The research blog

Strategy, backed by citations

No recycled guru advice. Every post translates peer-reviewed behavioral science and platform mechanics into tactics you can use this week.

๐Ÿ”ฅ
Behavioral Science

The real reason content goes viral (it's not the hook)

What an analysis of nearly 7,000 articles revealed about emotion, arousal, and sharing, and how to engineer it.

โš™๏ธ
Platform Mechanics

How TikTok & Instagram actually rank your content

The exact signals the feeds reward, watch-time, completion, shares, and how to win each one on purpose.

๐Ÿ“ˆ
Growth Systems

Why consistency beats virality (the science of showing up)

The behavioral loop that makes posting cadence compound, and how to make it sustainable.

๐ŸŽฌ
Craft

When a video effect earns its place

Everyone teaches you how to make the shot. Almost nobody tells you where it goes in the script, which is why most effects look bolted on.

๐Ÿ‘‹
Followers Are People

Why do people unfollow me after I post?

People drifted away when topics drifted apart and stayed when the account replied to them. What that means after a viral post.

๐Ÿ’ฌ
Followers Are People

How to get people to comment on your posts

People gave up money to talk about themselves, and hotels that answered reviews in public got more of them. What that means for your comment section.

๐Ÿ“จ
Followers Are People

Why people share on social media

People pass on what makes them look knowledgeable, and they share useful things most readily with one person.

๐ŸŽ™๏ธ
Creator Psychology

Why you hate the sound of your own voice

It has a name, a mechanism, and sixty years of research, including the study showing you secretly rate your own voice higher than strangers do.

Never miss a post

Get the research in your inbox

Followers Are People, a free six-day email course: one research-backed lesson a day. The free Playbook downloads when you sign up.