement going. Fake it till make it.

When you eventually become a big influencer, you can slow down or stop using such tactics but its a great way to get going.