Most discussions of alternative data focus on individual sources: what Google Trends can tell you, whether Reddit sentiment predicts earnings, how TikTok hashtags reflect consumer behavior. The more interesting question is what happens when those sources disagree. Cross-platform divergence, situations where different behavioral and social data signals are pointing in different directions for the same company or theme, is often where the most actionable information lives.
Why divergence matters more than the individual signals
A single social signal is easy to dismiss. TikTok engagement went u