Patterns
Loss aversion: what 224 posts that lean on it have in common
224 posts in the library lean on loss aversion, reaching a median of 534 likes. Eight that use it, what it travels with, and how to use it without faking it.
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Loss aversion, as the analysis uses the term: the post frames the stakes as something the reader stands to lose rather than gain. 224 posts in the library lean on it, and they reach a median of 534 likes against the library's 632.
Eight that use it
UPDATE—Just learned that Eli Lilly executives are raging and furious at losing $20 billion in market cap from this stunt with @TwitterBlue. It’s too bad they don’t see their own damn insulin price gouging as the actual problem. Karma @LillyPad, karma.
Uses concrete numbers instead of vague claims, which makes it credible and quotable.
Make no mistake, this is a scare tactic. I went on the podcast and as hard as the lobby groups and media tried, they couldn’t twist anything I said. So they have resorted to lobbying for Louis’ sponsorship to be pulled in an attempt to scare others out of giving me a platform.
Opens with a short, self-contained line that is easy to take in at a glance.
So just to clarify: I can go unvaccinated against polio, tetanus, hepatitis, measles and mumps, but if I refuse this one mRNA shot for a virus with a 0.2% IFR that doesn’t stop transmission and requires boosters every few months, I can’t go to public spaces and may lose my job?
Contradicts something the audience already believes, which stops the scroll.
I've tweeted this story before, but feel like it's relevant again:
Opens with a short, self-contained line that is easy to take in at a glance.
Over the past few weeks, we removed hundreds of channels sharing leaked exam materials and related scams in India.
Admits a failure or a cost, which buys trust that a polished post cannot.
Enough is enough. It’s time for vitamin D, which is low risk, to be strongly considered as a crucial factor in COVID-19.
Frames the idea around what the reader stands to lose, which is more motivating than gain.
Yes, the EU should sanction Tucker Carlson, because he is no journalist but a leading Kremlin propagandist. The EU has rightly sanctioned a score of leading Kremlin propagandists & many Europeans for various reasons. It would be a mistake not to sanction Tucker Carlson.
Admits a failure or a cost, which buys trust that a polished post cannot.
The NYT should release the names of every editor who read this and did not correct it. They have multiple layers of editors, especially for the print publication.
Opens with a short, self-contained line that is easy to take in at a glance.
What it travels with
Loss aversion rarely works alone. In these posts it most often appears beside vulnerability (42 of 224) and specificity (34). The opening that carries it most often is an observation — 178 of the 224.
How to use it without faking it
The mechanism is a description of why something worked, not an instruction to manufacture the effect. The post frames the stakes as something the reader stands to lose rather than gain — so the question to ask of a draft is whether that is actually true of it, not whether it sounds like it is. The posts above pass that test; the library's rejected ones mostly did not.
From the analysis of the strongest example: Preserve the Hook → Landing structure and the plain observation opening. Replace the subject matter entirely with the writer’s own product, story and numbers.