Comment by thaumasiotes
6 hours ago
> I call these kinds of behaviours "traditions", but I'm not sure if there's a better term for it.
In psychology that kind of thing is referred to as "superstition".
More specifically, "superstition" in this sense refers to the phenomenon of copying someone else's successful approach to a problem you have. (In your example, getting views on youtube.) Since you don't know what parts of their approach matter, you copy the effective parts and the ineffective parts equally.
I always associated the term “cargo culting” with that but I think that term has largely fallen out of fashion (probably for the best).
Actually, I was a little too specific here - superstition also refers to copying your own successful approach.