From American Internet Celebrity to God Among Men

140: Chapter 140: Ripples and Closed-Loop Traffic GenerationAs the last light dimmed on the first episode of ”phantom singer,” thunderous applause erupted in the recording studio, but that was just the overture.

The real battle would begin in full force a week later during the Sunday primetime slot, when the show premiered simultaneously on partner satellite TV and streaming platforms.

Alex and his core team didn’t stay glued to the television; they were stationed in the ”Echo Vision” war room.

It felt like a mission control center, with dozens of screens flashing real-time data streams from different dimensions: satellite TV ratings curves, real-time online viewership and bullet chat heatmaps from partner streaming platforms, social media trending topic rankings, keyword cloud shifts... and, intentionally enlarged and pinned to the top, were two screens—real-time access and interaction data for the ”Flashpoint” app, and traffic monitoring for the ”Voice of Truth” platform’s dedicated topics.

”Satellite TV ratings just broke 1.8%! And it’s still rising!” the colleague in charge of monitoring traditional channels exclaimed excitedly.

”Peak online viewership on the partner streaming platform has crossed 8 million! The bullet chat is completely covering the screen!”

”We have five spots in the top twenty trending topics across the entire internet! ’#Spirit of the Wasteland is amazing#’ has already surged to number one!”

Data poured in like a tide, with every metric far exceeding the preset baseline, demonstrating the show’s astonishing initial explosive power.

But this was only the first move on Alex’s chessboard.

His calm gaze was fixed more on the two screens belonging to his own platforms.

”After the satellite TV end credits displayed the prompt ’For more exclusive behind-the-scenes and interactions, please head to the Flashpoint app’,” the ”Flashpoint” data monitor reported rapidly, ”the new user registration curve for ’Flashpoint’ has shown a steep spike, with new additions per second over a hundred times higher than usual! Server pressure is being warned, but backup nodes have automatically taken over, and operations are running smoothly.”

”The short video ’First Episode Unreleased Footage Collection: 30 Seconds Behind the Mask’ posted by the official ’phantom singer’ channel on ’Flashpoint’ is seeing exponential growth in views, with likes, comments, and shares all breaking the channel’s historical records!”

”Meanwhile, traffic to the ’Voice of Truth’ platform’s in-depth analysis page for ’phantom singer’ has surged, with the average user dwell time exceeding 11 minutes, far above the average!”

Alex nodded slightly.

This was the core embodiment of the ”broadcast traffic closed-loop” he had designed:

1. TV/Mainstream Platform Premiere: Use top-tier channels and time slots to ignite maximum initial attention and create social conversation.

2. End-Credits Traffic Diversion: When the traditional broadcast ends, clearly prompt the audience that richer, more immediate, and more interactive content is available on ”Flashpoint” and ”Voice of Truth.”

3. Exclusive Content Retention: On his own platforms, immediately release ”exclusive ammunition” that couldn’t fit into the main episode—fragments of contestants’ nervous backstage interviews, interesting snippets of judges arguing in private, NG takes of a shocking high note practiced fifty times, or even processed, indistinct whispers from under the ”Spirit of the Wasteland” mask... These ”Easter egg” style short video contents greatly satisfied the audience’s lingering curiosity and voyeuristic desires after watching the main episode, successfully intercepting and settling the surging traffic into his own ecosystem pool.

4. In-depth Content Conversion: On ”Voice of Truth,” provide deeper, more professional content such as music arrangement analysis, popular science on contestants’ vocal characteristics, and guessing logic deduction, to attract and retain hardcore fans and industry observers, enhancing the platform’s professional tone.

At this moment, the data proved that this closed loop was operating efficiently.

Public attention was shifting from one-time viewing to sustained visiting and interaction habits on his platforms.

”Sentiment monitoring shows that discussions about ’Spirit of the Wasteland’ account for over 40%,” Marcus said, looking at another screen.

”The theories about its identity are bizarre, ranging from retired folk music masters and crossover theater actors to AI-synthesized voices... But there is no solid evidence for any of them. The few misleading ’clues’ we planted are also starting to be ’discovered’ by enthusiastic netizens, and the discussion is very heated.”

This was exactly the effect they wanted: using absolute strength and thorough mystery to create an ultimate puzzle that would continue to ferment, becoming a perpetual motion machine of traffic that would run throughout the entire season.

Alex pulled up the system interface that only he could see.

In the hour or so since the show aired, his historical popularity had received an adrenaline shot, beginning a strong, jump-style growth.

What caught his attention even more were a few new notifications:

• Historical Cumulative popularity: 119,500,000 points (rapidly growing)

• Available popularity: 37,530,030 points

• New Notification: Successfully designed and verified the ”Large-scale Content Event + Proprietary Platform Traffic Closed-Loop” model.

Reward: [Cultural Trend Anchoring] Slight improvement in predictive ability for the subsequent development of ”pop culture phenomena triggered by oneself.”

• High-value ”Cultural Symbol” (Spirit of the Wasteland) detected as rapidly taking shape.

Its aggregated belief/attention (can be used as a special variant of popularity) has potential collection and analysis value.

(Pending observation)

The new notification was pregnant with meaning.

”Spirit of the Wasteland” was not just a show highlight; in the system’s view, it seemed to be coalescing into a more abstract ”cultural energy” that could be perceived and even utilized.

This faintly echoed his path to transcendence.

Just then, Taylor’s call came through.

The background noise was slightly chaotic, as if she were also at some viewing site: ”Did you see the data? I listened to the replay of that ’Spirit of the Wasteland’ a cappella part, and I still have goosebumps. It has definitely received extremely professional folk music training, but the way of vocalization has a kind of... inhuman purity. This isn’t something that can be acted.”

”Maintaining mystery is the best performance,” Alex replied.

”How is the heat for the behind-the-scenes footage of the judges’ reactions on ’Flashpoint’ over there?”

”It exploded. Especially the clip you edited in where I scolded the sound engineer, saying ’This is the wasteland, not a vegetable market’—it’s already been turned into a meme,” Taylor said, her tone helpless yet amused.

”You really make the most of everything.”

”As long as it works,” Alex smiled.

All the released ”exclusive content” had been carefully selected and edited to satisfy the audience, reinforce a certain trait of the program or contestant, and even shape the judges’ personalities—nothing was wasted.

As the premiere neared its end, the satellite TV ratings stabilized at a high point of over 2%, and online popularity continued to dominate the charts.

Meanwhile, the backend data for ”Flashpoint” and ”Voice of Truth” showed that the influx rate of new users and the activity level of existing users had reached an unprecedented peak.

Alex turned off most of the public screens, leaving only the two growth curves for ”Flashpoint” and ”Voice of Truth” that were still trending upward.

He walked to the window.

Under the night sky of Los Angeles, countless homes and individuals lighting up their screens were invisibly participating in the grand game he had constructed.

The success of the show was only the surface.

The deeper success lay in the fact that, through this top-tier content product, he had successfully and massively converted public traffic into private assets that he could operate and accumulate.

His platforms were no longer simple distribution channels, but an indispensable extension and core component of the entire entertainment experience.

This was true profit maximization.

He picked up the internal communicator: ”Notify all departments, I want the premiere data briefing in one hour. At the same time, launch Plan A: Regarding the discussions about ’Spirit of the Wasteland,’ initiate a ’Sound Archaeology’ topic on ’Voice of Truth.’ Invite ethnomusicologists and sound analysts to provide professional interpretations, but strictly forbid any baseless speculation pointing to a specific identity. We want to guide the depth of the discussion, not let it devolve into disorderly doxxing.”

”Understood!”

Feet firmly on the ground, the traffic closed loop had been verified.

Next, it was about how to make this converging torrent continue to surge within the river channels he had dug, creating even greater value.

And that mysterious ”Spirit of the Wasteland” might just be the most unpredictable and fascinating rapid in this river.