Facebook has announced that they will be demoting posts known as “engagement bait” that encourage fans to like, share, comment and take other actions. The move is a blow to the many artists who ask their fans to help boost engagement.
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From music marketers to Amanda Palmer’s wonderful Ted Talk, The Art Of Asking, artists are told to ask their fans for what they need. Be it a shar on social media or patronage on PledgeMusic, their told that you often only get what you ask for.
But Facebook see’s asking for help differently, and their going to punish the posts of those that do it.
“People have told us that they dislike spammy posts on Facebook that goad them into interacting with likes, shares, comments, and other actions,” write the Facebook team. “For example, ‘LIKE this if you’re an Aries!’ This tactic, known as “engagement bait,” seeks to take advantage of our News Feed algorithm by boosting engagement in order to get greater reach.”
“So, starting this week, we will begin demoting individual posts from people and Pages that use engagement bait.”
To foster more “authentic engagement”, teams at Facebook have reviewed and categorized hundreds of thousands of posts to inform a machine learning model that can detect different types of engagement bait. Posts that use this tactic will be shown less in News Feed.
Page Will Be Demoted Too
Over the coming weeks, Facebook will also be implementing stricter demotions for Pages that systematically and repeatedly use engagement bait to artificially gain reach in News Feed. “Moving forward, we will continue to find ways to improve and scale our efforts to reduce engagement bait.”
Posts that ask people for help, advice, or recommendations, such as circulating a missing child report, raising money for a cause (not sure if that includes your next tour, or asking for travel tips, will not be adversely impacted by the update.