The framework around audience pattern recognition really clarifies something I've noticed but couldn't articulate well. When creators take a misaligned deal, it's not jsut that one piece of content that suffers, it's like training an algorithm in reverse. I had a similar realization last year watching a creator I followed endorse something that felt completely off-brand, every recommendation after that carried extra skepticism. The "would I recommend this unpaid" filter is deceptively simple but cuts through all the rationalization.