I uploaded twenty-five videos on Instagram Reels recently.
A clear pattern has emerged.
The less the video is about Atharv, the better.
The more it’s about them, the audience, the better it performs.
Videos should always be about them. Completely.
Even if the story, the video, the character is someone else.
Even if it’s a thirst trap.
Why would a man watch a thirst trap?
Because he thinks something very specific:
“This is for me.”
“She’s dancing for me.”
“I deserve this. I get to see this.”
They project themselves in via ambition, fear, empathy or whatever
Everyone in the world is wired like this.
Always asking, “How do I make this about me?”
If you make cool or desirable things about them (their ‘me’, their ego)
They will lick whole town’s snot just to engage with you.
Just to hear your words again.
Just to feel the way you make them feel.
I’ve made four rules of thumb for this:
- Pronouns are magnets: use we, you, us in your sentences.
- Evoke sharedness: use words like know, remember, ever think, ever wish, ever feel.
- Assign action or identity to them: state what they do or what they are.
- Drag them into the picture: anything about you must become about them.
When you talk only about yourself, they aren’t captured.
We are trying to capture them.
We are trying to pull them out of their inert state.
With words, we convert their attention into me-thinking.
They are thinking about ‘me’.
They are feeling, experiencing ‘me’.
This is about ‘me’
You make claims about them directly.
Either confirmation bias confirms your claim,
Or they fight it mentally.
Either way, you’ve entered their head.
You hit the nerve that matters.