Some Things that Work

Anthropologist Chris Kavanagh (@C_Kavanagh), answering Sabine Hossenfelder (August 15th 2025) goes through "some things that work on YouTube" that are to some extent relevant to the pseudoarchaeology issue:

1. Present yourself as a renegade truthteller standing up to a corrupt establishment.

2. Explain that mainstream sources are lying to you, but your channel will provide the hard truths.

3. Imply nefarious forces are trying to censor you.

4. Flatter your audience that by following your channel, they are displaying nuance and independent thinking.

5. Present all criticism as bad faith- ideally, also frame as self-serving efforts to protect funding/authority.

6. Offer 'heterodox' takes that pander to your audience.

7. Make videos about culture war topics and if possible cite figures like Thiel, Musk, and Eric Weinstein.

8. Make some soft jabs at targets your audience likes to demonstrate your independence/lack of bias, but reserve your strongest venom for targets they dislike or disapprove of.

9. Cultivate desired parasocial attention by liking all flattering comments and ignoring/blocking anyone expressing critical opinions.

10. Engage in cross-promotional activities with figures who will endorse your renegade status and provide access to sympathetic audiences.