On the 30th of October 1938 a radio broadcast based on a science fiction novel caused mass hysteria across New England…
Orson Welles’s adaptation of War of the Worlds.
The first part of the broadcast imitated news bulletins and announced that Martians had invaded New Jersey.
There was a disclaimer at the beginning of the program explaining that it was fictional, but many people tuned in late and missed the explanation.
So they panicked…
Some people fled their homes and many were terrified.
War of the Worlds (1898) was a novel by H.G. Wells set in 19th century England. Orson Welles kept the same plot but updated it and set it in Grover’s Mill, New Jersey.
It’s got me thinking though.
A lot of the fiction or even bullshit spread on social media is often taken so seriously as if it’s gospel truth…
Why is that?
Two things.
Availability Heuristic and Social Contagion / Herd Behaviour
We’ll start with the availability heuristic which imho should be bullshit but it just is what it is and it works.
People give more weight to information that’s immediate, emotionally charged, or easily recalled. If something feels close, the brain treats it as more real and important. That’s why dramatic headlines and trending stories spread.
It all comes down to framing your posts or content around current or even vivid moments.
Easiest way to do this is tie your message to what’s already in the audience’s mental forefront. Something trending, something emotionally charged, or something happening “right now.” That’s why you’ll see these politically charged posts or posts that troll big tech do so well.
But you have to use sensory or emotional triggers. Stories, specific concrete imagery, or emotionally loaded phrasing, instead of abstract concepts.
This will help to create the “I can picture this” effect and any time you can make someone picture something vividly. It gets nailed deep into their brain meats.
You also need to do the whole micro context game. Yeah people don’t have the attention spans anymore because of the endless doom scrolling.
So what you need to do is create short, snackable posts framed around “today,” “this morning,” “after your next coffee,” which makes the content mentally sticky and super easy to digest.
This works well cause when something feels present or urgent, the brain flags it as high priority information, while making it more likely to be read, liked, and remembered.
This might sound tiresome to do but once you got it going then you’ll be good to rock and roll. Or if you’re super extra lazy. Just pay someone to write it for you.
The last little piece to the ever change puzzle is the social contagion / herd behaviour…
People copy the behaviour and opinions of others, especially those perceived as similar, influential, or popular. (LOL Facebook LOL)
Subconsciously our brains like: “What are other people like me paying attention to?”
This is all based around things like community, but it needs to be visual.
“Over 40,000 creators are using this habit.” or “100+ people trying this today!”
Funny thing is. In the last year or so. If you’ve bought anything from a social media influencer, like a course or a incredibly shitty PDF file. You’ll probably have come across these plug ins that say something along the lines of “John from XYZ has just bough this”
…Or you might’ve seen visible engagement (comments, reactions, testimonials)
These cues tell readers they’re not alone here.
And don’t get me wrong. Social proof does work because hey. We’re social and so if it’s good for a specific group of people then by golly gosh it’s good for me okay?
But here’s where it gets deviously sneaky.
Create shared, repeatable behaviours…
Encourage a distinct micro action (“Reply with your favourite…” or “Screenshot this and…”). Small, easy to replicate actions spread faster than big asks and well we’re psychologically weird, so it just works.
I mean if you were to ask a massive favour and someone said no, then if you ask a smaller favour (The thing you really wanted) they’re more likely to say yes.
Lastly. You need to se rhythm and consistency. People trust what feels familiar and socially present.
Predictable daily/weekly emails or short daily updates create that “checking in with the tribe” routine.
Humans evolved to look to peers for safety and belonging. A piece of content that feels socially validated exploits that ancient impulse, but happily so, when used to build genuine community.
Now don’t get me wrong. A lot of this can be use for incredibly malicious bullshit and we see it all the time.
But again, from fiction to fuckery.
This all makes you thing, eh?
Now I’m off to watch Halloween for the 346450978th time.
Stephen Walker.
P.S. Reply and let me know if I’m full of shit, cause this type of thing always fascinates the hell out of me and the deeper I go into the human meat computer, the more I surprise myself with how little we all know of this as we keep ticking along.