Human Vulnerabilities:
Greed: The unlimited desire for wealth, profit, and benefits, making one easily attracted to temptations like “get rich quick,” “insider information,” and “low risk, high return.” Influencers utilize this psychology by offering giveaways, benefits, and “secret” investment tips.
Sloth: The unwillingness to put in effort, craving easy success, happiness, knowledge, etc. The content provided by influencers—such as “learn in one click,” “easy weight loss,” and “passive income techniques”—directly exploits this tendency.
Hypocrisy: Saying one thing but meaning another; concealing true thoughts to maintain an image or benefit. Influencers may package their persona or engage in false advertising, and some audiences will selectively believe what they wish to believe.
Need for Face/Prestige: Valuing one’s image in the eyes of others, fearing embarrassment, and craving respect and envy. Influencers create an “elite” or “high-class” image, or satisfy vanity by using content like “check-ins” or “showing off.”
Competitiveness: The desire to surpass others and gain a sense of superiority, fearing being surpassed. Influencers may create conflict or spark topics, triggering “defense” behavior among fans.
Schadenfreude/Joy in Others’ Misfortune: The secret pleasure derived from the misfortune of others. The reason influencer content featuring “public downfall” (scandals), negative news, or controversies gains traffic is partly due to catering to this dark psychology.
Lust: A strong desire for sensory stimulation, especially sexual. Some influencers attract attention through suggestive content or vulgarity.
Pride/Arrogance: Having an inflated sense of self-worth, being resistant to different opinions, and being easily charmed by flattery. Influencers may cultivate an “superior being” posture, and some audiences are happy to worship this “master.”
Envy: Feeling dissatisfaction or pain because others possess what one desires. The superior lifestyle displayed by influencers may trigger envy in some, but it can also transform into attention.
Anger/Hatred: Intense negative emotions that are easily incited and exploited. Influencers may attract traffic by creating conflict or attacking specific groups.
Fear: Worry about danger, the unknown, or loss. Influencers create anxiety and sensationalize crises, then offer a “solution” (which is often a product or service).
Fear of the Unknown/Superstition: People feel uneasy about phenomena they cannot explain or about the future, making them prone to believing superstitions or seeking psychological comfort. Some influencers cater to this by using content related to horoscopes, tarot cards, or Feng Shui.
Fear of Death: Although rarely mentioned directly, the fear of aging, illness, and death drives people to focus on health and longevity secrets. Influencers may provide related products or information.
Need for Belonging: The desire to be a part of a group and gain recognition and support. Influencers build fan communities, emphasizing shared values and goals, thereby increasing fan loyalty.
Excessive Sympathy/Savior Complex: Over-sympathizing with the weak or victims, making one easily moved by sentimental stories or pleas for help. Influencers may use this for marketing or guidance.
Hyper-Conformity: Not just following the crowd, but sacrificing one’s independent thought and judgment to fit in. The “trends” or “hot spots” created by influencers easily lead some people to blindly follow.
Cognitive Miserliness: The tendency to use simple thinking methods and avoid complex thought. The information disseminated by influencers is often simplified and labeled, catering to this psychology.
Reinforcement of Confirmation Bias: People tend to accept and believe information that aligns with their existing beliefs. Influencers cater to this by providing content that matches the fans’ existing knowledge, solidifying their biases.
Desire for Simple Answers: When facing complex problems, people tend to seek simple, direct answers, even if those answers are not comprehensive or accurate. Influencer content like “solve it in one move” or “learn in three steps” exploits this.
Need for Certainty: People dislike uncertainty and hope that things are predictable and controllable. Influencers may provide “predictions” or “analyses” that seem to bring certainty.
Novelty Seeking: People are easily bored with repetitive content and crave new, stimulating, and unusual things. Influencers must constantly create new content and topics to maintain appeal.
Desire for Easy Pleasure: People tend to seek simple, direct pleasures, such as entertainment or sensory stimulation. Influencer content like funny videos and lighthearted skits satisfies this need.
Escapism: The desire to temporarily escape the pressures and troubles of reality. The entertainment content and fictional stories provided by influencers can satisfy this need.
Need for Control: The desire to have a certain degree of control over one’s life and environment. In the information-overloaded digital world, choosing which influencers to follow and which comments to post is also a way of expressing control.
Preference for Stories and Narratives: People are more likely to accept and remember information presented in a story format. Influencers attract audiences by sharing personal experiences or fabricating stories.
Desire to be Understood and Valued: Everyone hopes their thoughts, feelings, and experiences are understood and recognized by others. Influencers cater to this need by sharing personal stories, expressing views similar to those of their fans, and even seemingly “listening” to fan comments, making fans feel “seen.”
Tendency towards Group Polarization: When people gather with those who share similar views, their views tend to become more extreme. Influencers create an “echo chamber,” reinforcing shared fan cognition and inciting conflict, thereby strengthening fan loyalty.
Desire for Participation and Control: Even small actions, such as liking, commenting, or voting, can give people a sense of participation and a degree of control. Influencers utilize polls, comment section interactions, and challenges to make fans feel like they are part of the content creation process.
Admiration for “Success” and “Elites”: People are easily attracted to those who display success or elite status and crave learning their “secrets.” Influencers deliberately cultivate a glamorous image and share “success experiences,” even if those experiences are not real or universal.
Obsession with “Insider Information”: People believe that possessing information others don’t know brings an advantage. Influencers create the illusion of “exclusive leaks” or “insider information,” making fans feel they possess some kind of privilege.
Cognitive Inertia from Information Echo Chambers: Long-term existence in an information echo chamber causes people to increasingly reject information contrary to their views, becoming more stubborn. Influencers exacerbate the echo chamber effect through precise pushing, making fans more likely to accept the content they are fed.
Blind Faith in Authority: Even if the influencer is not a professional, once they gain a certain level of attention in a field, they are easily viewed as an “authority.” Fans are more likely to believe what they say, even if the statements lack scientific basis.
Moral Superiority: People like to feel they are standing on a moral high ground; criticizing or blaming others brings a sense of superiority. Influencers attract traffic by creating “moral role models” or attacking “morally corrupt” behavior, allowing fans to resonate with them.
Desire for “Rebellion” and “Individuality” (Even Performative): Especially among younger demographics, striving to be different is a common psychological need. Influencers may attract audiences who crave individuality by adopting “anti-traditional” or “revealing the truth” stances, even if this “rebellion” is carefully packaged.
Need for Companionship and Emotional Comfort: In a society where loneliness is increasing, the seemingly friendly interactions and positive image of influencers can provide emotional comfort and companionship to some.
Overzealous Pursuit of “Sincerity” and “Authenticity” (Sometimes Deceived by Feigned Sincerity): People crave seeing genuine humanity, but they are also easily deceived by carefully designed “sincerity.” Influencers create an “authentic” image by showcasing “flaws” or “mistakes.”
Desire to be Heard and Have a Voice: For those at the bottom of society, effective channels for expression are often lacking. The influencer platform provides a seemingly accessible platform to express one’s views and gain attention. They may participate in the influencer’s “power game” through comments and likes, as if they themselves possess a certain influence.
Seeing Influencers as “Spokespersons” or “Saviors”: Some ordinary people may view influencers as “spokespersons” who can represent their interests or even hope that the influencer can change their circumstances, generating a sense of illusory power.
Gaining a Sense of Collective Power Through “Taking Sides” and “Supporting”: Ordinary people may feel powerless in real life, but online, by supporting a certain influencer and participating in the fan group’s “battle,” they gain a sense of collective power and belonging.
Greed: This can be analyzed in more detail across different forms of greed, such as the desire for material wealth, the craving for the halo of “success,” or even the desire for information possession.
Need for Face/Prestige: This can emphasize how influencers utilize the “hierarchy of contempt” effect, allowing some fans to gain a sense of superiority by following them.
Competitiveness: This is not only reflected in fan “defense” but also in maintaining and competing for the influencer’s own “status.”
Fear: This can be analyzed more specifically regarding the types of anxiety created by influencers, such as appearance anxiety, body anxiety, class anxiety, and knowledge anxiety.
Hyper-Conformity: This can emphasize how influencers utilize the “herd mentality” and the “bandwagon fallacy” to guide fan behavior.
Reinforcement of Confirmation Bias: This can analyze how influencers solidify fans’ inherent beliefs by selectively presenting information and blocking dissenting opinions.
Summary:
These human vulnerabilities are complex and interconnected, deeply rooted in our genes and culture. Successful influencers are often adept at keenly capturing these weaknesses and skillfully utilizing them to attract traffic, build influence, and even achieve commercial monetization. When we conduct this thought experiment, it is not to criticize humanity, but to gain a deeper understanding of the operating logic of the online ecosystem and to remind ourselves to remain vigilant, avoiding manipulation by these vulnerabilities. As you said, this is like Einstein’s elevator thought experiment—aimed at exploring deep-seated laws, rather than encouraging immoral behavior.