Anthony GG

Parasocial leveraging

Leveraging the one-sided emotional bond you form with creators you watch regularly. Because you feel like you "know" them, their opinions carry the weight of a friend's advice rather than a stranger's. Creators can monetize this by blurring genuine sharing with paid promotion.

Horton & Wohl's parasocial interaction theory (1956); Reinikainen et al. (2020)

Appeal to authority

Citing an expert or institution to support a claim, substituting their credibility for evidence you can evaluate yourself. Legitimate when the authority is relevant; manipulative when they aren't qualified or when the citation is vague.

Argumentum ad verecundiam (Locke, 1690); Cialdini's Authority principle (1984)

Performed authenticity

The deliberate construction of "realness" — confessional tone, casual filming, strategic vulnerability — designed to lower your guard. When someone appears unpolished and honest, you evaluate their claims less critically. The spontaneity is rehearsed.

Goffman's dramaturgy (1959); Audrezet et al. (2020) on performed authenticity

Social pressure

Threatening exclusion or disapproval if you don't conform. Unlike social proof ("everyone is doing it"), social pressure adds a consequence: "and if you don't, you'll be left out." It exploits the deep human need for belonging.

Asch conformity (1951); normative social influence (Deutsch & Gerard, 1955)

Financial Trivialization

This technique was detected by AI but doesn't yet map to our curated glossary. We're tracking its usage patterns.