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> An engagement pod is a group (or ‘pod’) of Instagram users who band together to help increase engagement on each other’s content. This can be done through lik

by rictic 5y ago

> An engagement pod is a group (or ‘pod’) of Instagram users who band together to help increase engagement on each other’s content. This can be done through likes, comments, or follows.

Invictus0 5y ago
You would think it would be trivial for an enterprising network scientist at these social media companies to identify these pods.
- acoard 5y ago
  I know of at least one person/group that does that here on HN, or at least did ~3-5 years ago. Honestly, there's no incentive to stop this type of work. IG wants engagement; comment pods are peak engagement, you've programmed yourself to beat the machine.
- kjkjadksj 5y ago
  There would be no point. Big brands use these techniques and they are the clients for these social media companies.
- meowzero 5y ago
  I would say most people with a lot of comments are using pods already. If you've used pods, you'll immediately know if most of the comments come from pods. Also, I highly doubt any engagement on social media is genuine. Some people go through random profiles and mass like, comment, follow them hoping for reciprocity. There are bots that do that for your from your account. IG frowns upon that. But some bots have gotten sophisticated enough to randomize their likes/comments/etc to look more human. It's all a big game.
- arolihas 5y ago
  Pods don’t really hurt social media companies though.
lubujackson 5y ago
Oh, noble web ring, may you continue your life in the shadows.
psychomugs 5y ago
My follower count doubled in the few months when I was heavily involved with a photography collective with a pretty sizable following. Obviously being attached to the collective's brand helped, but the organic engagement we had with each other was likely a key contributing factor to my personal account's "organic growth." To do this intentionally with these latent motives strikes me with the same sadness as a distant relative's pyramid scheme sales pitch, or someone pulling the slot arm "just one more time."

by rictic 5y ago

> An engagement pod is a group (or ‘pod’) of Instagram users who band together to help increase engagement on each other’s content. This can be done through likes, comments, or follows.

Invictus0 5y ago

You would think it would be trivial for an enterprising network scientist at these social media companies to identify these pods.

acoard 5y ago
I know of at least one person/group that does that here on HN, or at least did ~3-5 years ago. Honestly, there's no incentive to stop this type of work. IG wants engagement; comment pods are peak engagement, you've programmed yourself to beat the machine.
kjkjadksj 5y ago
There would be no point. Big brands use these techniques and they are the clients for these social media companies.
meowzero 5y ago
I would say most people with a lot of comments are using pods already. If you've used pods, you'll immediately know if most of the comments come from pods. Also, I highly doubt any engagement on social media is genuine. Some people go through random profiles and mass like, comment, follow them hoping for reciprocity. There are bots that do that for your from your account. IG frowns upon that. But some bots have gotten sophisticated enough to randomize their likes/comments/etc to look more human. It's all a big game.
arolihas 5y ago
Pods don’t really hurt social media companies though.

lubujackson 5y ago

Oh, noble web ring, may you continue your life in the shadows.

psychomugs 5y ago

My follower count doubled in the few months when I was heavily involved with a photography collective with a pretty sizable following. Obviously being attached to the collective's brand helped, but the organic engagement we had with each other was likely a key contributing factor to my personal account's "organic growth." To do this intentionally with these latent motives strikes me with the same sadness as a distant relative's pyramid scheme sales pitch, or someone pulling the slot arm "just one more time."