SOCIAL MEDIA MASTERS: INFLUENCER SPECIAL

Are Some People Really That Popular on Social Media?!!

Engagement pods

Let’s say you’ve been following somebody on LinkedIn for some time. Being a professional Social Media site, maybe it’s a commercial celebrity or business guru, and you’ve started to notice something.

You notice that within just a few minutes of launching a post they have accumulated not hundreds, but thousands (if not 10’s of thousands) of Likes or Comments to their post. Then you start to wonder what the hell you are doing wrong??

Well for sure, if somebody has launched a few books, appeared on Television Channels and been on the international speaking circuit, they’re going to have a following.

However, LinkedIn isn’t Facebook, or Instagram, or even TikTok, all of which are supported by (forgive a slightly cynical opinion here) frenzied youngsters attached to their devices 24/7 being ready to Like or Comment on any fan-based page they’re accustomed to.

Instead, with LinkedIn being a commercial platform, unless you’re an avid Content Creator (also attached to your devices 24/7!!) you’re probably busy running from meeting to meeting, video call to telephone call, managing team members, clients, you name it.

Popularity against the trends

In fact, the recent trend for many people that I know only log-on during their morning or evening commutes, at lunchtime or occasional (very occasional!!) coffee breaks, and that’s if they log-on at all!!

Do that sound like you?

So, with Post-Covid life now returning to normal and an ever-growing trend of people wanting to be more present in everyday life, how the hell do these people rack up such large number of reactions and engagement within just minutes of launching a LinkedIn post?

The answer, Engagement Pods.

Now I will admit, if people or organisations have an active following they can rack up good numbers. I also admit that trends can occur and snowball for posts where one person ‘Likes’ a post, 10 people they are connected to see that and ‘Like’ the same post also, with 100 people connected to them doing the same and so on.

However, this doesn’t happen for every single post that a person or organisation launches, at least not consistently over long-periods of time.

What are they?

So what happens with Engagement Pods? Well, basically they are software functions were typically for a fee or monthly charge, the software and affiliated individuals behind them will Like, Comment and Engage on the chosen post of the ‘Post Host’ to carry it as far they can.

This does two things. For one, it makes the post seem more popular than it is, teasing the rest of us to look at the post and maybe even Like, Comment, Engage or ‘Follow’ due to Social Norms or FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out).

The second thing is these Pods cheat (yes that’s right, they cheat!!) the Social Media platforms into thinking the post is more popular than it really is, floating it higher and further across the algorithm. This alone attracts more visibility and encourages further engagement.

Does this all start to make sense?

Not only do high engagement numbers within time periods start to stand out, but the calibre of comments do as well.

No doubt mixed-in with genuine comments these posts attract along with way, you’ll often see short and quick comments aligning to the post, such as:

“You’re the best” “You’re the greatest” You’re the GOAT” “Fantastic post” “I love it” “I love THIS” “Amazing”, etc, etc, etc …these can also be Pod generated.

Is this good practice?

So, good news and bad news. Bad news first. These Pods have had their heyday, helping many Post Hosts build Follower bases, all at reasonably cheaper fees at their time, so unfortunately that ship has already sailed.

The good news, as mentioned above, they’ve had their heyday!!

Although you can find Engagement Pods for most of the mainstream Social Media sites, many platforms don’t like them because:

i) they attempt to cheat them, and…

ii) because they work against recent trends of generating authentic and organic (therefore REAL) Social Media traffic and engagement.

The use of Pods therefore goes against many Terms of Services as well, so although you may enjoy a quick boost of popularisation, ‘Rent-a-Friend’ techniques can hurt longer term engagement.

The authentic problem of engagement pods

Not only could potential Followers distance themselves if they think or feel you might be using a Pod, Social Media platforms can also hold back growth in grievance of being cheated.

Many Pods have therefore closed or remain inactive, the jury out on the remaining few that do exist, although some still accept Registration details and Email addresses, only for nothing to happen once done.

Nonetheless, the practice still occurs and should the Post Host (person or organisation) have reasonably deep pockets for Social Media marketing, it’s not uncommon to see this paid-for activity taking place.

In the meantime, other Social Media creators and organisations spend hours creating tremendous content, only to see low to no engagement due to not being able to attract Followers.

This is no surprise, with some platforms rewarding exposure to content that wins engagement, even if that engagement is generated by an Engagement Pod. This content is therefore seen instead.

Many authentic creators then give-up or resorting to others measures of marketing, leaving the rest of us to see the same, low-quality repetition of content that needs to lean on Engagement Pods.

Some of the remaining Pods even allow for time-spread engagement, disguising themselves whilst providing a drip-feed of activity to help keep the content buoyant on the platform for even longer.

Therefore next time you see high levels of engagement, shallow or sycophantic comments, especially whilst your own content is struggling, acheiving nothing, think again.

You may only be seeing the results of a paid-for generated computer system that’s been designed to fox us all, possibly also suggesting the true values of the person whose made the post in the first place.

Disclaimer: No vegetables were used or harmed in the making of this feature.

Thank you for being on the same page. Feel free to Follow or let’s connect on LinkedIn as it will be tremendous to have your company.

Tired of seeing the same old posts on your LinkedIn professional feed? You can ‘eek’ them out using the technique listed in this article: