6) Don’t Be Too Much of a Threat
Time and time again we’ve seen people do what they should have been doing, only to be voted off anyway. Why? Because those people were perceived as threats to the others in the house.
There are several ways to become a threat. The most obvious is being too good at the challenges. Odds are against you and your allies winning every HOH and Veto competition. And when you don’t, you can bet the person who does win is going to at least think about targeting you. Why? Because you’re a threat to win the next time. There’s a reason people often talk about the strategy of lying low for half the game. You’re not drawing attention to yourself while other people are. A number of winners have purposely thrown competitions early on so people wouldn’t think of them as a threat. If you’re not a threat, you can point to others who are and let them get targeted, as both Dan and Memphis did in the season where they were the final two.
Earlier, we discussed how you shouldn’t allow others to know you are making decisions. One of the main reasons is that you then become a threat to them. Eliminate the decision-maker and perhaps that threat goes away. The phrase “cut off the head of the snake” is heard for a reason. Nobody talks about cutting off the middle of the snake.
Another way to be a threat is by being too nice. Of course the fifth rule covered pretending to be nice and all, but just like you can scheme and plot too much, you can also become too likeable. People want to go up against somebody who is unlikable, or at least less likeable in the final two. If you’re the nicest person there and friends with almost everybody, others will vote you out.
If you can control your behavior well enough, you should strive to be neither the most obnoxious person in the house nor the least. The most obnoxious houseguests often get kicked out early, but as the game progresses, the threats to win the game get kicked out. As I said above related to decision-making, try to be the middle of the snake.
Still another way to be a threat is somewhat opposite of the previous paragraphs – if you are so untrustworthy that people don’t know which way you will vote, you may be perceived as a threat to them sticking around. Because of the nature of Big Brother, it’s possible to convince people that you’re on their side even if you’ve been against them before. However, if they start to lose faith in you and decide that you’re too much of a risk, they might go after you instead. This relates back to second rule, but it bears mentioning again. So be sure to always remind them that there is a bigger and more important (in your eyes, anyway) target out there.
