Why is Substack Recommending Jessica Reed Kraus (aka @houseinhabit)?
It's worth it to explore the "why"?
After the VP debate my inbox was flooded with notifications from commentators, news organizations and “independent” sites like Substack and Patreon clamoring to gain access to my attention. One notification in particular stood out… Substack’s “culture recommendations” with Jessica Reed Kraus sitting at the top of the list.
If you aren’t familiar with Jessica Reed Kraus (aka @houseinhabit) she is a mommy blogger turned “unbiased, but opinionated, gossip reporter and investigative journalist” (confusing, I know) who has had a fairly quick rise to infamy in the past few years. Most notably through the subjugation of feminist discourse in favor of evangelical, patriarchal extremism. One doesn’t rise to the top of curdling cream exhibiting girl’s girl behavior.
Now before we fall off the deep end into the endless question of, “Why would she do this?” the more important question is, “Why now?”
The answer is that Trump/Vance need white women to vote for them and Jessica Reed Kraus *is* and *has access to the data and attention* of their target persona.
I find the framing of Jessica Reed Kraus as a fun, frivolous and irreverent woman charging forward in the ever changing landscape of digital media inaccurate, but understandable. I would like to offer a take that is more rooted in reality, especially when you zoom in on the particulars of this moment.
Most of you know a portion of my professional background is in ad tech and digital marketing, meaning how tracking technology, the internet and digital advertising works in the modern age and this is what I’m seeing…
Exhibiting of a specific ideology that is being reinforced through multiple forms of media. Meaning that Jessica Reed Kraus is a small part of a much larger, strategic plan.
Expansion of the overton window, particularly in regards to conspiracy theories (Tucker Carlson purporting Alex Jones is a prophet, spiritual warfare, illegal Haitian immigrants in Springfield, OH eating cats and dogs, etc…), sexual assault/harassment (minimizing RFK Jr.’s behavior, framing Donald Trump as a loving grandfather vs. a serial harasser, praising Russell Brand, platforming Matt Gaetz, etc…), normalizing extremist narratives (love for MAGA, praising Ghislaine Maxwell, Sandy Hook was a hoax, etc…)
A deep need for male validation that seemingly stems from her broken marriage. Normally, I wouldn’t drop info about someone’s personal life, but given the level of unchecked misogyny in Jessica’s content it isn’t a leap to assume that she blames women in order to avoid facing the emotional damage inflicted on her by her husband’s numerous alleged affairs.
Vibes over information. There is a real emphasis on projecting a specific image of people like Donald Trump, RFK Jr., Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson as caring, albeit sometimes dopey leaders or the most perplexing one; JD Vance as loveable or somehow similar to the fictional character Jim Halpert from The Office.
VISIBILITY & ACCESS is the tell. Oftentimes when I dissect the unavoidable, digital presence of a figure like House in Habit, Dani Austin or equally flavorless brands like Boohoo and Shein people wonder how they got so “popular”. The answer is behind-the-scenes support for an asset (HiH) that is important to a larger strategic outcome (electing Trump/Vance) managed and funded by organizations that have a vested interest in the world Trump/Vance want to create (SuperPACS) that comes in a myriad of ways…
Substack recommendations: There are over 1.7 million Substack newsletters, over 250,000 having posted in the last month… why is House in Habit in particular being advertised by Substack? This isn’t by chance.
Mainstream media mentions: Semafor, WSJ, etc… until last year, Jessica Reed Kraus was a low level conspiracy theorist cosplaying as an independent journalist spiraling further and futher into the depths of the internet… what changed? and why?
Shady subscribers: I’ll share more about this soon, but anecdotally I unfollowed House in Habit years ago on Substack and across socials. To my surprise, when I went to her Substack page I was, once again, a subscriber.
Echo chamber behavior to validate narrative:
Comment Sections: Varying bot accounts leaving same and/or similar comments conspicuously reinforcing the original point of the post without much substance as well as a continual “comments on this post have been limited” notification, which tempers outside opinions from non-followers.
Re-posting by prominent MAGA figures to re-inforce exclusivity and that Jessica is accepted in the “in crowd”. This mechanism is particularly important as it’s the forcing function of almost all mainstream advertising, a tactic consumers don’t typically question in terms of perceived value or authenticity.
Recommendations by Dupe Accounts: Content shared via stories praising the account/brand that look like prominent and/or familiar accounts that when you click through only have 5 followers/0 posts/are private and/or mimic larger, popular accounts, but have less than 1000 followers and only a handful of posts.
@lemmilemon (dupe) vs. @annoyedlemon (authentic)
There is a lot more to dive into, but given we are only a handful of days away from possibly the most consequential election of our time, the takeaway is we need to have these conversations with our friends and family. NOW.
Unfortunately, similar to the rise of Stanley Cups, white women are responsible for the sustained power of politicians like Donald Trump, but we’re reaching the end of the proverbial road. Women are dying from completely preventable pregnancy complications due to abortion bans and IVF/birth control is inching closer and closer to the chopping block. All I can think about when a MAGA woman claims DT would never take those two things away from her is the emboldened fringe groups in her state ready and waiting for the opportunity to present itself. City halls, elementary schools and individual citizens are bearing the brunt of MAGA’s “the end justifies the means” communication strategy in the form of bomb threats, physical danger and overt racism.
We are seeing the reality the absence of fact checking and integrity has created.
This *IS* a coordinated and strategic effort that does not go away after the election (regardless of who wins). For a taste of what we’ll be discussing in future posts, read this Texas Tribune article featuring Tim Dunn and his goal of turning the US into a christian theocracy…
Until next time,
Heidi
Also….excellent article, Heidi. It’s social media experts like you that gives me hope that all is not lost. Hope that people will start opening their eyes to the depravity of MAGA cult.
I am truly despondent over women like Jessica and her fan girls. I don’t know what’s worse: the lack of critical thinking among her followers? Or Jessica herself, who has thrown her moral compass into the sea in exchange for a few dubious head pats and a little bit of money. Just gross.