Social Media Managers will have to be extra cautious when posting on Facebook. It’s not uncommon for a typical post to ask users for engagement. However, Facebook has announced that it will now demote ”engagement bait” aka posts that ask for likes, comments or shares.
What is “Engagement Bait?”
Demoting “engagement bait” posts is another way that Facebook is improving its News Feed. You may be wondering what “engagement bait” is. It’s when a post asks for requests from their followers. It’s usually something simple, such as, “Like our post, if you agree!” or “Tag a friend who would love this!” The reason is to ultimately get your interaction and engagement with users up so it looks better for your Page analytics.
“We want to reduce the spread of content that is spammy, sensational, or misleading in order to promote more meaningful and authentic conversations on Facebook,” the company said in a statement.
When will the change take place?
The social media platform is giving publishers and Pages a couple of weeks to adjust to the changes before content becomes affected. After that, if the content is begging or baiting users to interact, Facebook will have the total reach of their posts reduced. Depending on how much and how often it is done will also determine how hard the Page or person is hit.
According to Facebook, the change won’t affect posts that ask for help, advice or recommendations. In the beginning, they are also allowing for engagement baiters to earn their original reach back with good behavior. According to TechCrunch, “Facebook did specify that there are some exceptions to this clampdown, and that includes examples like a missing child report, raising money for a cause, or asking for travel tips, to quote the company directly.”
This isn’t the first change from Facebook. The company has made several changes recently to improve the News Feed and give users overall better experience.
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