Mechanism / 01
Curiosity gap
Make a specific missing answer worth finding, then deliver it. Withholding more information is not automatically better.
01 / Understand
The mechanism atlas.
What makes something hard to ignore? Start with a mechanism. Keep its limits in view.
These are research questions, not universal growth laws. Each entry connects an example to its evidence, a countermeasure and an experiment you can question. Read the methodology
6 mechanisms / Research index
Mechanism / 02
Social proof
Other people's choices can become information about what to choose. Popularity is not proof of quality or fit.
Mechanism / 03
Scarcity
Limited availability can change how an option is evaluated. Explain real constraints; never manufacture the shortage.
Mechanism / 04
Negative framing
A problem-first headline can attract attention to a real downside. More clicks do not make fear a better service.
Mechanism / 05
Arousal
Activation is a research question, not a sharing switch. Replication and null findings make the simple 'more intense means more viral' story unsafe.
Mechanism / 06
Moral-emotional diffusion
Moral-emotional language and sharing were associated in political-network research. Understand the pattern without turning it into an outrage or targeting recipe.
A surface match means there is a plausible experiment to design, not evidence that the mechanism has been proven to work on that platform. Evidence filters match individual claims inside an entry.