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Unpopular opinion: engagement bait posts are actually hurting small creators more than they help | Algorithm Watch - Vivisector

jake747•2mo ago

Unpopular opinion: engagement bait posts are actually hurting small creators more than they help

I run a tiny art account on Instagram, around 3k followers, and I kept seeing these "like for part 2" posts blowing up. So I tried one myself last month, got 500 extra likes overnight. But almost none of those people actually stuck around or bought anything from my shop. Then a friend pointed out that the algorithm probably tagged my account as spammy after that spike, since my reach dropped to like 50 views after the post. Has anyone else seen their numbers tank after using one of those tactics?

3 comments

3 Comments

wader712mo ago

Wait, did Instagram really tank your reach that hard? I mean, I tried something similar a while back on my own art page, but I did a "tag a friend who'd love this" post instead of like for part 2. Got a bunch of tags and likes, but then my engagement just felt hollow. It's like the algorithm saw the spike and decided I was gaming the system. My views dropped from maybe 200 to around 30 after that. And the worst part is, the people who tagged their friends never even followed me, so it was just a bunch of noise. I ended up deleting the post and going back to just sharing my work without any of that junk. It felt like those quick fixes mess with your account's natural growth.

phoenix_singh252mo ago

My buddy runs a local coffee shop page and tried that exact "tag a friend" thing back in 2023 and his reach actually went up like 300 percent for the next month after he did it once. He got a bunch of new followers from it too, not just empty tags. The algorithm doesn't punish you if you keep the engagement real, like if people are genuinely tagging their buddies who would dig the post. Maybe your art page just had a different audience that didn't vibe with it, or maybe you posted at a bad time of day. I've seen plenty of accounts bounce back from a dip after those posts too, it's not a permanent mark on your account. Seems like you gave up on it too quick, you know, instead of trying a different spin on it.

fionam112mo ago

Tried a tag a friend post once and my engagement went from 50 views to like 4, including my mom lol. My art page basically ghosted me for a month after that.