When Keith suggests that:
- he is reading a book
- it is good enough that he’s comfortable tweeting about it (an endorsement; a micro-staking of his reputation)
Patrick views Keith’s tweet as an implicit recommendation.
Patrick respects Keith. Additionally, in the past, Keith has recommended some books that Patrick found to be valuable.
So their tastes align. Keith has a good track record of high-quality recommendations. As compared to a recommendation from a complete stranger, Patrick’s perceived likelihood of achieving the desired outcome is high enough that Patrick seriously considers accepting this implicit offer of value.
If Keith were to reply with ‘Yes, this was one of the best things I read this week, and I tweeted about it to boost the signal.’, the perceived likelihood of achieving the desired outcome would be through the roof.
If this were a 10-minute blog post instead of a book, would Patrick have even felt the need to clarify? Would the offer of value have been so high that Patrick would’ve just dove right in to find out for himself?
What if Patrick were just an aspiring VC? Would the dream outcome (i.e. perceived upside) of accepting a content recommendation from Keith be even greater?
What if we could do this at scale?